The Grade 3, $150,000 Valedictory Stakes, set for 1 ½ miles on the Tapeta this Sunday at Woodbine, has attracted 12 starters, including Novo Sol (BRZ).
The marathon test, for 3-year-olds and up, will mark the 19th career start for the 5-year-old son of Agnes Gold (JPN), who was a narrowly beaten runner-up in last year's G1 Grande Prêmio São Paulo.
Trained by Saffie Joseph, Jr. for Daniel Alonso, Novo Sol (BRZ) recently added Woodbine to his racetrack passport. After competing in Brazil, the bay has raced at Gulfstream, Pimlico, Belmont and Presque Isle prior to coming to the Toronto oval.
In his latest start, the G2 Autumn on Nov. 6, Novo Sol (BRZ), under Patrick Husbands, rallied to finish third in the 1 1/16-mile Tapeta event.
“I thought he was in a good spot, and he finished up well,” said Joseph. “He couldn't quicken as much as the Mark Casse horse (Who's the Star, also entered to run in the Valedictory), who was much the best, but overall, I thought it was a decent run. Patrick (jockey, Husbands) said that he ran well and ran his race. He's a horse that doesn't really have a quick acceleration, so I believe that a mile and a half will help him a bit better.”
After a win and a third in his first two starts of 2022, both at Gulfstream, Novo Sol (BRZ), bred by Stud Eternamente Rio, finished seventh and eighth, respectively, in the G2 Dinner Party and G2 Belmont Gold Cup.
The bay rebounded with a two-length triumph in a mile and 70-yard race over the Gulfstream synthetic on July 16 and followed it up with a third in the Presque Isle Downs Mile on Sept. 19.
“He likes the Tapeta. He's two-for-two at Gulfstream on the surface and that's why we took him to Presque Isle, to keep him on the Tapeta. He was third going a mile and a half on the grass, but this will be his first time going that distance on the Tapeta. So, we think it's a distance he likes and a surface he likes.”
Novo Sol (BRZ) worked 4 furlongs in :48-flat on the Woodbine main track on November 20 and followed it up with a :48.60 breeze one week later.
“He's a very easy-going horse and a smart horse. On the track, in his gallops, he might get a bit overkeen, but as far as around the barn, he's very quiet.”
First post for Sunday is 1:20 p.m. Fans can watch and wager on all the action through HPIbet.com and the Dark Horse Bets app.
GRADE 3 VALEDICTORY STAKES
POST – HORSE – JOCKEY – TRAINER
1 – English Conqueror – Daisuke Fukumoto – Darwin Banach
2 – Seventyseven Stone – Ademar Santos – Paul Lepiane
3 – Novo Sol (BRZ) – Patrick Husbands – Saffie Joseph, Jr.
4 – Angelou – Luis Contreras – Kevin Attard
5 – Elusive Knight – Gary Boulanger – Michael Doyle
6 – British Royalty – Justin Stein – Barbara Minshall
7 – Wentru – Rafael Hernandez – Martin Drexler
8 – Ya Beauty (GB) – Jeffrey Alderson – Nigel Burke
9 – Collective Force – Eswan Flores – Rachel Halden
10 – Megayacht – Kazushi Kimura – Christophe Clement
11 – Prideofdistinction – Sahin Civaci – Martin Drexler
12 – Who's the Star – Emma-Jayne Wilson – Mark Casse
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