The Road to Alabama Starts at Woodbine and Ends at Saratoga

Woodbine is well represented in Saturday's 129th running of the Grade 1, $600,000 Alabama Stakes for three-year-old fillies at the classic distance of a mile and a quarter.

PP Horse Jockey Wgt Trainer Odds
1 Sweet and Flawless (IRE)Ramon Dominguez 121 Eric Reed 20-1
2 Wynning Ride (CAN)Kent Desormeaux 121 Bob Baffert 6-1
3 Funny Moon ((KY)Alan Garcia 121 Christophe Clement 4-1
4 Don’t Forget Gil (NY)Rajiv Maragh 121 Mark Henning 6-1
5 Careless Jewel (KY)Robert Landry 120 Josie Carroll 5-2
6 Be Fair (FLA)Julien Leparoux 121 D. Wayne Lukas 8-1
7 Casanova Move (VA)Jose Lezcano 121 Todd Pletcher 8-1
8 Milwaukee Appeal (CAN)John Velazquez 121 Scott Fairlie 9-2

Local connections include Winsong Farms Canadian-bred Wynning Ride who raced in the Woodbine Oaks on June 7th finishing fourth to Milwaukee Appeal. Kentucky-bred Careless Jewel, owned by the Donver Stable, is trained by Woodbine's Josie Carroll and will be ridden by Rob Landry. Scott Fairlie sends out Oaks winning filly Milwaukee Appeal rounding out a little bit of Canadiana at Saratoga.

Much of the field arrives out of the Grade 1 Coaching Club American Oaks won by Funny Moon. Second through fourth place finishers, Don’t Forget Gil, Wynning Ride and Casanova Move all return to run in the Alabama.

Funny Moon wins the Coaching Club American Oaks



PP Horse Jockey Wgt Trainer Odds
1 Sweet and Flawless (IRE)Ramon Dominguez 121 Eric Reed 20-1

This is a horse whose races fail to live up to her name. On July 18th in the Arlington Oaks, the filly had a brutal trip which prompted me to post the following note in my blog:

"The filly was fractious in the gate, came out sideways and simply refused to settle. Racing sixth and last to the 3/4 mark of the race, jockey Junior Alvarado was having a difficult time settling his mount. Ten lengths back, Alvarado began to make a move heading into the far turn and was charging like gangbusters turning into the stretch only for Sweet and Flawless to turn her head toward the grandstand and swing wide into the lane.Alvarado persevered and his filly responded with a determined late run closing to earn the place money, beaten just half a length. It was an impressive result considering the troubled trip. Whenever a horse can make repeated moves, it's worth noting.If you keep a virtual stable, Sweet and Flawless should be on your watch list."

Since the narrow loss to Peach Brew, Sweet And Flawless has been on my watch list with only one workout to report of 5F in 1:02 3/5. I would assume that trainer Eric Reed has been working hard to settle the the filly who has BRISnet liner notes such as "Unruly", "Steadied" and "Missed Break, driving" from races prior to the Oaks.

It is worth noting that she has the best late pace figure in the the last outing of all horses racing today. (Milwaukee Appeal is next best.) With favoured inside positioning and a jockey upgrade to Ramon Dominguez, there is much to like about this 20-1 shot.

2 Wynning Ride (CAN)Kent Desormeaux 121 Bob Baffert 6-1
The Canadian-bred got caught inside of a fast runner last out in the CCA Oaks hitting 3/4 in a pacey 1:10.76 for a mile and a quarter. Jockey Kent Desormeaux returns and will likely find himself stalking a front-running Careless Jewel who is less likely to quit. Recent workouts at the Spa are promising and the fresh filly could grow from the most recent experience.

3 Funny Moon ((KY)Alan Garcia 121 Christophe Clement 4-1
Funny Moon overcame trip difficulties to race last-to-first to win the CCA Oaks which was set up nicely for her with the fast pace. Racing wide throughout, jockey Alan Garcia straightened the filly out mid-stretch and overcame a tiring field to win by a neck. Funny Moon aired out in the slop at Belmont should the conditions come up wet and if you draw a line through a poor Acorn showing there's much to like.

4 Don’t Forget Gil (NY)Rajiv Maragh 121 Mark Henning 6-1
This Mark Hennig filly takes on her fifth graded event in a row though she hasn't won since the beginning of that string in the Florida Oaks. In her most recent outing in the CCA Oaks, DFG found a second gear late in the stretch and rallied to pass Wynning Ride for place. DFG went into the CCA Oaks off a two-month layoff and recent workouts suggest the daughter of Kafwain is ready to improve.

