ONT Damsel Stakes ($125.00 Purse)
WO- For Fillies Three Years Old Foaled In ON
One Mile and One Sixteenth on the Dirt
October 10, 2026

We’ll have a field of five on Saturday for the ONT Damsel Stakes, which is for three year old fillies from ON on the dirt at a little more than a mile. The race has been held mostly every year since 2006, but from then until 2020, it was a turf race. In 2021, it would be moved to the main track. One thing it has always had is a modest purse, ranging between $125.00 and $150.00 throughout. Last year’s winner was Sincere Authority, for Asgar and though she is still active and working publicly as recently as Tuesday, she only raced once since the win, and has not been seen at all in the starting gate in 2026. Let’s meet our field!

1- Undercover Agent (John Henry, ridden by E J Wilson)- This will be her fourth race in her last five starts that is against ON-bred competition. She still has only won once in her career, but two back in the Thunder Bay Stakes here, she was involved in a tight three-way for the win, a race where her neighbor in the starting gate, Spring Ginger, was the victor. Those two battled it out again in the Algoma Stakes here, and it did not go as well, as she failed to finish ahead of anyone. Whether or not more distance will help remains to be seen.

2- Spring Ginger (The Sidley Stud, ridden by W T Buick)- Spring Ginger knows who the Undercover Agent is, having seen her in her last two starts. As mentioned above, she defeated her and everyone else in the Thunder Bay Stakes, but when they met in the Algoma Stakes, Undercover Agent was the only horse that Spring Ginger finished ahead of. Overall, she is 2-for-13, and shows a lot of inconsistency over those starts. Going long has not been a strong suit, but maybe that can change.

3- Pendrith (Hrg Stables, ridden by P Moran)- While she didn’t see them in the Thunder Bay, Pendrith is our third horse in this field that came out of the Algoma Stakes last time out. Unlike those rivals, Pendrith was able to cash a check in the race with a second place effort. It was her first race for the trainer since being claimed for $15.00 out of a race that she won. Still needs to prove that she can continue to turn out results like that at this level, and now she gets that chance.

4- Don’t Take The Girl (Big Jd Racing, ridden by L Contreras)- Don’t Take The Girl’s reaction to the previous three horses coming out of the $100.00 Algoma Stakes is likely along the lines of, “oh, that’s cute.” After all, while they were there, Don’t Take The Girl was down at SAR, running in the Grade 1 Alabama. However, she couldn’t, theoretically, talk that much trash given she finished next to last, and six lengths out. After a three race winning streak, it was a massive leap of faith in her by the trainer, who had claimed her for $5.00 in June. This is a great bounce back spot for her.

5- Deadmans Party (Axeman, ridden by D Moran)- Deadmans Party was also part of the Alabama, and while she also did not cash a check, she had a better run with a fifth place effort. That’s not her most recent start, though, as three weeks ago she ran in the Grade 3 Dogwood at CD and ran fourth. She has plenty of both ungraded and graded stake appearances, and she’s most consistent when the purses are around the $125.00 mark that we will see today. Assuming she wants to go this distance, she is probably the class of the field.

Prediction: 5-4-3-2

— NS

Categories: STAKES ARTICLES, Ungraded