The bay gelding won over the Tapeta in Toronto by 5 1/4 lengths at second asking July 30 before running a well-beaten fifth in the King's Plate Aug. 20. Winning the second leg of the Canadian Triple Crown Oct. 1 in the Breeders' Stakes by a nose over SW Elysian Field (Hard Spun), Touch'n Ride was installed as the 2-1 favorite here.

With an even beginning, the Layne Giliforte trainee settled to the outside mid-pack just before the first turn as Solo Album cutoff Twin City to set the pace. Clocking all the fractions throughout, the leader held sway along the rail up the backstretch, continued into the final turn and with the field bearing down on him, crossed the wire by a length ahead of Touch'n Ride.

Once the steward's took down Soul Album, he was placed fifth, with Cool Kiss (Kantharos) finishing second, Twowaycrossing (English Channel) third, as Twin City was moved to fourth.

“I'm really proud of him,” said Canadian Horse Racing Hall of Fame jockey Robert Landry, now General Manager of Chiefswood Stables. “Earlier in the year, we didn't even nominate him to the Triple Crown. He was a slow developer. In April, Layne and I watched him work together and I said, 'We may have made a mistake not nominating him.' You know, you've got to let the horses tell you and he did, and he ran a tremendous race. We'll give him a little break now. He's done a lot. We'll give him a chance to get bigger and stronger and bring him back next year.”

Pedigree Notes:
This was the 57th graded stakes winner for Candy Ride (Arg). Out of SW Niigon's Touch, who is also responsible for Breeders' S. hero Neepawa (Scat Daddy), the winner has a weanling half-sister by Justify who was foaled Apr. 1. Her dam was bred to Twirling Candy for next year.

Saturday, Woodbine
ONTARIO DERBY-GIII, C$179,300, Woodbine, 10-21, 3yo, 1 1/8m (AWT), 1:48.93, ft.
1–TOUCH'N RIDE, 122, g, 3, by Candy Ride (Arg)
         1st Dam: Niigon's Touch (SW, $204,615), by Niigon
         2nd Dam: Laser Touch, by Touch Gold
         3rd Dam: Laser Hawk, by Silver Hawk
1ST GRADED STAKES WIN. O/B-Chiefswood Stables Limited (ON); T-Layne S. Giliforte; J-Kazushi Kimura. C$108,000. Lifetime Record: 5-3-0-1, $317,257. *1/2 to Neepawa (Scat Daddy), SW, $307,222. Werk Nick Rating: A+++. *Triple Plus* Click for the eNicks report & 5-cross pedigree. Click for the free Equineline.com catalogue-style pedigree.
2–Cool Kiss, 120, g, 3, Kantharos–Hot Kiss, by Philanthropist. 1ST GRADED BLACK TYPE. (C$40,000 RNA Ylg '21 CANSEP). O-Newtop Stables, John E. Russell and Joseph Depaulo; B-Phoenix Racing (ON); T-Michael P. De Paulo. C$36,000.
3–Twowaycrossing, 120, g, 3, English Channel–Double Guns Girl, by Langfuhr. 1ST GRADED BLACK TYPE. O/B/T-Roger Attfield (ON). C$18,000.
Margins: 1 1/4, 3HF, NK. Odds: 2.40, 25.10, 34.25.
Also Ran: Twin City, Solo Album, Forever Dixie, Stanley House, American Blaze, Velocitor. Scratched: Souper Blessing.
Click for the Equibase.com chart and the TJCIS.com PPs. VIDEO, sponsored by FanDuel TV.

Ontario Derby (G3)
1.800 m – 180.000 CAD – for 3yo
Woodbine

Touch'n Ride (CAN)
(3C Candy Ride -Niigon's Touch, by Niigon)
J : @kazushi0096
T : Layne S. Giliforte
O : Chiefswood Stables Limitedpic.twitter.com/SyewuyxScU

— (@WorldRacing1) October 21, 2023

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Graded-stakes action is happening at Keeneland and Woodbine on Saturday and both tracks should feature sunny skies and seasonal, if perhaps slightly below-average, temperatures. That leaves the racing to heat things up and Keeneland takes center stage with the GII Lexus Raven Run S. over seven furlongs for the 3-year-old fillies. A field of nine will line up led by the nearly undefeated Alva Starr (Lord Nelson). Her only two losses, if you can call them that, were both narrow second-place efforts when facing tough company at Oaklawn Park and Churchill Downs back in May. She's stepped up since, posting a 6 3/4-length win in Delaware's Dashing Beauty S. and topping that off with an 8 3/4-length romp in the GII Prioress S. at Saratoga Sept. 2. In her first work at Keeneland, she fired a best-of-18 bullet, going five furlongs in :58 Oct. 8 for trainer Brett Brinkman.

Situated just to the favorite's inside, Dazzling Blue (Into Mischief) went three-for-three to start her career before running second to Maple Leaf Mel (Cross Traffic) in Belmont's GIII Victory Ride S. July 8. Third but well beaten behind Alva Starr as the odds-on favorite in the Prioress, the $500,000 KEESEP grad will look to turn the tables on that rival for Juddmonte and trainer Brad Cox.

Charles Town Oaks winner Vahva (Gun Runner) also brings a run of recent good form in for Cherie DeVaux. Third in that Victory Ride at Belmont, she posted a career-best 92 Beyer Speed Figure in that Charles Town win and her only two major defeats both came at the hands of MGISW winner Pretty Mischievous (Into Mischief) at the Fair Grounds earlier in the year. She's also one of only two fillies in the field (the other being Lady Radler {Kantharos}) with experience over the Keeneland oval.

North of the border, Woodbine plays host to the GIII Ontario Derby with thrilling Breeders' S. winner Touch'n Ride (Candy Ride {Arg}) coming back off short rest. Fifth after a troubled trip in the King's Plate Aug. 20, the 3-year-old gelding just out-dueled talented filly Elysian Field (Hard Spun) on the grass to nab the third leg of the Canadian Triple Crown. Back on the Tapeta Saturday for his first try at 1 1/8 miles, he keeps leading rider Kazushi Kimura aboard.

Another Canadian Triple Crown race winner lines up just to inside with Prince of Wales S. victor Velocitor (Mor Spirit) turning back to the all-weather off that score in the slop at Fort Erie Sept. 12. And while the field won't have Elysian Field to contend with Saturday, they'll have another pair of fillies to test in GIII Selene S. winner Solo Album (Curlin), who faces the boys for the first time, and last-out Ontario Damsel S. heroine Forever Dixie (Quality Road), a respectable fourth in last year's GIII Grey S. against males, to the outside.

The racing returns to Kentucky Sunday with just a single graded-stakes race on the card: the GIII Rood and Riddle Dowager S. The marathon 1 1/2-mile turf contest for fillies and mares attracted the top two finishers of the GIII Ladies Marathon S. in Vergara (Noble Mission {GB}) and Transient (GB) (Sea the Stars {Ire}). For the 5-year-old Transient, both of her prior starts over Sunday's distance were defeats to fellow entry Personal Best (Tapit) who also exits the Ladies Marathon from fourth. Only two of these fillies (the previously mentioned Vergara and Loved Reiko {Tapit}) have wins over this distance while there are several runners in the field trying the stretch out for the first time.

The post The Sun Shines Bright On Weekend Graded Stakes appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions.

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