Whimsical Stakes | Horse Racing Free Tips

Boardroom Graduates To Graded Stakes Winner In Whimsical

With the action heating up at Woodbine Racetrack near Toronto, Ontario, LNJ Foxwoods' 4-year-old filly Boardroom earned her first graded stakes title in the $150,000 Grade 3 Whimsical Stakes co-featured on Saturday's card.

With regular rider Luis Contreras up for Hall of Fame trainer Josie Carroll, Boardroom made her seasonal debut a winning one in the six-furlong stakes event for fillies and mares four years old and up.

Golden Ami, the winner's stablemate, held a narrow lead while flanked by 2019 Champion Female Sprinter Summer Sunday and the reigning divisional champ Artie's Princess through fractions of :21.93 and :43.93 over the fast Tapeta surface. Following close to the pace just behind the top trio, Contreras had positioned Boardroom to strike down the stretch and the talented filly out-finished the competitive bunch to score by a neck in a sizzling time of 1:08.35.

“Reading the program and by the way the track has been playing, that was pretty much the thing to do. Everything worked perfect. Every single step of the race I was right there,” said Contreras. “She's so amazing.”

Boardroom paid $5.70 to win as the 9-5 second choice. Our Secret Agent closed widest from the back to finish second, three-quarters of a length ahead of Amalfi Coast, who rallied between rivals to take third prize. Golden Ami finished fourth, a neck back, followed by 6-5 favorite Artie's Princess and Summer Sunday. Chart and Sav were scratched.

“I think she's a really special filly and the race set up beautifully for her, Luis sat patiently just off of them and the filly proved what she is,” said Carroll. “I wasn't [surprised how close she was] with the way this track is playing. This track is very speedy today, so she was a little closer than maybe we had anticipated prior, but the way the day's been unfolding, I wasn't that surprised.”

Boardroom put together a 3-1-1 record while earning more than $140,000 during her debut season last year as a three-year-old despite a few eventful trips. The Kentucky-bred daughter of Commissioner had closed her five-race 2020 campaign by winning the Duchess Stakes and finishing a head shy of Artie's Princess in the Grade 2 Bessarabian.

The post Boardroom Graduates To Graded Stakes Winner In Whimsical appeared first on Horse Racing News | Paulick Report.

Source of original post

Equibase Analysis: Boardroom Gets Top Billing In Whimsical Stakes

Saturday's Grade 3, $150,000 Whimsical Stakes brings together eight strong distaff sprinters running six furlongs on the all-weather course at Woodbine but the spotlight will be on two of them, Artie's Princess and Boardroom, who meet for the third time in their brief careers.

When last seen in the fall in the Grade 2 Bessarabian Stakes, Artie's Princess prevailed by a diminishing margin to win by a head over Boardroom, who had encountered stifling traffic on the far turn. Prior to that Boardroom had won the Duchess Stakes while Artie's Princess had won the Ruling Angel Stakes.

Our Secret Agent hopes to turn the tide on both fillies after finishing second in the Ruling Angel and Duchess before ending up third in the Bessarabian. Summer Sunday also has the credentials to run well, having taken the Belle Mahone Stakes last September three races following a third place effort in the 2020 Whimsical.

Chart is a stakes winner as well, having captured the Grade 2 Ontario Colleen Stakes on turf last summer at Woodbine. Amalfi Coast won the 2019 Bessarabian Stakes then 11 months later in October 2020 won the Sweet Briar Too Stakes so fits on all counts with these.

Sav has finished first or second in 11 of 16 career starts, with her best effort in a stakes coming when third in the Grade 3 Ontario Fashion Stakes last September. Golden Ami won the first two races of her career last March and November before a sixth place finish in the Grade 3 Sugar Swirl Stakes in her only try at this level.

Boardroom gets slight preference to win this year's Whimsical Stakes. She might be a perfect-five-for five in her career except for two things beyond her control- broken equipment and severe traffic trouble. After easily winning the first two starts of her career last June and July, Boardroom suffered from a piece of broken equipment in the Ruling Angel Stakes (won by Artie's Princess) which denied jockey Contreras steering control. The fact that Boardroom finished third in that race was a testament to her desire to win. Next up in October, Boardroom won the Duchess Stakes, earning a career best 101 ™ Equibase® Speed Figure in the process, which was the same figure Artie's Princess earned for her Ruling Angel victory.

When these two fillies next met in the Bessarabian in November, Boardroom was in position to win on the far turn when a horse boxed her in, forcing her and jockey Contreras to wait for a break in traffic when otherwise she would have been in high gear. After circling four paths wide on the turn while the winner got a much better trip, Boardroom was closing with every stride when the wire came, missing by a head with another 101 figure. With the outside post in the Whimsical, Boardroom should be able to avoid traffic while it is likely Golden Ami sets a brisk pace, chased closely by Sav, giving her the opportunity to close nicely to win this race.

