TORONTO — By Matthew Lomon

Super Bowl Preview

Saturday’s stellar 12-race card at Woodbine more than lived up to the hype.

A day headlined by four stakes, three of which granted the winner an automatic berth into the Super Bowl of Thoroughbred racing (the Breeders’ Cup), started off with a bang courtesy of Carson’s Run. The 2-year-old colt rallied from last place to track down favourite My Boy Prince and secure the $500,000 bet365 Summer Stakes (G1T) by 2 ¼ lengths. For his herculean effort, Carson’s Run paid $8.60.

Immediately after that, in the Vigil Stakes (G3), Patches O’Houlihan held on by a nose to extend his win streak to six. The victory also gave the gelding his second consecutive graded triumph. He paid $4.40.

The day’s largest field (13) belonged to the Johnnie Walker Natalma Stakes (G1T). It also happened to feature an unexpected winner in She Feels Pretty, who went off at 8-1. Under rider John Velazquez, the filly outlasted odds-on favourite Dazzling Star (GB) to claim the biggest (and second overall) win of her young career, returning $18.

Finally, in the main event, Irish-bred Master of The Seas did exactly what he travelled all this way to do: dominate the competition and take home the $1 million Ricoh Woodbine Mile. Generating a light $2.80 return, Master of The Seas now turns his attention to the Breeders’ Cup in November.

Playing the Long Game

Continuing the theme of domination, the $220,000 Milton Stakes for pacing mares at Mohawk was decided in record fashion by 5-year-old Grace Hill.

Sent off as the 4-5 favourite, nothing about Saturday night’s result was necessarily surprising, but the journey leading up to it surely was. Purchased for a relatively modest $75,000 in 2019, Grace Hill soon became a financial planner’s dream, having now racked up more than $1.7 million in career earnings.

She’s done so by producing a 27-10-5 record from 57 starts, headlined by a victory in last year’s $540,000 Breeders Crown Mare Pace.

Taking it all in Stride

The 14^th running of the Open Mind at Churchill Downs was taken very literally by winner Yuugiri.

Out of the gate, things looked rough for the 4-year-old filly. A slow break had Yuugiri running from an uncomfortable position, but that didn’t stop her from navigating through the crowd to find a more desirable lane.

With superstar jockey Flavien Prat calling the shots, Yuugiri showed incredible poise before making a perfectly time move to the outside, never to look back. Her performance on Saturday serves as a lesson that horses, like any professional athlete, understands how to adapt on the spot, and weave their way out of tricky situations.

For those who backed Yuugiri, their patience was rewarded with $8.74 for the win.

A Worthwhile Venture

How could Sunday’s headliner event at Woodbine possibly follow up Saturday’s exhilarating lineup? How about with a $16.30 winner?

Ready to Venture (GB) entered the $150,000 Seaway Stakes (G3) without a graded win to her name across 19 career starts. That all changed after the 5-year-old mare pulled away from Millie Girl (4-1) and Il Malocchio (4-1) to capture the most prestigious win of her career.

The Seaway was just her third run of a 2023 season that hadn’t been all that kind prior to Sunday. With fourth- and tenth-place finishes on her scorecard, the expectations for Ready to Venture were perhaps not overly high. However, having spent the majority of time overseas against stiff competition, she was conditioned for a race like this.

Pro tip: don’t simply rely on results to form your evaluation of a horse. Level of competition faced, record on different surfaces and tracks, and racing style are few factors to include in your decision.

Hope and Faith

It doesn’t happen all that often, but there are times when the runaway favourite has to work a little harder than most people expected to earn the win.

That was the story for Eternal Hope during the slugfest that was the $350,000 Fasig-Tipton Jockey Club Oaks Invitational (G3) at Belmont on Saturday. Entering the contest as the even-money favourite, the 3-year-old filly rallied wide from last-of-seven to squeeze past Neecie Marie (14-1) for the victory.

The Irish-bred did her best Colorado Buffaloes impression, taking things down to the wire to avoid the major upset.

If there was a reward for most nerve-racking $4 win, Eternal Hope can soon expect a plaque with her name on it.