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Mutamakina Makes Dance Smartly Hers At Woodbine

Mutamakina (GB) stalked the pace set by Alnaseem (GB), waited for the final turn to make her move, and held off a challenge from Chad Brown's Etoile in the stretch to win the Grade 2 Dance Smartly at Woodbine Racetrack in Toronto, Ontario. The 1 1/4-mile race, part of the Queen's Plate undercard, saw the daughter of Irish sire Nathaniel get her first G2 victory for owner Al Shira'aa Farms and trainer Christophe Clement.

Breaking from post six, Dylan Davis put Mutamakina in behind front runner Alnaseem, with Blame Debbie behind them on the rail in third. Mutamaking was never more than a length behind the leader, as Alnaseem set fractions of :25.98 for the first quarter and :50.32 for the half-mile. Inside the half-mile, Alnaseem looked poised to make the Dance Smartly hers in a wire-to-wire performance, but Davis put Mutakmakina in gear as they approached the top of the stretch.

Into the stretch on a firm E.P. Taylor turf course, Mutamakina pulled even with Alnaseem and then accelerated past her. Irad Ortiz, Jr. moved Etoile from the rail through a hole between horses, finding running room two-wide in the straightaway, but it was not enough to catch the Clement trainee. Mutamakina held off a fast-closing Etoile and Merveilleux to win the G2 Dance Smarty by a half-length. Court Return was fourth. Blame Debbie, Alnaseem, and Afleet Katherine round out the order of finish.

The time for the mile and a quarter was 2:01.26.

Mutamakina paid $8.80, $3.50, and $2.60. Etoile paid $2.60 and $2.10. Merveilleux paid $3.30.

Bred in Great Britain by Widgham Stud, Mutamakina is a 5-year-old mare by Nathaniel out of the Danehill mare Joshua's Princess (GB). She was consigned by New England Stud at the 2017 Tattersalls October Yearling Sale and purchased by Shawn Dugan, agent, for $137,225. The Dance Smartly is Mutamakina's first win in four starts in 2021, for a lifetime record of four wins in 15 starts.

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Brown Starts Pair in Bid for Fourth Straight Jenny Wiley

As of now, the only trainer to win four straight renewals of the GI Coolmore Jenny Wiley S. at Keeneland is the late Hall of Famer Bobby Frankel. Saturday, Frankel's future Hall of Fame protege Chad Brown will have a chance to equal his feat with a pair of contenders in the 1 1/16-mile turf test.

Capturing the Jenny Wiley with Sistercharlie (Ire) (Myboycharlie {Ire}) in 2018 and Rushing Fall (More Than Ready) in 2019 and 2020, Brown will be represented by Tamahere (Fr) (Wootton Bassett {GB}) and Etoile (Fr) (Siyouni {Fr}). The former punched her ticket to America with a dominant score in the Prix la Sorellina at La Teste Buch and impressively annexed the GII Sands Point S. in her North American debut before running sixth as the favorite in the GI Matriarch S. The latter, beaten less than a length when fourth in the G1 Prix de Diane Longines in June of 2019, failed to find the mark in her first two North American tries before breaking through in the GI E.P. Taylor S. when last seen Oct. 18 at Woodbine.

The morning-line favorite is Godolphin's Micheline (Bernardini). Scoring a 17-1 upset by open lengths in the Honey Ryder S. last spring at Gulfstream, the homebred was off the board in her next two before getting up late to take the Exacta Systems Dueling Grounds Oaks at 10-1 Sept. 10 at Kentucky Downs. She's kept up that good form with a second at 11-1 in the local GI Queen Elizabeth II Challenge Cup S. and a conquest of the GII Hillsborough S. last out Mar. 6 at Tampa.

“I really didn't feel like I had her completely tight for the Hillsborough coming off a layoff,” trainer Mike Stidham told TDN's Katie Ritz. “In my mind, I thought maybe I was a work or two short of having her totally cranked up for that race. So the way she ran was really impressive to me, knowing what I had in her. Since that race, she's come back and worked a couple of times and her last work [Apr. 2], in :47 [1/5] was a really, really good work for her because she's not a huge workhorse. For her to work like that, she was touting me that she's sitting on ready.”

