Young Dom dangerous on best

ETOBICOKE, Ontario - If he fires his best shot, Young Dom appears to be a force to be reckoned with in Thursday's Woodbine feature, a first-level allowance at 1 1/4 miles on the grass.

Trained by Debbie England, Young Dom won his maiden going about 1o1/4 miles in his first grass attempt in June. In a July 14 allowance, he ran out of gas in the stretch after setting the pace, but he rebounded with a strong showing in the third leg of the Canadian Triple Crown, the Breeders' Stakes.

Young Dom was a little rank in the early stages of the 1 1/2-mile Breeders', and was mired in traffic on the far turn and in midstretch, where he was bumped. He eventually finished just two lengths back in fourth, and the third-place finisher, Shillelagh Slew, returned to win both the Grade 3 Canadian Derby and the Grade 3 Ontario Derby.

Young Dom was scratched from several subsequent engagements, which were rained off the grass. He then ran without blinkers in a one-mile allowance on the lawn Sept. 30, fading in the stretch after tracking the pace on the outside.

Young Dom gets the blinkers back on Thursday. Todd Kabel, arguably Woodbine's best turf rider, will pilot him for the first time.

Other possibilities in the race include the win-shy duo of Andalusian and Area Limits.

Andalusian's lone victory came in a 1 1/4-mile maiden special here in June 2005, when he defeated Area Limits. He nearly won a 1 1/8-mile allowance in June, ending up a neck back in second.

Two starts ago, Andalusian ran third as the heavy favorite in an allowance won by Sextet, who has since been stakes-placed. Last time out, on Sept. 13, Andalusian wound up third in a key allowance, which was taken off the grass and run on the Polytrack.

Ray Sabourin inherits the mount from Kabel on Andalusian, who is trained by Brian Lynch. This will be his first start without blinkers since his debut in September 2004.

Area Limits was a distant second when still a maiden in the 2005 Breeders'. He finally graduated at 1o1/4 miles on the grass last June 15, then finished fourth or fifth in each of his three subsequent outings, all at the first-level allowance category.

Jim McAleney will ride Area Limits for Canadian Hall of Fame trainer Roger Attfield, a combination that is 5 for 21 at the meeting.