ONT Damsel Stakes- $150.000 Purse
WO- For Fillies Three Years Old Foaled In ON
One Mile and One Sixteenth on the Turf
November 21, 2020
A good looking field of six has assembled for the 14th running of the ONT Damsel Stakes, which will send three year old fillies from Ontario a little over a mile on the turf course. A purse of $150.000 is offered, which is up $25.000 from last year, but it has been the traditional purse for this race when looking back in its history. The race was a great one for Australia Wide, as he won it four times, including the times consecutively from 2015-2017. Other “kings” of the game have had success here, including Dynark Stables twice, and most recently Mb Stables. Mb’s winner in 2019 was Innocent Approach, but she would only race one more time before being sent off to the shed. None of those trainers have an entry here, so we will see who will be the new king of the ONT Damsel. I must say that sometimes in a race like this, I can be underwhelmed by the field. This race is the polar opposite of that, and I am very interested in seeing how this plays out. Here is the field!
#1- Fancifully (Smokey Stover, ridden by J Stein)- We will have the top three finishers from the $250.000 Wonder Where here in this race, so that is definitely a race to look closely at. For Fancifully, it was a third place showing in her first stake attempt. She is still lightly raced in her career as a fourth quarter two year old. Her works are looking good, and will enjoy the shorter distance here then the ten furlong Wonder Where.
#2- Big Fajita (Rheingold Stables, ridden by S Ryan)- This filly has won half of her twelve career starts, and if nothing else, has been a stellar $3.500 claim from around this time last year. She has developed well into running long on the grass, and has done everything but win a stake at this point. Running second in the Wonder Where, missing by a nose, showed that she is capable. My main question with her, though, is whether or not this race is long enough.
#3- Czarina (Two Hearts One Love, ridden by E J Wilson)- If you are wondering where this filly was last month, it was in the Grade 3 Autumn Miss Stakes out at SA, where she was second by half a length. Czarina joined the Two Hearts One Love barn back in August via a $225.000 private sale with the trainer hoping to build on the promise that she was showing. Her career has held steady, and I like this move now to the ONT Damsel Stakes, as it is more in line with the type of field she was having a lot of success again. It is also a very good distance for her.
#4- Kiwi Sunshine (Smokey Stover, ridden by R M Hernandez)- The trainer ended up in the winners circle of the Wonder Where thanks to Kiwi Sunshine, who closed well over the ten furlong event to nip Big Fajita at the wire. She will have less room to run here, so the better race to look at is her start here in August where she was second in the Eternal Search, which is also for ON-breds. That tells me that the distance won’t be an issue here, but I’m not sure who wins the battle between the Smokey Stover fillies, let alone against the other ones.
#5- Skyhigh Haggis (The Sidley Stud, ridden by S R Bahen)- The filly has won just two of her 17 career starts, and has gotten many opportunities to pick up an ungraded stake win. At times, she has shown the ability too, but for the most part she has become an also-ran in the better races she has been in. It is tough for me to see her doing more than that here, since I do like each of the four horses to her inside.
#6- Winnie (Chili King Stables, ridden by L Contreras)- Comes off a win in a $40.000 maiden claimer, after being unable to win against MSW company. There were many close calls there, so certainly, Winnie has plenty of potential. This will be the first time she goes more than six and a half furlong as well. Too many firsts here for me to give her a nod over the horses in posts 1 through 4.
Prediction: 3-4-1-2
— NS
Categories: STAKES ARTICLES, Ungraded