Rounding out the major challengers is Juliet Foxtrot (GB) (Dansili {GB}). A dual graded stakes victress, she looks for a belated top-level success after placing four times in Grade I company, including when third in this race last year.

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Micheline Faces Brown-Trained Duo In Saturday’s Jenny Wiley

Godolphin's homebred Micheline, winner of the Hillsborough (G2) at Tampa Bay Downs in her 2021 debut, and the graded stakes-winning duo of Etoile and Tamahere trained by Chad Brown headline a small but select field of six fillies and mares entered Wednesday for Saturday's 33rd running of the $300,000 Coolmore Jenny Wiley (G1) at Keeneland.

The Coolmore Jenny Wiley, run at 1 1/16 miles on the turf, will go as the 10th race on Saturday afternoon's 11-race program with a 6:03 p.m. post time. First post time is 1:05 p.m.

Trained by Mike Stidham, Micheline closed 2020 with a victory in the Dueling Grounds Oaks at Kentucky Downs and then was runner-up in the Queen Elizabeth II Challenge Cup (G1) Presented by Dixiana here last fall. Her victory in the Hillsborough represented her first graded stakes victory.

Luis Saez will have the mount and break from post one.

A racing rarity will occur Saturday when half-siblings Micheline and Proxy – whose dam is millionaire Panty Raid, winner of the 2007 Juddmonte Spinster (G1) at Keeneland – start in consecutive graded stakes for owner-breeder Godolphin.

Micheline, a 4-year-old daughter of Bernardini, will be looking for her first Grade 1 victory in the $300,000 Coolmore Jenny Wiley (G1) at 1 1/16 miles on turf. In the day's previous race, the 3-year-old Tapit colt Proxy will bid for his first stakes win in the $200,000 Stonestreet Lexington (G3) at 1 1/16 miles on dirt.

Both are trained by Mike Stidham.

While they share immense talent, Stidham said the sister and brother have distinctive traits. Most notably, Micheline is claustrophobic in traditional housing, so she resides in a portable stall near Stidham's barn. At Keeneland, the special setup awaits her Thursday arrival from Florida.

Micheline also showed her talent sooner than Proxy did.

Micheline, who has earned $665,978 with five wins in 13 starts, flashed her brilliance before finishing third in her career debut in August 2019 at Saratoga.

“We took her to Saratoga for her first start, so that shows how much we thought about her,” Stidham said. “We very rarely run horses at Saratoga unless we are very high on them.”

Micheline fulfilled expectations by winning the Sorority at Monmouth Park a month later. She next was unplaced in her lone dirt start in Keeneland's Darley Alcibiades (G1).

Winner of the Honey Ryder at Gulfstream Park at 3, Micheline closed her sophomore season at Keeneland as runner-up in the Queen Elizabeth Challenge Cup (G1) Presented by Dixiana. In her first start of 2021, she won the March 6 Hillsborough (G2) at Tampa Bay Downs.

Stidham said Proxy's ability was not as evident early as his sister's was.

“Proxy is one of those horses who did everything right but not anything real flashy,” Stidham said. “He was never a 'wow' horse going into his first start.”

Proxy earned his first victory in November at Fair Grounds in his second start and next was second in the Lecomte (G3) and Risen Star (G2) Presented by Lamarque Ford. A winner of two races from six starts – all on dirt – with earnings of $227,700, he comes into the Stonestreet Lexington off a fourth-place effort in the Twinspires.com Louisiana Derby (G2) at Fair Grounds.

“After the Lexington, we will see how he runs and decide where we go from there,” Stidham said.

Brown will be going for his fourth consecutive victory and fifth overall in the Coolmore Jenny Wiley when he sends out Etiole, owned by Peter Brant, Mrs. M.V. Magnier and Mrs. Paul Shanahan, and Tamahere, owned by Swift Thoroughbreds, Madaket Stables and Wonder Stables.

Etoile will be making her first start since winning the E.P. Taylor (G1) at Woodbine in October. A Group 3 winner in France before coming to North America, she will be ridden by Javier Castellano and break from post four.