Summer Sunday loves to win races, as evidenced by her record of eight victories from 12 starts on the all-weather main track at Woodbine. As a four year old (the same age as Boardroom and Artie's Princess) in 2019, Summer Sunday won the Hendrie Stakes and Royal North Stakes in succession, then in her 2020 debut she finished third in the Whimsical. Later last season she won an allowance race during the summer before taking the Belle Mahone Stakes in the fall, with the better of those two efforts earning a 100 ™ figure good enough to be competitive with the main contenders if repeated.

Artie's Princess won the first two starts of her career in the summer and fall of 2019, then nearly won the Frost King Stakes with a career-best 102 figure. Resting from November of that year to last June, Artie's Princess returned to win easily with a 99 figure then two later won the Ruling Angel with a 101 figure effort. Duplicating that in the Bessarabian and having won all three races in her career when returning from a layoff as she's doing today, Artie's Princess has every right to add to her already strong five-for-six record on the main track at Woodbine with a win in the Whimsical Stakes.

The rest of the field, with their best ™ Equibase Speed Figures, is Amalfi Coast (103), Chart (85), Golden Ami (100), Our Secret Agent (100) and Sav (99).

Win Contenders:
Boardroom
Summer Sunday
Artie's Princess

Whimsical Stakes – Grade 3
Race 9 at Woodbine
Saturday, June 19 – Post Time 5:31 PM E.T.
Six Furlongs on all-weather
Fillies and Mares, Four Year Olds and Upward
Purse: $150,000

The post Equibase Analysis: Boardroom Gets Top Billing In Whimsical Stakes appeared first on Horse Racing News | Paulick Report.

Source of original post

Boardroom, Amalfi Coast Headline Saturday’s Whimsical To Kick Off Woodbine’s Stakes Schedule

The Grade 3 $150,000 Whimsical Stakes and the $125,000 Star Shoot Stakes share the spotlight on Saturday's 12-race card at Woodbine.

Eight starters are set to go postward in the Whimsical, a 6-furlong main track event for fillies and mares, 4-year-olds and up, while eight hopefuls chase top prize in the 6-furlong main track Star Shoot for 3-year-old fillies.

The added-money offerings kick off Woodbine's lucrative 2021 stakes calendar, which includes the $1 million Queen's Plate (August 22), North America's oldest continually run stakes event, and first jewel in the Canadian Triple Crown series.

LNJ Foxwoods' stakes winner Boardroom, a finalist for the 2020 Champion Female Sprinter Sovereign Award, is set to vie for top honors in the Whimsical.

Trained by Canadian Horse Racing Hall of Fame inductee Josie Carroll, the 4-year-old daughter of Commissioner has assembled a 3-1-1 record from five lifetime starts.

“Solis/Litt bloodstock bought her at the OBS April 2019,” noted Jaime Roth of LNJ Foxwoods, whose top stars include multiple Grade 1 stakes champion Covfefe. “Her breeze was very special. Going 20.1 bounding over the track effortlessly was impressive. Also, when Josie called excited after her first 5-furlong work, we knew we may have a special filly.”

Boardroom's first two performances, both wins, justified the hype and hopes.

After breaking her maiden first time out on June 27 of last year, the bay, bred by Polo Green Stable, made it two straight scores in another strong outing, this time on July 30.

The Kentucky-bred finished third in the Ruling Angel, despite having a rein break while exiting the gate, in what was her first stakes appearance, on September 12. She then went on to notch her first added-money crown courtesy of a strong rallying effort in the Duchess Stakes on October 3.

“She's a wonderful filly,” Carroll said after the Duchess win. “This filly showed a lot of promise as soon as she came to me and she's lived up to every bit of it. This filly could be any kind. I think she's just going to get better.”

Roth was equally pleased with the victory.

“What impresses me most about Boardroom is her athleticism. She has a ton of class and is all business when she hits the track.”

Unraced as a 2-year-old, Boardroom will now contest her fourth consecutive stakes race, having finished second in the Grade 2 Bessarabian to close out her 2020 campaign.

Roth will be tuning in on Saturday to watch the Woodbine card.

“We are just so happy Woodbine has opened. While she may have been ready to run months ago giving her the winter off, in my opinion, is always good for fillies. It gives them time to relax, mature and grow.”

LNJ Foxwoods will also be represented in the Star Shoot, sending out Drunk Dial, a bay daughter of Dialed In who notched an impressive 5 ½-length win in her debut last November at Woodbine.

Kevin Attard, who won 43 races in 2020, and was a Sovereign Award finalist as Canada's outstanding trainer, sends out multiple stakes winner Amalfi Coast in the Whimsical.

The 5-year-old Terra Farms homebred endured an uneven 2020 campaign, winning one race and posting a third from six starts.

After a sixth-place effort to launch her season last June, a 7 ½-furlong allowance dash on the Woodbine Inner Turf, Amalfi Coast finished fourth to Elizabeth Way in the Grade 2 Nassau Stakes three weeks later.

