ICYMI: September 9 – 10

TORONTO — By Matthew Lomon

Gloria!

For the first time in her career, Vergara is a graded stakes winner.

Named after Modern Family star, Sofia Vergara, the 4-year-old was finally able to add a graded stakes to her resume after claiming the $1 million Ladies Marathon at Kentucky Downs on Saturday. Her biggest win to date returned $6.52. 

Prior to last weekend’s victory, Vergara had been held out of the winner’s circle for over a year (last win was September 5, 2022). Interestingly, her last win also came at Kentucky Downs with jockey Joel Rosario steering the way.

Kentucky Downs is to Vergara what Gloria is to Phil Dunphy.

Two of a Kind

Private Creed (6-1) continued the trend of horses capturing their first career graded stakes win this past Saturday. The Steve Asmussen trainee, who also earned a second win at Kentucky Downs with Joel Rosario riding, did his best Vergara impression (see above) en route to capturing the $968,000 Franklin-Simpson Stakes.

The colt’s stellar performance capped off a banner day at the track for Rosario, who scored victories in three of the card’s first eight races.

There are two lessons to take from this: one, research how a horse performs on a particular track because home-field advantage certainly exists in racing. Two, do the exact same thing, but this time with the jockey.

Stormin’ Down the Runway

The trackside outfits weren’t the only display of fine fashion during the Greenwood Stakes on Saturday afternoon.

Thanks to a picture-perfect ride from Woodbine’s leading rider by earnings, Kazushi Kimura, Artie’s Storm left the fifth running of the Greenwood in style. The 5-year-old, who entered the affair as the 2-1 favourite, kicked things into another gear late to hold off Frosted Over (3-1) and Dreams of Tomorrow (9-2) .

Artie’s Storm has been the consummate pro in his 21-start career, putting together a remarkably consistent 6-5-5 line. For his efforts on Saturday, the gelding rewarded bettors with a $4.50 return for a $2 wager.

Batting .750

What do Toronto Blue Jays outfielder George Springer and Mohawk’s leading driver James MacDonald have in common? They both went 3-for-4 on Saturday.

Now, Springer’s meeting with the lowly Kansas City Royals doesn’t exactly compare to the stacked 13-race card at Mohawk, but it was a welcomed sight for Jays fans, nonetheless.

MacDonald, who was saddled with the much tougher task, was able to deliver victories in three of the four Champlain Stakes divisions. The dominant display began with Pass Line ($2.10 return on a $2 ticket), continued with undefeated pacer Legendary Hanover ($4.20), and finished with Kentucky-bred Its a Love Thing ($2.30).

Bettors who backed both MacDonald and the Jays won’t necessarily be on the Forbes list anytime soon, but this is a start.

Ride it Out

Battling through sloppy track conditions and stiff competition at Monmouth Park, Serifos needed just about every inch of track to claim the $100,000 Presious Passion Stakes.

Sunday afternoon’s ‘grind it out-style’ affair mimicked the early slate of NFL games, many of which started slowly and weren’t decided until the late stages. The 4-year-old Serifos pulled away in the final sixteenth to secure the biggest win of his 14-race career, and third overall.

As the 9-5 favourite heading into the contest, Serifos was able to do what the Minnesota Vikings couldn’t, avoiding the upset on Sunday.