Nine fillies and mares, 3-year-olds and up, will vie for top spot in the $200,000 Dance Smartly Stakes (G2T), a 1 1/16-mile test over the E.P. Taylor turf, on King's Plate Sunday at Woodbine.
Justify My Love (BRZ), trained by Paulo Lobo for her breeder, Stud Rio Dios Irmaos, and Bonne Chance Farm, arrives at the Dance Smartly off a sharp score in the $100,000 Indiana General Assembly Distaff on July 8. The winning time for 1 1/16 miles over “good” ground was 1:43.91. Justify My Love (BRZ) returned $26.
A Grade 2 winner in Argentina, it was the first stakes triumph since the 6-year-old mare came to North America for her 2022 campaign.
“She is doing really well,” said Lobo. “She has been pointing to this race since she won in Indiana. She's had three good workouts for me and now she's ready for this start. She is a happy horse.”
Sired by the Japanese-bred and -raced Agnes Gold, the grey will get her first test on the world-renowned E.P. Taylor turf, a course that Lobo believes will suit Justify My Love (BRZ).
“I think this course will be a good one for her to race on,” said Lobo. “That long stretch is something she will appreciate.”
Sporting a record of 5-2-2 from 15 starts, Justify My Love (BRZ) contested her first eight races at San Isidro in Argentina, where she won three times and posted six top-three finishes.
She finished sixth in her first two North American races, at Kentucky Downs in September and at Keeneland in October, before a victory at Churchill Downs on November 19.
Her racing passport also includes a stop at Gulfstream Park, where she finished seventh in the Pegasus World Cup Filly and Mare Turf Invitational (G3T) in January.
“I've always liked this horse,” said Lobo. “When she ran in Florida, she got sick after the race, so that was probably the reason she didn't run well that day. We brought her back and she's hitting her peak right now. She's feeling really good.”
Adam Beschizza, who won this year's Alywow and Ontario Colleen (G3T) with Mohawk Trail, will be in the irons Sunday. The multiple graded stakes-winning jockey will also partner Midnight in Malibu in The King's Plate later in the card.
Other starters include Moira, Canada's reigning Horse of the Year, Chad Brown trainee, stakes winner Salimah (IRE), multiple graded stakes winner Il Malocchio, and last-time out stakes winner Miss Dracarys.
The race is named after the Sam-Son Farm superstar who went undefeated in 1991 while taking the Canadian Triple Crown and becoming the first horse bred in Canada to win a Breeders' Cup race (G1 Distaff, 1991). She is a member of both the Canadian and American Racing Halls of Fame.
Sam-Son Farm has three wins – tops among all owners – in the race inaugurated in 1986. Bessarabian won the first edition.
The $150,000 Bold Venture (G3), a 6 ½-furlong Tapeta race for 3-year-olds and up, the $125,000 Soaring Free, at 6 ½ furlongs on the E.P. Taylor turf for 2-year-olds, and the $125,000 Catch A Glimpse, at 6 ½ furlongs over the E.P. Taylor for 2-year-old fillies, are also featured on The King's Plate card.
FIELD FOR THE GRADE 2 $200,000 DANCE SMARTLY
POST – HORSE – JOCKEY – TRAINER
1 – Souper Hoity Toity – Patrick Husbands – Mark Casse
2 – Whimsical Dance – Jose Campos – Gail Cox
3 – Ready Lady – Emma-Jayne Wilson – Roger Attfield
4 – Ephrata (GB) – Ryan Munger – Josie Carroll
5 – Justify My Love (BRZ) – Adam Beschizza – Paulo Lobo
6 – Il Malocchio – Sahin Civaci – Martin Drexler
7 – Salimah (IRE) – Kazushi Kimura – Chad Brown
8 – Moira – Rafael Hernandez – Kevin Attard
9 – Miss Dracarys – Javier Castellano – Neil Drysdale
FIELD FOR THE GRADE 3 $150,000 BOLD VENTURE
POST – HORSE – JOCKEY – TRAINER
1 – Candy Overload – Sahin Civaci – Mark Casse
2 – Flag of Honour (AUS) – Ryan Munger – Julia Carey
3 – County Final – Juan Crawford – Saffie Joseph, Jr.
4 – Last American Exit – Jose Campos – Harold Ladouceur
5 – Patches O'Houlihan – Daisuke Fukumoto – Robert Tiller
6 – Secret Reserve – Eswan Flores – Mike Mattine
7 – Border Town – Rafael Hernandez – Martin Drexler
8 – Told It All – Luis Contreras – Suzanne Drake
9 – Old Chestnut – Declan Carroll – Martin Drexler
10 – Souper Watson – Kazushi Kimura – Martin Drexler
FIELD FOR THE $125,000 SOARING FREE
POST – HORSE – JOCKEY – TRAINER
1 – Rhapsody – Kazushi Kimura – Kevin Attard
2 – Motskari – Jason Hoyte – Ted Holder
3 – Please Advise – Patrick Husbands – George Weaver
4 – Ready to Jam – Sahin Civaci – Mark Casse
5 – Dancing Duchess (S) – Adam Beschizza – Mark Casse
6 – Four Strong Winds – Rafael Hernandez – Catherine Day Phillips
7 – Triple Trea – Emma-Jayne Wilson – Barbara Minshall
8 – Bucyk – Javier Castellano – Kevin Attard
9 – Pontiac – Ryan Munger – Barbara Minshall
10 – Sugar Treat (S) – Adam Beschizza – Mark Casse
11 – Golden Canary (S) – Sahin Civaci – Mark Casse
FIELD FOR THE $125,000 CATCH A GLIMPSE
POST – HORSE – JOCKEY – TRAINER
1 – Bolt Enoree – Javier Castellano – Kevin Attard
2 – Sugar Treat (S) – Emma-Jayne Wilson – Mark Casse
3 – Golden Canary (S) – Sahin Civaci – Mark Casse
4 – Crafty Oaks – Rico Walcott – Keith Edwards
5 – Ready to Jam – Sahin Civaci – Mark Casse
6 – Never Silent – Jose Campos – Catherine Day Phillips
7 – Living Magic – Antonio Gallardo – Phil Schoenthal
8 – Fourfiftyfour – Ryan Munger – Barbara Minshall
9 – Airosa – Rafael Hernandez – Kevin Attard
10 – Rosa – Kazushi Kimura – Kevin Attard
11 – Dancing Duchess – Patrick Husbands – Mark Casse
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