ETOBICOKE, Ontario - Sovereign Attire should be among the favorites in Wednesday's Woodbine headliner, a 1 1/16-mile preliminary allowance, despite his inability to win this year.
Sovereign Attire has taken 10 cracks at the first allowance category, dating back to his final 2002 start, and has hit the board in seven of them. He ran second in each of his three most recent starts, and gave up the lead in deep stretch in his latest after looking the part of a winner at the sixteenth pole.
ETOBICOKE, Ontario - Maybe the third time was a charm for Volga when she won Sunday's E.P. Taylor Stakes.
She finished second by a neck at 6-1 in the 2001 E.P. Taylor, and third by two lengths as the even-money favorite last year.
Volga's first start in the Taylor was also her first appearance in North America, and her last for trainer Andre Fabre. She made her next 10 starts for trainer Christophe Clement, but after finishing fifth in the Oct. 5 WinStar Galaxy at Keeneland, she was turned over to Kiaran McLaughlin.
ETOBICOKE, Ontario - Phoenix Reach had been no match for Brian Boru when the pair met last time out in the St. Leger Stakes at Doncaster, England, on Sept. 13.
Brian Boru was a 1 1/4-length winner there as the favorite, while Phoenix Reach was beaten a total of 2 3/4 lengths while third.
But the circumstances were much different Sunday at Woodbine, and so was the result as Phoenix Reach won the Grade 1 Canadian International while Brian Boru, again the favorite, finished third.
Vals Fortune, a Quarter Horse, earned a $500,000 bonus when he picked up his ninth straight win, taking the Grade 1, $232,242 Louisiana Quarter Horse Breeders' Association Futurity in Bossier City, La.
The LQHBA offered the bonus to the horse who could sweep the Mardi Gras Futurity at Fair Grounds and the association's Sale Futurity and Futurity at Louisiana Downs.
Vals Fortune ($3.20) was a dominating 1 1/4-length winner in the 400-yard race, covering the distance in 19.82 seconds. Gilbert Ortiz rode the winner for trainer Heath Taylor.
Caro's Royalty, a 41-1 longshot, upset the $35,000 Brother Brown Stakes in Oklahoma City, winning by a 1 1/2 lengths over April's Lucky Boy. It was another five lengths back in third to Abbi's Choice.
Caro's Royalty ($84.20), who is 10, was prominent from the start in the five-furlong turf race, covering the distance in 57.24 seconds. Robert Lester was aboard for owner-trainer Greg Frye.
Earlier in his career, Caro's Royalty won two $100,000 stakes at the five-furlong turf-sprint distance of the Brother Brown.
SAN MATEO, Calif. - Trainer Bud Klokstad wasn't sure if he would really run Market Report ($12.60) in the $65,850 Bay Meadows Juvenile when he first entered him in the one-mile race for 2-year-olds.
But he was glad he kept him in after a front-running victory that saw Market Report re-rally after being headed in the stretch by Hajji's Honor. Market Report won the race by a half-length in 1:37.04. "I smelled something like that," Klokstad said. "When I saw the pp's, I saw there was no speed in the race."
ELMONT, N.Y. - Timo was an easy winner of his stakes debut in the $82,525 Pilgrim.
Timo, under John Velazquez, pressed pacesetter Unbuckle through dawdling fractions of 1:20.45 for six furlongs before drawing away in the stretch for a 2 1/4-length win over the favorite, Artie Schiller. It was another length back to Milestone Victory in third. Cool Conductor, Tynan, Unbuckle, and Kennel Up completed the order of finish in the 1 1/8-mile turf race for 2-year-olds.
ARCADIA, Calif. - Wind Flow used her devastating early speed to overwhelm five opponents in the $81,675 Anoakia Stakes.
Ridden by Corey Nakatani, Wind Flow ($3.20) dueled with Hot Weekend through an opening quarter-mile in 21.24 seconds, led by a length after a half-mile in 44.06, and pulled clear to score by five lengths. Wind Flow finished six furlongs in 1:09.62.
Hot Weekend held second, finishing five lengths clear of Quanah County in the field of six 2-year-old fillies.
LEXINGTON, Ky. - Spice Island, overlooked at nearly 12-1, drew off with surprising ease Sunday to defeat nine other fillies and mares in the $150,000 Rood and Riddle Dowager Stakes on the turf at Keeneland.
Ridden by Cornelio Velasquez, Spice Island returned $25.60 after finishing 6 1/4 lengths ahead of Ocean Silk, the highly touted English invader who was the odds-on favorite under Pat Day. Peacefally finished another three-quarters of a length back in third.