Amalfi Coast Nips Jeanie B At Wire To Win Royal North

Riding the rail throughout much of the six-furlong Grade 2 Royal North, Amalfi Coast dug in and nipped Jeanie B at the wire, the margin of victory a nose in a photo finish at Woodbine Race Track in Toronto, Ontario.

Hanging out mid-pack throughout much of the race, Justin Stein kept Amalfi Coast steady behind front runners Sister Peacock and Jeanie B until the field of eight hit the stretch on the E. P. Taylor Turf Course at Woodbine. In the straight, Jeanie B took over the lead, with the favorite Change of Control sprinting on her outside. Stein and Amalfi Coast made their big run on the inside, steadily shortening Jeanie B's advantage in the last sixteenth of a mile. At the wire, the two seemed to be on even terms, a photo deciding the winner. In only her second start of 2021, Amalfi Coast gets her first win of the year in the G2 Royal North, with Jeanie B second and Change of Control third.

The final time for the six-furlong turf stakes was 1:09.15. Lady Grace, Fairywren, Sister Peacock, Lead Guitar, and Jeannie's Beepbeep rounded out the field.

Find this race's chart here.

Amalfi Coast paid $9.60, $6.30, and $2.60. Jeanie B paid $7.30 and $3.10. Change of Control paid $2.10. Wagers on Lead Guitar, who broke awkwardly and was never a factor, were refunded after the stewards declared that she did not get a fair start.

Bred in Ontario by Terra Farms, Amalfi Coast is by Tapizar out of Include Katherine, by Include. The 5-year-old mare was third in the Grade 3 Whimsical Stakes last out, with her win in the G2 Royal North improving her to 1-0-1 in 2021 and 6-2-3 in 15 lifetime starts for career earnings of $480,367.

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Eclipse Apprentice Kimura Wins First Graded Stakes Guiding Lady Grace To Royal North Victory

Lady Grace and jockey Kazushi Kimura just missed the track record, taking the Grade 2 Royal North Stakes in 1:06.90 on Saturday at Woodbine Racetrack in Toronto, Ontario.

The six-furlong record for the E.P. Taylor Turf Course is 1:06.88, set by Kasuga on July 7, 2017.

Tracy Farmer's Lady Grace led a Mark Casse exacta worth $131.20 in the $175,000 co-feature for fillies and mares, with 11-1 shot Eyeinthesky and Patrick Husbands finishing a close second.

Making her graded stakes debut, Lady Grace settled off the pace near the back of the pack and staged a late rally between rivals to pull off the mild 6-1 upset and return $14.80 to win.

A third-place finisher in last year's William D. Graham Memorial Stakes at Woodbine, Lady Grace entered the Royal North fresh off a three-length victory in a six-furlong allowance turf sprint three weeks ago.

“Last time winning with her, the filly was such a nice horse,” said Kimura. “I'm not surprised today.”

“Last time I went to the front, but today there were so many speed horses to the front side, I just changed my mind, sat behind, stalking from behind then she came flying today.” 

The favorites were on top, led by Sister Peacock through panels of :21.91 and :43.50. Her popular stablemate Summer Sunday, Canada's reigning Champion Female Sprinter, pressed the pace with supplemental entry Gamble's Candy three-wide and Foxy Belle stalking along the rail.

However, the late-closers stole the show. Lady Grace came flying by to prevail by three-quarters of a length with Gary Barber's Eyeinthesky, who closed from mid-pack, edging out Bohemian Bourbon, Charmaine's Mia and Sister Peacock for the runner-up honours.

It was 3 1/4 lengths back to Foxy Belle at the finish, with Summer Sunday and Gamble's Candy rounding out the order.

Bred in Florida by William C. Schettine and Willian B. Haines, the four-year-old Kantharos-Smart Sis filly is a half-sister to multiple graded stakes winner Sis City.

Kimura, who was named Outstanding Apprentice Jockey in both Canada and the U.S. last year, picked up his first graded stakes victory. He was the top turf rider and won a total of 146 races in 2019 to place third in Woodbine's overall jockey standings. While his apprenticeship ended last October, the talented reinsman sits fourth on the leaderboard with 23 wins in a close race through the first 24 race days of the current meet.

Live Thoroughbred racing continues, without spectators, on Sunday at Woodbine Racetrack with post time for the first of nine races set for 1 p.m.

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Summer Sunday To Defend Her Title In Woodbine’s Royal North Stakes

Summer Sunday, one of two Stuart Simon trainees in the field, seeks to defend her crown in Saturday's co-featured Grade 2 $175,000 Royal North Stakes, at Woodbine.

Bred in Ontario by Trinity West Stables and owned by Anne and William Scott, five-year-old Summer Sunday will look to make a return to the winner's circle for the first time since her victory in the Royal North last July.

