Stakes Spot Plays for Woodbine Saturday, July 25

A trio of Grade 3 tilts for the ladies will highlight a strong day of racing at Woodbine on Saturday.

Race 8 – Ontario Colleen (G3)

An excellent field of three-year-old fillies will travel one mile on the inner turf to kick off the stakes action. #3 Aretha (6-1) displayed push-button acceleration in her debut win going two turns on the main oval and gives me the impression of a nice prospect going forward. The Kevin Attard-trained daughter of Tiz the Law has four turf-winning siblings, so the surface change will be seamless, and her works on the grass leading up to this have been swift, as well. Pietro Moran will guide the second timer in her stakes bow. 

Race 9 – Hendrie (G3)

Fillies and mares will run 6 1/2 furlongs on the Tapeta in the second stakes race of the afternoon with nine signed on for the voyage. The pace of the race almost has to be sizzling and contested, so a deep-closing type is what I will be looking for. Grade 2 victress #9 Time to Dazzle (6-1) has not been on point since coming back from the desert in February, but the grass specialist lands in a field that matches her running style and the move from the lawn to the synthetic might wake her up. The gray mare will be motoring home inside the final furlong beneath Fraser Aebly.

Race 10 – Trillium (G3)

A total of nine fillies and mares will run 1 1/8 miles on the Tapeta in the final black-type race of the afternoon. I feel that this race is pretty wide-open, and I will again look for a contender coming from off the early tempo in a field with a lot of speed signed on. #9 Scat Girl (20-1) is not especially consistent, and she comes off of a dull showing on the oval last time, but the dark bay daughter of Audible is still appealing to me at a price. The Ontario-bred four-year-old is a three-time winner from her last five races on the oval; she makes her third run off the layoff, and the filly will also be able to sit back and make one run in the event, as well. She might be more of an exotics player, but I’ll use her in everything, nonetheless, under Emma-Jayne Wilson.