Photo:
Woodbine / Michael Burns
Fire and Wine led at every call Saturday at Woodbine and held off favored Military Time by 2 1/2 lengths to win the Grade 3, $123,774 Ontario Derby for 3-year-olds.
Jalon Samuel sent the Lexitonian colt to the front from post 3 in the 1 1/8-mile Tapeta test, and Fire and Wine never gave it up. Zeljko Krcmar trains the winner for owner Paul Ryder.
Teleport pressed from the outside through an opening quarter-mile in 23.81 seconds and a half in 47.83. Samuel then let Fire and Wine quicken the tempo around the far turn, and the colt opened a two-length lead through three-quarters in 1:11.67.
Military Time tracked two wide between horses. Fraser Aebly roused him at the five-sixteenths pole, and he made a three-wide bid at the top of the stretch but could not cut into the margin. Fire and Wine reached a mile in 1:37.24, kept finding more through the final furlong and stopped the clock in 1:50.80 on the fast track. He paid $10.30, $5.10 and $3.30 and earned $89,117.
Military Time finished second for trainer Mark Casse and returned $3.80 and $2.40. Brachetto trailed the field up the backstretch, rallied along the rail through the far turn and angled out four wide to finish third, 5 1/2 lengths back, under Ryan Munger for trainer Julia Carey. He paid $3.20 to show. Trevally rode the rail in the stretch and finished fourth, 8 1/4 lengths behind the winner, with David Moran up for John LeBlanc Jr.
Final Score raced third early and then dropped back abruptly before the three-eighths pole. The Equibase chart noted something amiss, and he finished last of nine.
Fire and Wine came into the race off a front-running win Sept. 27 in the Breeders’ Stakes, the turf finale of the Canadian Triple Crown. He ran third behind Luster and Military Time in the King’s Plate on Aug. 15. In the Prince of Wales at Fort Erie, he got caught in a speed duel and was overtaken. As a 2-year-old, he beat Military Time gate to wire in the Coronation Futurity over the same Woodbine surface.
The result sharpens the Sovereign Award debate for Canada’s champion 3-year-old male. Military Time owns the Prince of Wales, and Fire and Wine now has the Ontario Derby to go with the Breeders’.
Quadruple splits rivals for Fashion upset
Quadruple rallied between horses at the eighth pole and drew off to a 2 3/4-length victory Saturday in the Grade 3, $123,774 Ontario Fashion Stakes. She upset odds-on favorite Creed’s Gold and seven other fillies and mares at Woodbine.
Ryan Munger rode the 5-year-old Frankel mare for trainer Josie Carroll and owner Mark Dodson in the six-furlong Tapeta sprint. Thirty-five minutes earlier, Munger had finished third aboard Brachetto in the Ontario Derby.
Quadruple got squeezed a bit at the start and settled fifth, 5 3/4 lengths behind Spinelli, who sprinted clear through an opening quarter-mile in 22.40 seconds. Spinelli still led by two lengths through a half in 44.79. Munger guided Quadruple along the inside up the backstretch and around the turn.
Quadruple came out in upper stretch, poked her head in front through five furlongs in 57.08 and split rivals at the eighth pole. From there she pulled clear and finished in 1:09.42 on the fast track. She paid $34.30, $16.30 and $9.10 and earned $74,264.
Ultimate Authority chased in behind, steadied slightly past the quarter pole and swung outside the leader to hold second, 2 3/4 lengths back, for trainer Saffie Joseph Jr. Xarel Forde replaced Edwin Gonzalez in the saddle, and Ultimate Authority returned $17.50 and $9.90. Austere saved ground on the turn and rallied inside to finish third, 4 1/2 lengths back, under Romero Maragh for Brendan Walsh. She paid $8.50 to show. Sea Runner, a second Carroll runner, came from last under Fraser Aebly to finish fourth, 5 1/4 lengths back.
Creed’s Gold raced three to four wide on the turn for Mark Casse and Rafael Hernandez and lacked a late kick, finishing fifth. Les Reys, second choice on the morning line, swung seven wide under Emma-Jayne Wilson and finished eighth for Miguel Clement. Spinelli faded to seventh. The stewards scratched Minimum Forty.
A Juddmonte-bred daughter of Frankel out of the Kyllachy mare Soffia, Quadruple raced in Ireland before she joined Carroll. She came into the Ontario Fashion off a second-place finish, beaten 1 1/4 lengths, in the Sweet Briar Too Stakes on the Woodbine turf Sept. 19. Before that, she ran third in the Seaway Stakes (G3) on Aug. 22. Munger rode her both times.