Her stablemate, multiple stakes champion Sister Peacock, will also go postward in the six-furlong turf event, part of a card that also includes the $125,000 Trillium Stakes (Grade 3, 1 1/16 miles on the Tapeta) for fillies & mares, three-year-olds and up.

A daughter of Silent Name (JPN) out of the Millennium Allstar mare Dancing Allstar, Summer Sunday heads into the Royal North off a third-place effort in the six-furlong main track Whimsical (Grade 3) on June 21 at Woodbine.

Simon is hoping the bay mare, named Canada's champion female sprinter in 2019, builds off that first start of her campaign.

“I think she was pretty ready the first time,” said Simon. “She hooked a really tough horse [sprint star Jean Elizabeth]. The way the race unfolded, with nobody else going with that filly, I thought she ran a pretty adequate race for her first time this year.”

Debuting in July 2017, Summer Sunday wowed in winning a 5 1/2-furlong Tapeta race by five lengths. She then stepped up to the stakes ranks, notching victories in the Nandi and Muskoka, finishing her campaign a perfect three-for-three.

After a ninth-place finish in the Beaumont (Grade 3) at Keeneland in April 2018 to begin her three-year-old season, Summer Sunday rhymed off wins in four of her next five starts, from April 2018-July 2019.

Summer Sunday, 7-1-1 in 12 starts, closed the curtain on her 2019 season with a runner-up finish in the Seaway Stakes (Grade 3) and a fourth in the Ontario Fashion (Grade 3).

“She's coming into this race in really good shape,” noted Simon. “She seems to be herself. She didn't run badly the first time. I think she'll run that much better this time. With her turf form – she's run once and won this race last year – she should run well on Saturday. I always thought she'd like the turf, I just never had the chance to fit a race in until last year, and after the Royal North, I never had a chance to run her on it again until now.”

A four-year-old daughter of Real Solution, Sister Peacock, co-owned by Simon (along with Brent and Russell McLellan) comes into the Royal North off a sharp score on June 13 at the Toronto oval. The Kentucky-bred took a seven-furlong main track race by three-quarters-of-a-length.

The win was the fifth in 11 starts for the bay filly, who won last year's editions of the Star Shoot Stakes and William D. Graham Memorial.

Bred by Ken and Sarah Ramsey, Sister Peacock sports a record of 1-2-2 in five turf tries.

“I think she'll run well, too,” said Simon. “She's really strong on the turf and won on it here last year. She just got beat on the turf at Saratoga [third, a neck back of winner Eyeinthesky, in the Galway Stakes] last year. She's going into the race in really good shape as well.”

Expect Summer Sunday and Sister Peacock to be prominent early.

“Both of the horses don't need the lead, but they're usually both up close. They have similar running styles that way, but they are both good, honest fillies.”

Other entrants include Gary Barber's four-year-old Eyeinthesky, and Barbara Minshall trainee Another Time (cross-entered in the Trillium), who finished second, a neck back of Elizabeth Way, in the Nassau (Grade 2) on June 27.

The Trillium Stakes has attracted eight starters, including 2019 multiple Sovereign Award finalist Amalfi Coast, graded stakes-placed Painting, who rallied impressively to finish second to Jean Elizabeth in the Whimsical (Grade 3), and Live Oak Plantation's multiple stakes winner Souper Escape.

The Royal North is scheduled as the ninth race on Saturday's 10-race program. The Trillium goes as race eight. First post is 1 p.m. Fans can watch and wager on all the action via HPIBet.com.

$175,000 ROYAL NORTH STAKES

Post – Horse – Jockey – Trainer

1 – Foxxy Belle – Justin Stein – Norm McKnight

2 – Bohemian Bourbon – Leo Salles – Ian Wilkes

3 – Summer Sunday – Rafael Hernandez – Stuart Simon

4 – Another Time – Jerome Lermyte – Barbara Minshall

5 – Sister Peacock – Emma-Jayne Wilson – Stuart Simon

6 – Eyeinthesky – Patrick Husbands – Mark Casse

7 – Gamble's Candy – Luis Contreras – Josie Carroll

8 – Lady Grace – Kazushi Kimura – Mark Casse

9 – Charmaine's Mia – Steven Bahen – Michael McDonald

$125,000 TRILLIUM STAKES

Post – Horse – Jockey – Trainer

1 – Souper Escape – Luis Contreras – Michael McDonald

2 – Amalfi Coast – Justin Stein – Kevin Attard

3 – Art of Almost – Emma-Jayne Wilson – Roger Attfield

4 – Theodora B. – Patrick Husbands – Michael Dickinson

5 – Nantucket Red – Steve Bahen – Ashlee Brnjas

6 – Painting – Kazushi Kimura – Josie Carroll

7 – Another Time – Jerome Lermyte – Barbara Minshall

8 – Wings of Dawn – Rafael Hernandez – Mark Casse

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