The daughter of Tapizar was third and eighth, respectively, in the Grade 3 Seaway and Grade 2 Canadian, before a 4 ¼-length romp in the 6 ½-furlong Sweet Briar Too Stakes on October 23.

She closed out her year with a fourth in the Grade 2 Bessarabian.

“I think we were a little overambitious with her in a few spots,” offered Attard. “Right from the get-go, in her first start, she got slammed leaving the gate, and it was just a brutal trip. Then we had a little bit of a throat issue that we had to rectify and get sorted out. Then with the pandemic, getting off to a late start, things just kind of didn't get off on the right foot with her. She ended off her 3-year-old campaign so well, and then her 4-year-old year didn't start off as promising. But she showed she still had it with that win in the Sweet Briar Too. I was expecting a bit of a better race in her final start of the season, but she wintered well and looks good.”

Amalfi Coast brings a 5-2-2 mark from 14 starts into Saturday's engagement.

“She was with me in Caledon [Ontario] in the winter. She came to Woodbine in the spring and hasn't missed a beat. I'm excited to see her get going. It might be a tad short of her best, distance-wise, but she's good and sharp.”

The Whimsical goes as race nine with a 5:31 post time. The Star Shoot is slated as race seven with a 4:28 p.m. post time. Fans can watch and wager on all the action via HPIbet.com.

FIELD FOR THE WHIMSICAL

Post – Horse – Jockey – Trainer

1 – Amalfi Coast – Justin Stein – Kevin Attard

2 – Chart – Jerome Lermyte – Mark Casse

3 – Summer Sunday – Gary Boulanger – Stuart Simon

4 – Sav – Keveh Nicholls – Ricky Griffith

5 – Golden Ami – Daisuke Fukumoto – Josie Carroll

6 – Our Secret Agent – Emma-Jayne Wilson – Mark Casse

7 – Artie's Princess – Kazushi Kimura – Wesley Ward

8 – Boardroom – Luis Contreras – Josie Carroll

FIELD FOR THE STAR SHOOT

Post – Horse – Jockey – Trainer

1 – Sweet Souper Sweet – Patrick Husbands – Michael Trombetta

2 – La Libertee – Jerome Lermyte – Mark Casse

3 – Magical Soul – Leo Salles – Pat Parente

4 – Polyanthus (S) – Kazushi Kimura – Mark Casse

5 – California Lily – Emma-Jayne Wilson – Mark Casse

6 – Can't Buy Love (S) – Justin Stein –Michael Trombetta

7 – Drunk Dial – Luis Contreras – Josie Carroll

8 – Dirty Dangle – Daisuke Fukumoto – Mark Casse

The post Boardroom, Amalfi Coast Headline Saturday’s Whimsical To Kick Off Woodbine’s Stakes Schedule appeared first on Horse Racing News | Paulick Report.

Source of original post

‘She’s A Rocket’: Jean Elizabeth Wires Field In Woodbine’s Whimsical Stakes

Jean Elizabeth earned her eighth consecutive stakes victory as she dominated her rivals in the $125,000 Whimsical Stakes (Grade 3) on the first summer Sunday of the Woodbine meet in Ontario, Canada.

The popular shipper returned to the scene of her Sweet Briar Too and Grade 3 Ontario Fashion wins that launched her current streak last fall for trainer Larry Rivelli and co-owners Richard Ravin and Patricia's Hope LLC.

Leaving from inside of her nine foes in the six-furlong sprint for older fillies and mares, Jean Elizabeth darted out for a quick three-length lead and set fractions of :22.36 and :44.78 en route to a one-length victory in 1:09.86. Summer Sunday, Canada's reigning Champion Female Sprinter, chased the winner most of the way and finished third as Painting closed late to steal the runner-up honours.

“She's a rocket,” said winning jockey David Moran. “I wasn't expecting her to be that quick with her ears pricked down the back.”

Moran noted the speedy mare was just toying with her rivals.

“She just pricks her ears and I think she just waits for a bit of company to go on again.”

Jean Elizabeth, who set a stakes record last time out in February's Lightning City at Tampa Bay Downs and is targeting the Breeders' Cup Turf Sprint, paid $3.40 to win. The five-year-old homebred daughter of Adios Charlie and Rooney Doodle now boasts a career record reading 15-4-2 from 21 starts and more than $680,000 in purse earnings.

Moran, who is a father of nine children with his wife Maria expecting in the coming weeks, took a moment after winning the first graded stakes of the meet to thank his kids for their Father's Day cards and gifts and give a shout out to his own dad back home in Ireland.

He also went on to dedicate the race to a special horseman.

“I want to give a special mention today to Frank Forde – the backbone of horse racing here at Woodbine, one of the grooms – who passed away suddenly last week,” said Moran. “I'd like to dedicate this race to him.”

The post ‘She’s A Rocket’: Jean Elizabeth Wires Field In Woodbine’s Whimsical Stakes appeared first on Horse Racing News | Paulick Report.

Source of original post