Eclipse Stakes – (Grade ll)

Purse $175.00 – For Four Year Olds And Upward

1 1/16 Miles – Dirt

Woodbine Racetrack – May 30, 2026

Mb Stables’ Stumble captures his first graded stakes victory in the 20th edition of the Eclipse Stakes. In his past three races, this five-year-old’s speed figures were getting faster and faster, indicating that Sumble was sitting on a big effort. Five of his seven career victories have come from routing on the dirt, so connections have found what this horse wants to do. The son of Rumble stopped the clock in 1:40.92 for the mile and a sixteenth, the second-fastest winning time in the history of the race. The performance boosted his career earnings to $435.55, now through nineteen starts. Also, Mb Stables and jockey Pietro Moran found themselves in the winners circle for the first time in the Eclipse Stakes. This has been one of the few races missing from Mb Stables’ résumé, as the barn entered this year’s edition without a victory in eleven prior tries. Stumble came charging down the stretch very impressively and I’m sure we’ll see him in some big races this summer. A big congratulations to the connections on this breakthrough win!

Winner: Stumble – (Mb Stables, P. Moran) As expected, this five-year-old was unhurried leaving the gate and showed little early speed. He settled in sixth place going into the first turn and down the backstretch. Racing two-wide, jockey Pietro Moran decided to move at the ⅜ pole. Traffic on the inside left him searching for options, and Stumble eventually fanned five-wide to launch his closing kick. He absolutely flew down the lane, making up four lengths to win by three-quarters of a length. This New York-bred has been knocking on the door in his two previous starts. So, connections are definitely happy that Stumble came through this weekend. He’ll be one to put on your watch list this summer. Well done!

Second Place: Berlin – (The Sidley Stud, P. Husbands) This ended up being my top pick, and he was a victim of the outside post for back-to-back starts now. Berlin ended up going off as the favorite being drawn in the ten hole. He wasted no time leaving the gate and cleared the field before going into the first turn. This eight-year-old held a one-length advantage the whole way around the racetrack, setting early fractions of 22.87, 46.45, and 1:10.45. Things started to get interesting at the quarter pole as rivals began to make their run. Berlin still fought gallantly down the stretch and got caught by Stumble in the final 1/16. This old guy shows up every race. All he needs is a little more luck with an inside post.

Third Place: Among Wolves – (Fabone1, S. Civaci) Coming out of state-bred stakes races, this son of Johns Hopkins stepped up nicely in graded stakes company. Among Wolves allowed the pace to develop in front of him early and decided to keep his position down on the rail. He saved all the ground down the backside while getting into a comfortable rhythm. Things started to pick up rounding the far turn, and jockey Sahin Civaci continued to keep his position down on the inside. The rail opened up at the top of the stretch, so Among Wolves started to show off his turn of foot. He closed nicely and made up a significant amount of ground to finish third. An underrated Texas-bred who will be a stakes winner soon.

Fourth Place: Burger King – (Serenity Stables, L. Contreras) This four-year-old is proving to be a good purchase after connections removed Lasix and Bute. It was a better-than-looked effort as Burger King raced wide throughout the race. He settled in second, just off the pace while racing four-wide down the backstretch. There wasn’t much change until the 5/16 when jockey Luis Contreras started to take aim on the pacesetter. Once Burger King ranged up alongside Berlin in the stretch, Stumble came flying on the outside and outkicked everyone in the final stages. Despite losing significant ground throughout the race, this Cal-bred still ran well enough to suggest he will be competitive in future stakes company.

– AJM

Categories: Grade II, STAKES ARTICLES