Wonder Where Stakes- $250.000 Purse
WO- For Fillies Three Years Old Foaled in Canada
One Mile and One Quarter on the Turf
August 7, 2016

It should not be surprising that Canadian Racing has made his mark running in restricted races for Canadian breds, and on Sunday the longtime trainer picked up their third win in the Wonder Where Stakes, a long turf event for three year old Canadian fillies.  Ena Barb always did seem like the favorite in this race, as there were several in here who had question marks about how they would handle the turf or how they would handle the distance.   Ena Barb was really no different in that she had never been on the turf, either, but looking at her works, there was no reason to be concerned about that.  She had previously proven she could handle the distance when she won the $500.000 WO Oaks in June.  It is the fifth win in seven starts now for this talented filly, and she is also now three for four with L Contreras aboard.  Contreras would win this stake for the first time.  The winning time of 1:59.32 is a new record for this stake.  Congratulations to our winner! Here’s a deeper look.

1st- 7- Ena Barb (9/5)- This is an example of a horse that looks like she should be the clear favorite in the field, gets the support of the betting public as well as being our pick, and then she simply goes out there and executes her race to perfection just like everyone thought she would.  That doesn’t always happen on the race track, but Ena Barb was flawless here and at no point during this race did I have ever have the feeling that she was not going to win.  She broke alertly out of the gate for Canadian Racing and got to an inside lane pretty quickly for the run around the opening turn.  Once in the backstretch, Happy Clapper looked to go up there and take the lead, and L Contreras was perfectly fine to let her go and see how that one could pull it off over the entire ten furlongs.   She would keep herself in cruise control while on the backstretch, running about two and a half lengths off the lead, while between Exclusive Ballerina and Head In The Noose.  In the turn, she effortless pulled away from those two and began to bear down on our leader, and had two lengths on everyone else at the time she was level with Happy Clapper.  The pacesetter was beginning to feel the effects of going long for the first time, and she was easily passed.  At that point, in the stretch, she was in a full drive and not going to be denied.  The emerging challengers had too much distance to make up, so all we had to do in the stretch is simply watch her run and see how the exacta would play out.  The time of the win was 1:59.32. This was an impressive victory for an impressive horse, and we’ll be seeing more out of her, for sure.  Ena Barb is a three year old filly by Barbarino.  Nice to say that name again in the SRF.  She is out of Numero Ena, who does have the HRP Northern Dancer line in her.   She was bred in Ontario as a yearling by Canadian Racing, and they have been together throughout! Congratulations to the connections!

2nd- 6- Plucky Elmo (9/1)- The Plucky Mach filly from Hawaiian Shirt Guy took to the grass well in turf debut. She started in the middle of the field, stalking the stalkers in the backstretch.  Kept this position going into the turn, and then made an emphatic power move on exit of the turn, looking to fly by Happy Clapper to the outside and take her shot at Ena Barb.  Emerged from the pack well to take the second position, but Ena Barb had already gotten away from the field at that point.  Plucky Elmo was essentially racing for second at this point, and did well to hold off Triptych and Sandbar.

3rd- 5- Triptych (7/2)- Made a nice debut for her new trainer, John Henry.  Not surprisingly, she did start near the back of the field, but did not put herself into too deep of a hole.  Remained in his position moving into the turn, but seemed too begin her move a little late, allowing Sandbar, who had been about two lengths behind her to actually pass her momentarily before she made a move of her own.  Once Triptych got rolling, she would have a nice spot on the rail and was the best of anyone in this field not named Ena Barb while in the stretch.

4th- 2- Sandbar (8/1)- Started much like she did last week when she last raced for Team 7 Illusions, taking a spot in the back of the field.  Sandbar would advance in the turn as she prepared to make her run.  R Alvarado Jr would opt for a six-wide move along the outside, when it may have been possible to split horses up the middle.  She ran well while in this lane, but the extra distance cost her possibly as high as the second position.

5th- 1- Exclusive Ballerina (4/1)- Making her third start in 22 days, the Drabfantasy filly has gotten used to being in the starting gate lately, and would begin well along the rail here.  She would maintain this steady stalking position throughout the backstretch and into the turn, but when it came to run in the stretch, all those recent races may have gotten the best of her.   She showed some heart, but those coming from behind were too much for her today.

6th- 4- Head In The Noose (29/1)- The longest shot on the board from Team 7 Illusions assumed a stalking position early, running to the outside of Ena Barb.  For a while in the backstretch, it appeared as though she wanted to challenge Happy Clapper more, and simply could not do it.  In the turn, she seemed to struggle a bit, and by the time the top of the stretch came, she clearly was had nothing for those preparing moves from behind her.

7th- 3- Happy Clapper (5/1)- The distance proved to be too much for the Australia Wide filly that was hoping to win her sixth in a row.  Early though, she was in good shape, and assertively took the lead into the backstretch.  She extended her advantage to a little more then two lengths, as she set the half mile time in :48.51. At the top of the stretch, she may have been saying “are you kidding me?” to her jockey, D Moran, when he tried to get the additional distance out of her, and she could not measure up.

Track: Firm
Time: :48²  1:12   1:35³  1:59¹

$2 Mutuel Prices:

$1 Exacta: 7 – 6 Paid 26.40
$1 Trifecta: 7 – 6 – 5 Paid 90.20

Scratched: None

Winner picked by NS

— NS

Categories: STAKES ARTICLES, Ungraded