Al and Bill Ulwelling's hard-luck filly Merveilleux was simply marvelous on Sunday afternoon winning the $250,000 Wonder Where Stakes, third leg of the Triple Tiara, at Woodbine Racetrack in Toronto, Ontario.
Jockey Rafael Hernandez worked out the winning trip aboard the Kevin Attard trainee, who was rated mid-pack along the rail early in the 1 1/4-mile turf test for 3-year-old fillies foaled in Canada.
Leaving from the inside post on the turn of the E.P. Taylor Turf Course, She's a Dream assumed command with Justleaveitalone just to her outside before crossing in front as the field moved down the backstretch.
Justleaveitalone clocked an opening quarter in :24.99, half-mile in :50.89 and three-quarters in 1:16.60 with She's a Dream pressing the pace in second and Merveilleux, racing without blinkers here, behind the leaders and poised to make a move on the final turn.
Hernandez tipped Merveilleux outside coming into the stretch approaching the one-mile mark in 1:41:16, and the Paynter–Breech Inlet filly took off to score by three lengths. The winning time was 2:05.34 over a firm course.
Closing from the backfield, Gun Society finished second and the Josie Carroll-trained Curlin's Voyage, who was the 2-1 favorite after winning the Woodbine Oaks and finishing fifth in the Queen's Plate, was third. She's a Dream edged out Justleaveitalone for fourth by a half-length.
Sansa's Vow, the Attard-trained 3-1 second choice Afleet Katherine, Forty Zip, Ballrooms of Mars and Beyond Mybudget completed the order of finish.
“We've been having a rough meet with this one,” noted Hernandez. “I was impressed with the performance and we had a clean trip today.”
Hernandez said his filly was relaxed in the first turn and all the way down the backside.
“Turning for home, you switch and I said, 'Come on baby, keep it up, we have to do it!'”
Sent postward as the 5-1 third choice on the toteboard, Merveilleux paid $13.80 to win.
Bred in Ontario by Mike Carroll, Merveilleux showed her potential as a youngster finishing a close second in both the Princess Elizabeth Stakes and Ontario Lassie to complete her 2-year-old campaign in 2019.
She won her June 21 sophomore debut before contesting a trio of stakes events, including the Woodbine Oaks Presented by Budweiser, where she finished a game third despite traffic trouble, and ending up sixth in the Queen's Plate.
“She's been hard luck,” said Attard. “We've always liked her a lot. We thought heading into the Oaks we had the right kind of horse and even heading into the Plate with her we were really excited. Unfortunately, things haven't gone her way. It's been a tough season for the Ulwellings to boot, so it's just kind of the way the cards stack up and everything lined up our way today and she just had a good trip and ran to our expectations.”
Despite Merveilleux being pulled up in her only other grass race, when making her first career start in July 2019, Attard wasn't concerned about the surface change attributing the initial result to hot weather and noting the filly skimmed over the turf last weekend in her latest work.
Merveilleux now sports a career record reading 3-3-1 from 10 starts with earnings climbing over $550,000.
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William Lawrence and Bradley Thoroughbreds' Tapit Today broke through in a stakes after a trio of close efforts, running down pacesetter Mitchell Road from the outside in the final furlong and holding off her competitor for a one-length win in Sunday's Grade 3, $100,000 Athenia for fillies and mares 3-years-old and up at Belmont Park in Elmont, N.Y.
The Tapit mare was coming off a third-place effort in the G3 Kentucky Downs Ladies Turf on September 12, which followed a fourth-place effort in the G3 Matchmaker in July at Monmouth Park and another third in her 5-year-old debut in the G3 Suwannee River in February at Gulfstream Park.
In her first start at Belmont, Tapit Today broke sharp from the outside post under jockey Jose Ortiz and tracked in third position as Mitchell Road and Sweet Bye and Bye led the eight-horse field through the opening quarter-mile in 24.89 seconds, the half in 50.37 and three-quarters in 1:13.11 over the firm inner turf.
Out of the final turn, jockey Luis Saez kept Mitchell Road near the rail, but Tapit Today challenged from her outside, went eye-to-eye and passed her rival in mid-stretch. The Chad Brown trainee maintained that urgency and completed the 1 1/16-mile course in a 1:42.56 final time.
“She had an outside post and I tried to ride her like she was the best and control the race a little bit if I had enough horse, and I did,” said Ortiz, who registered his Belmont fall meet-leading 35th win. “Past the half-mile, I had the favorite right inside of me and I controlled the race from the three-eighths pole to the wire.”
Tapit Today improved to 4-2-2 in 10 career starts and posted her best stakes performance since running second in the 2018 Riskaverse at Saratoga. Off at 5-1, she returned $13.60 on a $2 win wager and improved her career earnings to $212,230.
“She had a great trip today. Jose and I spoke about it in the paddock and looking at all her races, it seems like she's a clear-running horse,” Brown said. “She runs a bit better out in the clear. She can be a little temperamental.”
Tapit Today gave Brown his fourth victory in the Athenia in the previous five runnings and marked the conditioner's fifth overall win in the contest. It was also Brown's meet-leading 20th win of the fall meet, which concludes on November 1.
“Normally, a race like this with the funny turns at a mile and a sixteenth here you wouldn't want an outside post,” Brown said. “We talked about the post position in the paddock about how it might benefit her to be in the clear today. She sort of resents being covered up.”
Mitchell Road, who bested Tapit Today when second last out in the Ladies Turf, finished one length ahead of the Brown-trained She's Got You for second.
“She was travelling pretty good, but she's better on firmer turf,” Saez said. “When she came to the stretch she couldn't get a hold of it [the turf] and it cost me a little bit because the winner got on top of me. She tried to fight back but it was a little late.”
She's Got You, making just her third career North American start and graded stakes debut, was a neck better than fellow English-bred Feel Glorious to earn blacktype for Brown.
Call Me Love, Altea, Sweet Bye and Bye and Story Time completed the order of finish.
Live racing resumes Thursday with a nine-race card. First post is 1:15 p.m. Eastern.
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Dede McGehee's Gladys, a 2-year-old full sister to 2009 Horse of the Year Rachel Alexandra, graduated Sunday at Gulfstream Park West in Miami Gardens, Fla., with an 11-1 upset victory in a mile maiden special weight event carded as Race 5.
The Medaglia d'Oro–Lotta Kim filly roared from off the pace to score a three-length victory in her second career start and first race around two turns. Gladys encountered trouble leaving the starting gate and was never a factor in her Sept. 18 debut at six furlongs.
Gladys, who is trained by Kelsey Danner, ran a mile over a sloppy track in 1:38.80 under jockey Angel Arroyo.
Gladys, who was bred by Mc Gehee's Heaven Trees Farm, is Lotta Kim's eighth foal of racing age. Of course, Rachel Alexandra, who captured the 2009 Preakness (G1), Haskell (G1) and Woodward (G1) on her way to being crowned Thoroughbred racing's champion of 2009, is by far the most accomplished offspring of Lotta Kim.
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