For the second Saturday in a row, a Sam-Son Farm homebred trained by Gail Cox posted an upset of a graded stakes at Woodbine racetrack in Toronto, Ontario, this time winning the Grade 3 Singspiel Stakes with the 5-year-old Awesome Again gelding Count Again by about 1 3/4 lengths.
Ridden by Luis Contreras, Count Again only had Sam-Son/Cox stablemate Say the Word beaten midway through the 1 1/4-mile turf test for 3-year-olds and up. But he swung wide into the stretch and rallied for the victory over Stronach Stables' Sir Sahib, with Say the Word getting up for third, Nakamura finishing fourth, Woodbridge fifth, Standard Deviation sixth, Tiz a Slam seventh, Skywire eighth and Jungle Fighter last in the field of nine. Standard Deviation, Tiz a Slam and Nakamura each went off at 7-2 as co-favorites.
Stewards reviewed the stretch run after Count Again veered inwardly in midstretch, causing a chain reaction that forced runner-up Sir Sahib to alter course. The original order of finish was allowed to stand.
Count Again, an Ontario-bred produced from the stakes-winning Red Ransom mare Count to Three, covered 1 1/4 miles on firm turf in 2:00.67 and paid $21.20 for the win.
On Sept. 12, Sam-Son and Cox teamed up to win the G2 Canadian Stakes with the Candy Ride filly Rideforthecause, who upset heavy favorite Cambier Parc.
Tiz a Slam, a Roger Attfield trainee who won the 2019 Singspiel, went to the front of this year's renewal, setting early fractions of :25.82 and :49.91 for the opening half-mile. After six furlongs in 1:13.65, Jungle Fighter and Nakamura applied some pressure to Tiz a Slam's outside, with Contreras beginning to put Count Again in gear on the outside after he had slipped toward the rear of the field in the run down the long backstretch.
Nakamura engaged Tiz a Slam at the top of the stretch, briefly putting his head in front after a mile in 1:37.20, but Count Again was sailing along toward the lead on the outside. The gelding ducked in, forcing Nakamura to shift in. That led Daisuke Fukumoto, who'd saved ground throughout on Sir Sahib, to alter course and chase after Count Again in the final furlong after going around Nakamura. Once clear, Sir Sahib didn't make up any ground on the winner.
The Singspiel was the stakes debut for Count Again, who debuted at Ellis Park for trainer Neil Howard in August 2019, finishing third in a dirt sprint. He graduated from the maiden ranks in his second start at Keeneland on Oct. 9, then was off until winning an April 3 allowance race at Tampa Bay Downs when under the care of J. Kent Sweezey.
Count Again had two local runs for Cox, finishing third in a June 20 allowance/optional claiming race going 1 1/6 miles on turf, then getting beaten a neck by Woodbridge in a 1 1/4-mile allowance/optional claiming race Aug. 29. Contreras was aboard for both of those races.
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