Valdale Stakes
6 1/2 furlongs Dirt Stake Purse $250.000 Three-Year-Old Fillies. At TP.
Valdale Stakes has an interesting history. It started in 2007 and existed until 2015 as a 1mile dirt race for a $50.000 purse. As a result, it didn’t attract much attention. It returned in 2024 and was won by Maxmillion Farm’s End Of The Devil. Oddly End Of The Devil switched to turf after the Valdale and never raced on dirt again. She did, however, win her next race, the grade 3 Herecomesthebride Stakes at GP. She went on to a successful sophomore season and retired at the end of the year with $1,635.660 in earnings. The following year went D J C Racing Stables Super Party which went a completely different way after winning the race. After winning the Valdale she immediately became a claiming horse and changed hands for $40.000 within two races. How it goes for this year’s winner remains to be seen, but it seems unlikely that we will see another claimer come out of this race. Here’s the field:
Horse Owner Odds SRF
Deadmans Party Axeman *2-1 91
Diana D J C Racing Stables 3-1 91
Fashion Queen Nakamura Stables 7-2 89
Warriors Wrath Paradise Stable 5-1 85
True To Tradition First Flight Stable 4-1 90
Game The System Arindel 6-1 91
Boardwalk Freak Noblepark 8-1 90
1 Fashion Queen Nakamura Stables 89
Fashion Queen stretched out to a mile with promising results, then tried turf with devastating results. Then she came back to a TAM allowance sprint and scored a very pretty late closing win going away by a length. 6 1/2 furlongs will treat her kindly, so nice chance here.
2 Warriors Wrath Paradise Stable 85
Warriors Wrath won sharply at FL but then made that tragic mistake of going straight into a stakes race. The fact that she came from a $16.000 allowance race into a $125.000 worked gravely against her. Yet she showed courageous speed carrying the lead into the stretch before being found out. She should have gained valuable experience from that race and stand a strong upset chance here.
3 Deadmans Party Axeman 91
Deadmans Party is the richest lass in the race by taking advantage of the State Breeding program in Canada. In her third race, she won the $200.000 Muskoka Stakes at WO at today’s distance. She tried some tough races at route distances, and they didn’t go all that well, but she won at six-furlongs at GP after that, so she looks the winner at this sprint distance.
4 Diana D J C Racing Stables 91
Diana was a strong, closing third in the seven-furlong $125.000 Gasparilla Stakes after a third in the $500.000 NY Stallion Series – Fifth Avenue at AQU. If the speed sets up right in this race, she should be a real threat to take it all. If not, well, another third.
5 Game The System Arindel 91
Arindel sees something here. He claimed Game The System from Diablo Diablo and immediately placed her in this stakes race. Up to now, she has been sprinting in basically lower-level races. After winning at second asking, she reeled off two more wins before running fourth in the $45.000 Shesastonecoldfox. Then she was claimed for $25.000 out of a five-furlong turf sprint where she ran second. I guess we are all going to see what Arindel sees.
6 True To Tradition First Flight Stable 90
True To Tradition went straight from her maiden win into the $75.000 Tah Dah Stakes in which she finished second beaten only a head as the favourite. Since then, she has been struggling at different distances and surfaces but unable to get back on track. She’s been closing a bit in her last few. Maybe she’s coming around.
7 Boardwalk Freak Noblepark 90
Boardwalk Freak is taking that big step up winning a maiden race and going straight into a stakes race. The win was an impressive one coming from behind at FG to score by three-quarters, so she can’t be counted out.
Categories: STAKES ARTICLES, Ungraded