Youcan’tcatchme gets fitness test in Whimsical Stakes

ETOBICOKE, Ontario – Readiness should be a factor in the Grade 3, $150,000 Whimsical Stakes at Woodbine on Saturday, when the newly crowned Canadian champion female sprinter Youcan’tcatchme hooks the winter-trained runners Goldstryke Glory and Mekong Delta going six furlongs. All three are making their first start of the year.

Youcan’tcatchme garnered a 2013 Sovereign Award on the strength of her three stakes wins and a second from five starts. She was softened up in a speed duel the only time she missed the board last year in the Grade 2 Bessarabian Stakes.

“She had a great record,” trainer Sam DiPasquale said. “I wanted to stop on her after her fourth race, but I ran her one more time, and she got dusted, which I thought probably lost me the Sovereign. If we had stopped on her after three wins and a second, I think she would have been a shoo-in.”[bc_video_id:322434:]

Youcan’tcatchme, who wintered in Ontario, worked five furlongs in 59.20 seconds on the Polytrack last Sunday, the fastest of 43 moves at the distance.

[DRF Live: Get live reports and handicapping insights from Woodbine this Saturday]

“She worked good, but I’m a little concerned,” DiPasquale said. “I was happy with the way she came back, but she’s still holding her winter coat. She stayed up here and suffered through the tough Canadian winter. The [December] ice storm set us back big time. When we came back into the track, we were in a holding pattern because the conditions were awful. Then, they opened the Polytrack late because of bad weather. She could be beatable.”

The speedy Goldstryke Glory finished second in the voting for last year’s champion female sprinter. She capped that campaign with three consecutive stakes scores over six furlongs but missed an engagement in the Grade 3 Ontario Fashion on Nov. 3 due to illness.

Trainer Kelly Callaghan felt that Goldstryke Glory is racing-fit after spending the winter in Florida.

“I had her in Ocala since January, just getting her ready,” Callaghan said. “She’s grown a bit, not much, but she’s definitely filled out a lot. She’s had several half-mile works at [Classic Mile Training Center], where she galloped out the five-eighths. It’s a deep, sandy track that’s very kind. You don’t see horses fly around there.”

Mekong Delta wintered at Gulfstream Park with trainer Mike Mattine after rallying for second at 40-1 in the seven-furlong Bessarabian on Dec. 1.

“She got better and better [last year], and she’s been training good,” Mattine said. “She’s better going 6 1/2 or seven furlongs, but if there’s a war up front, she’s got a shot.”