Tamahere, winner of the Sands Point (G2) in her U.S. debut in October, will be making her first start since finishing sixth in the Matriarch (G1) at Del Mar. Irad Ortiz Jr. has the mount and will break from post two.

Brown's winners in the Coolmore Jenny Wiley are Ball Dancing (2015), Sistercharlie (IRE) (2018) and Rushing Fall in 2019 and 2020.

The field for the Coolmore Jenny Wiley, with riders and weights from the rail, is: Micheline (Saez, 118 pounds), Tamahere (FR) (Irad Ortiz Jr., 118), Juliet Foxtrot (GB) (Tyler Gaffalione, 118), Etoile (FR) (Castellano, 120), Maxim Rate (Umberto Rispoli, 118) and La Signare (FR) (John Velazquez, 118).

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Etoile Gets The Trip, Earns Grade 1 Status With E.P. Taylor Triumph

Etoile, runner-up as the favorite when invading from New York for trainer Chad Brown in the Aug. 15 Dance Smartly, made amends at Woodbine in Toronto, Ontario, on Sunday by taking the Grade 1 E.P. Taylor Stakes by a neck under Rafael Hernandez.

Court Return, an improving half-sister to multiple Grade 1 winners Channel Maker and Johnny Bear, closed resolutely on the far outside to finish second in the field of seven for the $600,000 race over 1 1/4 miles of the renowned E.P Taylor turf course.

“It was a good trip,” said Hernandez, who was riding his meet-leading 12th stakes winner. “I called Chad this morning and he told me, 'Raffi, try to get a good trip like last time. Just make sure you clear down the stretch.'

“He told me he'd been working the horse a few times and he put her outside of other horses, and she'd be finishing great.”

Theodora B., who had defeated Etoile by three-quarters of a length in the Dance Smartly over the same course and distance, assumed her preferred position on the front end while carving out fractions of :26.44, :51:03 and 1:15.50 over the 'good' course.

Elizabeth Way prompted the pace from second on the outside with Etoile sitting pretty while in easy striking distance in third on the inside.

Turning for home, Hernandez swung Etoile off the rail and was getting to Theodora B. as the mile went in 1:38.68.

Two lengths in front with a furlong to go, Etoile had enough left to prevail with Court Return ending two lengths to the good of third-place Secret Message.

“I heard that other horse coming late but I wish she was coming closer,” said Hernandez. “It was too far out so my horse couldn't see. That's why I switched the whip to the left, to try to get her out and get her attention. But we did it.”

Rideforthecause, coming off her first stakes win in the 1 1/8 mile Canadian, was unable to mount a serious challenge while another half-length back in fourth.

Theodora B., Pretty Point and Elizabeth Way completed the order of finish. The final time was a solid 2:03.12.

The E.P. Taylor also was the final leg of Woodbine's “Ladies of the Lawn,” a four-race turf stakes series for fillies of mares consisting of the Nassau, Dance Smartly, Canadian and E.P. Taylor Stakes.

Elizabeth Way, the Nassau winner, ended third and fourth in the ensuing legs and finished with 19 points for the top bonus prize of $50,000. Second money of $15,000 went to Etoile with 17 points, and $10,000 for third, to Canadian winner Rideforthecause with 13. Points were awarded on a 10-7-5-3-2 basis for the top five finishers in each stakes with one point earmarked for other also rans.

Starship Jubilee captured the 2019 E.P. Taylor while prevailing as the inaugural “Ladies of the Lawn” champion and went on to be voted Canada's Horse of the Year.

Etoile, a French-bred 4-year-old by Siyouni owned by Peter Brant, Mrs. M. V. Magnier, and Mrs. Paul Shanahan, was recording her first G1 win and first victory of any stripe in just her third start this side of the pond.

In the E.P. Taylor, Etoile returned $7, $3.60 and $3.40 as the co-5-2 second choice with Theodora B.

Court Return, the longest shot on the board at almost 42-1, paid $28.90 and $11 for the place and show and completed a 3-5 exacta worth $205.60.

Secret Message ($5.50) rounded out a 3-5-6 trifecta worth $895 with 3-5-6-1 superfecta coming back at $1,714.85 for $1.

Etoile winning the E.P. Taylor under Rafael Hernandez

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