Yummy With Butter good now
ETOBICOKE, Ontario - The oddly named Yummy With Butter always shows up with his running shoes on, and should be a factor in Wednesday's seven-furlong $100,000 Mt. Sassafras Stakes at Woodbine.
Yummy With Butter has had a fruitful year under the guidance of trainer Mark Fournier, hitting the board in each of his seven starts.
Yummy With Butter finished third in two Ontario sire stakes in the spring, the six-furlong New Providence and the 1 1/16-mile Steady Growth. He won at the first allowance category while registering his third straight 90 Beyer Speed Figure on Aug. 2, and has since been second twice.
Yummy With Butter came wide from off slow fractions to end up second most recently in the Overskate, a seven-furlong stakes that was won by this year's Queen's Plate winner, Not Bourbon.
"Against a horse like Not Bourbon, I thought he ran well," said Fournier. "There was no pace, and he still closed, which was a promising sign. I find he's run his best when he settles where there's an honest pace, and they come back to him a bit while he gets rolling."
Fournier said he entered the Mt. Sassafras only after the race carried over from Sunday to Wednesday.
"I didn't plan on going in, because I thought it would be a lot tougher," said Fournier. "Legal Move ran out of town [Saturday], so I thought we'd take a shot. The extra few days helped. He's going well. He's going into it as good as he was for his last race."
Jockey Justin Stein returns after a one-race absence on Yummy With Butter. "I'm happy Justin's back on the horse," said Fournier. "He's run two good races for him."
Dancer's Bajan peaked winning the Aug. 6 Shepperton Stakes with a 101 Beyer. He subsequently ran second in the 1 1/16-mile Elgin, a stakes for graduates of local yearling sales, and is coming off a disappointing effort in the Overskate.
Patrick Husbands inherits the mount on Dancer's Bajan from Corey Fraser, who's riding Written in Stone.
Written in Stone finally got the job done in his 10th try at the first allowance condition in his next-to-last race on the grass. He could link up on the lead with Shadowless, who beat him by a nose in a recent second-level allowance.
Shadowless, a well-beaten 11th in this year's Plate, has won two turf races in a row under Emma Wilson.
The pick-seven carryover is $23,967.