5 Careless Jewel (KY)Robert Landry 120 Josie Carroll 5-2
Josie Carroll is having a solid Woodbine meet with earnings of $1,485,265 (103-23-15-22). Jockey Rob Landry is on a hot streak having won four races last Sunday at Woodbine and has been the rider for the Tapit filly in all but her first start. Since teaming up, Landry and Careless Jewel are a perfect 3for3 including two wins at Woodbine and a stunning 7 1/4 length victory in the Delaware Oaks. Careless Jewel has been training up a storm and the only question that remains is can she graduate to the mile and a quarter distance. In an August 19th NYRA press release, Carroll stated: “You know, obviously, never having gone it… is a big unknown for her,” said Carroll. “When we first stepped up from sprinting to go a mile and a sixteenth, we thought this filly would stretch out. She proved herself then, and now it’s just kind of another test, really. Until she does it, we don’t know for sure.”
She's proven on dirt. She's beautifully bred. However, she won't have the lead to herself if Wynning Ride and Be Fair decide to make a race of it.

6 Be Fair (FLA)Julien Leparoux 121 D. Wayne Lukas 8-1
The Alabama marks the seventh consecutive graded event for Be Fair. Unlike Funny Moon, Be Fair actually performed well in the G1 Acorn finishing fifth, beaten less than five lengths, on a muddy Belmont track. Last out, Be Fair romped in the slop to win the G3 Lake George going a mile and an eighth at Saratoga. Julien Leparoux will ride for D. Wayne Lukas.

7 Casanova Move (VA)Jose Lezcano 121 Todd Pletcher 8-1
Casanova Move made quite a move late in the stretch of the CCA Oaks to steal second away from Wynning Ride. The daughter of turf sire Langfuhr showed impressive stamina following a hot pace throughout. She has been close-but-no-cigar in a string of graded events against nemesis Justwhistledixie. Despite a willingness to come on again last out, Funny Moon's race was much more visually appealing and with nothing impressive on the workout line it's a guessing game if she's going to improve.

8 Milwaukee Appeal (CAN)John Velazquez 121 Scott Fairlie 9-2
A rider change from Stewart Elliott to Velazquez is interesting. Fairlie sends his big filly back into the mix against fillies after two in a row against the boys on the Canadian Triple Crown trail. That fact should not be discounted lightly. Milwaukee Appeal won the Woodbine Oaks with ease and came within a half-length of winning the Queen's Plate at the classic distance over the boys with just two-weeks rest. A heartbreaking loss in the Prince of Wales by a fingernail proved she has skills on the dirt and a near-bullet work of 5F in 59.1 at Saratoga tells you she is ready.

Despite the absence of Rachel Alexandra, this is a very accomplished field. I like Milwaukee Appeal to capture this event just holding off a late charging Funny Moon and Sweet And Flawless. (Keep an eye on Sweet And Flawless in the post parade!)

Milwaukee Appeal won the Woodbine Oaks, can she win the Alabama?


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Woodbine fans will be treated to a re-match of the Nijinsky Stakes between Rahy's Attorney, Marchfield and Champs Elysees on Sunday in the G2 Sky Classic Stakes. A full preview of that event will be posted here at Triple Dead Heat in advance of the event. (Hopefully Saturday night, at the very least by Sunday at noon.)

Saturday's feature is the $125,000 ETERNAL SEARCH STAKES which features a small five-horse field of three year-old Ontario sired fillies.
P# Horse Jockey Wgt Trainer M/L
1 Dancing Charm (ON) E Ramsammy 115 D Pleterski 4/1
2 Lunar Linda (ON) C Fraser 115 I Black 7/2
3 Double Malt (ON) E R Da Silva 119 M Pierce 7/5
4 Moonlit Beauty (ON) C Sutherland 115 J P Le Blanc, Jr. 8/1
5 Cataleenda (ON) T Kabel 115 N McKnight 10/1

Malcolm Pierce sends out Double Malt as the 7-5 favourite but will face stiff competition from Ian Black's Lunar Linda. Pierce and Black have won their fair share of Stakes events this meet.

On Sunday, the under card for the Sky Classic Stakes feature is the Belle Geste Stakes for fillies 3YO and upwards foaled in Ontario.

P# HorseJockey Wgt Trainer M/L
1 Glitter Rox (ON) 5/M L G Olguin 121 I Black 9/5
2 Mullins Beach (ON) 3/F L E R Da Silva 116 M Pierce 7/2
3 Dance to My Tune (ON) 5/M L P Husbands 117 M E Casse 9/2
4 Saskawea (ON) 5/M L T Kabel 121 S Attard 2/1
5 Hello Maggie May (ON) 4/F L C Sutherland 119 R L Attfield 8/1

This should be quite the battle as trainers Black, Pierce and Roger Attfield have all done well in turf events this meet and Sid Attard and Mark Casse are no slouches either. Glitter Rox won after a long layoff last out in a short field and is named the 9-5 morning line choice.

Enjoy your Friday night everyone and best of luck to all the the Woodbine connections in Saturday's Alabama Stakes. Check back in on the weekend for a full preview of the Sky Classic Stakes.