The Lead:
Turf Champions Day at Woodbine features 6 stakes races on a 12-race program that gets underway at 1:10 pm ET. A quartet of Grade 1 stakes includes juveniles in the Natalma and Summer, a world-class filly and mare turf matchup in the E.P. Taylor and the annual headliner, the Woodbine Mile.
Field Depth:
The field's lone Grade / Group 1 winner is BIG ROCK. FILO DI ARIANNA is a Grade 2 winner. NAVAL POWER and MY BOY PRINCE are Grade 1-placed. SECRET RESERVE has won at the Grade 3 level. BIG ROCK and NAVAL POWER clearly have faced the strongest company and hold the class edge.
Pace:
PLAYMEA TUNE exits sprints and leaves from the rail with a chance to be on or near the lead. FILO DI ARIANNA wired the local prep, while NIAGARA SKYLINE and MY BOY PRINCE typically are forwardly placed. The pace should be fair.
Our Eyes:
Here are my horse-by-horse notes.
#1-PLAYMEA TUNE: By far the least seasoned of the Woodbine Mile participants, having 3 sprints on Tapeta on his resume so far. Neck shy of being undefeated, nearly upsetting dominant local sprinter Patches O'Houlihan in the Bold Venture. Jockey John Velazquez owns a race-record 5 victories in the Woodbine Mile. Josie Carroll can join Gail Cox as the second female trainer to win this race.
#2-NAVAL POWER: Last seen Kentucky Derby Day in the race before the Run for the Roses, this Charlie Appleby trainee came up a neck short in the Grade 1 Turf Classic (pictured above). Also second-best in Keeneland's Grade 1 Maker's Mark Mile after winning Meydan's Grade 2 Singspiel in February during a light, 3-race campaign. Hard to knock 9: 6-2-0 record and Godolphin's quest for a third straight Woodbine Mile win, following Modern Games and Master of the Seas. This colt is a cut below those two, but fits strongly amongst this particular field.
#3-SECRET RESERVE: 6-year-old veteran has appeared in 16 local stakes, but makes his first Woodbine Mile appearance. No-threat third at 44-1 odds in the local prep, the Grade 2 King Edward, behind rematched rival Filo Di Arianna. Hard to recommend off of a 1-for-his-last-16 skid.
#4-BIG ROCK: Off the board in 3 starts this year overseas, the 2023 Group 1 Queen Elizabeth II Stakes winner from Ascot hasn't been the same of late. His 9: 5-3-0 mark a year ago made him one of Europe's most acclaimed milers. California-based Umberto Rispoli takes the mount for Maurizio Guarnieri, who took over training Big Rock this year as well as stablemate Blue Rose Cen, who goes in the E.P. Taylor. Hard not to look at the slipped results of both since the barn change and not pin some of the responsibility there.
#5-FILO DI ARIANNA: 5-for-5 Woodbine turf mark will be put to the ultimate local test, having already won this meeting's Highlander and King Edward, both Grade 2 stakes. May be best at 7 furlongs, but has strong 5: 3-1-0 mark in grass miles. Eight-year-old has made but 17 career starts, though winning 9, while hitting the sixth start of this campaign - a marathon by his standards.
#6-WIN FOR THE MONEY: The outsider of the Mark Casse-trained trio here that includes Filo Di Arianna and My Boy Prince. First trip over the Woodbine turf for this 5-year-old, who has lost 2 straight since winning his 2024 seasonal return in Gulfstream's Mr. Steele Stakes. Figures to be farther off the pace than his stablemates, especially in a 1-turn mile. Casse won the 2016 and 2017 Woodbine Mile editions, while jockey Patrick Husbands landed the 2001 renewal.
#7-NIAGARA SKYLINE: Last-out allowance winner snapped a 6-race losing streak and now takes a big bite of the apple in his first Grade 1. Should be the longest price on the tote, but could impact the early pace if hustled.
#8-MY BOY PRINCE: Top 3-year-old colt in Canada faces older horses while returning to turf. His 1-for-4 mark on grass does include placings in the Grade 1 Summer and Grade 1 Breeders' Cup Juvenile Turf a year ago. Modern Games is the only 3-year-old to win the Woodbine Mile. He'll get as much as a 5-pound weight break, which doesn't hurt. Sahin Civachi is runaway leading jockey at the meeting, and his winning 27% on turf locally this year.
Most Certain Exotics Contender:
NAVAL POWER is 8-for-9 in the exacta lifetime and goes for connections that have owned this race 2 years running.
Best Longshot Exotics Contender:
PLAYMEA TUNE is fast and has an upside / ceiling that hasn't yet been discovered.
Sending it in ($100 bankroll):
$75 exacta NAVAL POWER over PLAYMEA TUNE. $25 exacta PLAYMEA TUNE over NAVAL POWER.
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