ETOBICOKE, Ontario — Stormy Lord ($5) held off Officeinthevalley and Hollinger in the final furlong to take the $100,000 Ontario Jockey Club Stakes on Wednesday night at Woodbine.

With Jim McAleney aboard, Stormy Lord stalked the dueling leaders Top Prospect and Hotep through the turn in the seven-furlong turf sprint. He hit the front early in the stretch, and had to work hard to get the job done, scoring by a length over Officeinthevalley. Hollinger finished third in a field reduced to five with the scratches of Cross Every Bridge and Sand Cove.

ETOBICOKE, Ontario – Stormy Lord failed to respond to rating tactics in the Grade 2 Highlander Stakes, and will go back to a more unencumbered style Wednesday at Woodbine in the $100,000 Ontario Jockey Club Stakes, a seven-furlong turf sprint for Ontario-breds.

Stormy Lord, one of the leading local 3-year-olds last year, was victorious in his season opener. Over a very soft course, Stormy Lord led throughout the seven-furlong, Grade 2 Connaught Stakes.

ETOBICOKE, Ontario — Stormy Lord led throughout the Grade 2, $168,900 Connaught Cup Stakes on Sunday at Woodbine, while upsetting 2-5 shot Grand Adventure, last year’s winner of the seven-furlong turf sprint.

Stormy Lord set moderate fractions over a course labeled soft in the first grass stakes of the meet, as Macias and Grand Adventure stalked him on the turn. Grand Adventure seemed poised to pounce at the top of the stretch, but Stormy Lord kept on going to score by three lengths, in a time 1:25.72.

ETOBICOKE, Ontario – Horsemen and horseplayers who were looking forward to the beginning of turf racing here at Woodbine this weekend will have to wait.

“I have to take the races off the turf,” said director of racing and racing secretary Steve Lym, who had planned to offer a pair of grass races on each of the Saturday and Sunday cards. “The weather just hasn’t been good enough. We’re aiming for Friday, May 20, now. We should hit it.”

ETOBICOKE, Ontario - Miami Deco, a 65-1 maiden trying the turf for the first time, graduated in style Sunday at Woodbine in the $503,200 Breeders’ Stakes, the third leg of the Canadian Triple Crown.

Miami Deco raced near the back of the pack early in the 1 1/2-mile marathon, under journeyman Richard Dos Ramos. Silent Wisper, the lone filly in the lineup, set fast fractions over a course labeled yielding, before being overtaken on the far turn by second choice Stormy Lord and the 2-1 favorite, Cognashene.

ETOBICOKE, Ontario – Stormy Lord, a front-running type who is coming off a second-place finish in the July 11 Charlie Barley over one mile of turf, will have an extra furlong to negotiate over the same course here in Saturday’s Toronto Cup.

But with Charlie Barley winner So Elite headed to Saratoga and no new rivals with imposing turf credentials, Stormy Lord remains the one to beat in the $150,000 Toronto Cup.