December 4, 2023
TORONTO — By Matthew Lomon
Dancin’ Down the Line
Frac Dancer made it clear who was in the lead this past Saturday’s Clarendon Stakes at Woodbine.
Sent off at 3-1, the 2-year-old colt held the top position from gate to wire to capture the $150,000 affair by a neck over 9-5 favorite Midnight Mascot. Now sporting an unblemished 2-0-0 line through as many starts, Frac Dancer can also add ‘Stakes Winner’ to his rookie resume.
Saturday’s effort proved that a 5 ½-length victory in his professional debut on Oct. 15 at Woodbine was no fluke.
Frac Dancer paid $8.10 for the Clarendon win.
Shaman Superstar
Those who tailed one of Railbirds’ finest, Andy McNamara, for the Shady Well Stakes, most likely had a much better day than those who didn’t.
Shamans Girl, a 23-1 longshot making her first career appearance on Saturday at Woodbine, put on a performance for the ages to capture the $150,000 contest for 2-year-old fillies.
After falling behind early, the Harold Ladouceur trainee mounted a patient rally that ended with a perfectly timed surge to the front of the six-horse pack for a 3 ½-length triumph.
Closing line favorites, Onella (even-money) and Master Aragorn (8-5), finished fifth and sixth, respectively.
Shamans Girl returned a whopping $49.30.
Add it to the List
Hoist the Gold scored the second graded stakes victory of his 26-start career this past Saturday at Aqueduct.
The 4-year-old colt delivered a decisive 4 ½-length win in the $500,000 Cigar Mile at 9-1. For a horse with this much experience all over the North American circuit, it’s hard to believe this was Host the Gold’s first ever trip to Aqueduct.
Clearly, that didn’t matter, as the Dallas Stewart trainee had no issues extending his career line to 5-6-3.
What was a memorable performance for one competitor, was also a forgettable one for Everso Mischievous, who faltered to an eleventh-place finish after winning the Forty Niner Stakes (G2) on Oct. 28.
The win that pushed Hoist the Gold’s career earnings over $1 million paid $19.40.
Now I Got it
Irish-bred filly Zona Verde (IRE) found graded stakes glory for the first time on a Saturday afternoon at Del Mar.
At 10-1, the Philip D’Amato trainee secured the $102,500 Jimmy Durante (G3T) stakes by one length over 8-5 choice Lady de Berry.
Zona Verde joined the graded ranks on Oct. 8 for the Surfer Girl Stakes (G3T), running to a sixth-place result. This time around, equipped with the knowledge and experience of competing against stronger foes, the filly did not disappoint.
For her bounce back effort, Zona Verde returned a very pleasant $23.60.
Graded Portfolio
Conglomerate finally added a graded stakes victory to his racing empire on Sunday afternoon at Woodbine.
At 15-1, the seasoned 6-year-old gelding stunned the field of 14 to take home the Valedictory Stakes (G3). Conglomerate made good on his third attempt at graded stakes glory after previously falling well short in the Eclipse (G2) and King Edward (G2T) Stakes’ earlier this year.
With Sunday’s win officially on the books, the Mark Casse trainee improved his career line to 8-7-4 through 26 starts. A quick trip to the calculator app tells us that Conglomerate has found his way into the money in about 73% of his runs.
His latest turn atop the podium returned a handsome $32.90.