The grade one Taylor Stakes at WO Saturday will be run at 1 1/4-miles on turf as a grade one stakes for a $750.000 purse for three-year-old and upward fillies and mares. The history of the race has had its ups and downs and arrives to us now on an upswing. The original purse for this race was an odd $833.000, then a year at $862.000. Then it jumped to a logical and welcome $1,000.000 and stayed that way for five years before unfortunately dropping to $500.000 for six years between 2013 and 2018. It then popped up to $600.000 for three years and has been $750.000 for the last three.

Team 7 Illusions won the first edition of the race in 2006 with then four-year-old Catachresis, which went on to a storied career winning 10 of 21 and $3,257.790, including the BC Fillies & Mares Turf directly after winning this race. Team 7 Illusions won the race again in 2007 with Impressionisto in a dead heat. Canadian Racing’s Speed Talker tried to repeat Catachresis’ feat but ran second in the BC Fillies & Mares Turf on her way to $2, 588.550 career. The race reads like a Who’s Who of HRP stable owners: Team 7 Illusions went on to win three editions, Australia Wide won twice, Mb Stables has won twice and is here looking for number three, Threshold is looking for number two and TwinTowersRacing has won the last two editions and is back to defend his crown. Here is how they line up:

1   Explorer

Owner: Avenue Z

Explorer comes in in top form of a sharp 1 3/8-mile win in the grade 3 RGD at DEL last out which followed an impressive third in the grade one NY at SAR and a win in the grade 3 Sheepshead Bay at AQU. This is come to life stuff for a mare that was picked up in the Smokey Stover dispersal for $1.000 in January where she was a consistent allowance horse. Her new connections must have spotted something about her interest in longer routes and placed her in the 1 3/8-mile Sheepshead Bay with spectacular results. Now, if she can just slide back a furlong, she can be a factor here.

2  Wyldewood

Owner: Mo Mentum Farm

Mo Mentum Farm claimed this mare for $40.000 in May where she was sprinting on the dirt and immediately dropped her in the $175.000 Anchorage Stakes at 1 1/8-mile on the turf at CD where she ran second beaten only a quarter length, then on to the grade 2 Canadian Stakes at WO which she won by an increasing ¾ lengths. Now, this is not as bombastic as it sounds at first blush. Wyldewood is no stranger to stakes racing. In fact, when claimed, she was already a stakes winner, having won the $100.000 Letellier Memorial Stakes as a two-year-old. She also has on her resume second place finishes in the $150.000 Audubon Oaks and the grade 2 Raven Run. So, seeing her in this grade 1 is not that much of a surprise, and seeing her as my second choice with that 100 SRF last should be no surprise either.

3  Ponzi Scheme

Owner: TwinTowersRacing

Ponzi Scheme is the defending champion in this race and returns with the services of F Geroux who rode her to a narrow victory last year as a bit of a longshot. This year Ponzi Scheme had a rough go of it in her last two grade 1 races as expected. It seems the odds monkey doesn’t agree with TwinTowersRacing that his mare belongs. Well, maybe at 1 1/8-mile, but this is a different story and perhaps his connections should be forgiven a little optimism for a mare that has won her last two long routes by open margins. She took the prestigious grade 3 Very One at GP at 1 3/8- miles by an easy three lengths and the $250.000 Keertana at CD at 1 ½-miles, plus she was a close third in the BC Fillies & Mares Turf at 1 3/8-miles. So, if 1 ¼-miles is far enough for her, this could be the dark horse in this race.

4  Sannys Legacy

Owner: Threshold

OK, this is quite the step up for this lightly raced three-year-old. It’s her first encounter with older, but I’m sure her savvy trainer is counting on that weight allowance. I’m betting he is thinking about how the speed is setting up in this race and that extra two furlongs that this filly has never had before which will work to her advantage. I’m placing her fourth in my handicap even though I think her odds are longer than that because I think she’s a strong factor if Threshold gets the instructions right, the pace is as fast as it looks, the weight allowance plays in and the extra distance gives time to come home. Just those factors.

5  Poetic Panther

Owner: Maletto

Poetic Panther stands out as the class of this race coming off a half-length win in the grade one Diana at SAR last out, her second Diana win in a row. As usual Jam Rodriguiez will be in the boot as the pair looks for her third grade one win of the year to pile on more loot to that nearly $2,500.000 bankroll she has. The only worry I can find is her long works have let up a touch in the last 12 months and a 1/14 mile is a tad long for her, but I don’t think this bunch will find her out at the distance

6  Slip And Dip

Owner: Temulac Farm

Newcomer Temulac Farm, eager to get into the big time, bought this lightly raced three-year-old stakes filly off LionKing Stables for $40.000 last month and is throwing her in the deep end here. I’m not saying she’s out of the question. She has her credentials: She ran second last out in the $100.000 Osunitas Stakes at DMR. She gets a weight allowance. Thing is though, second in an ungraded stakes is worlds away from a grade one.

7  Altered State

Owner: Mb Stables

Well, if anyone knows when a horse belongs in a race, it is Mb Stables. But, then again, you never know what they are seeing here. Do they see something that makes her a serious threat, or do they see a horse that they need to throw in the race to have a representative? This filly has never seen two turns on turf, much less 1 ¼-miles. She was only introduced to turf race in April and has four 5-furlong races under her belt of which she won two. Now, she does have some route experience: She ran second in the $300.000 Bourbonette Oaks at TP at 1 1/16-miles back when she was three years old. So, if Dan has something up his sleeve, it’s tucked up out of my sight.

No one knows why the colours came out the way they did. You should have seen my colour scheme.

Categories: Grade I, STAKES ARTICLES