9/17/11
Last updated: 9/16/11 6:08 PM
 |
Shared Account will be making only her second start since shocking Midday (left) in the BC Filly & Mare Turf
(Matt Wooley/EquiSport Photos) |
The C$300,000
Canadian
S. (Can-G2) on Sunday’s Woodbine Mile (Can-G1) undercard came up much
tougher and deeper than its grade suggests. Reigning Breeders’ Cup Filly & Mare
Turf (G1) winner SHARED ACCOUNT (Pleasantly Perfect) and recent Diana S. (G1)
heroine ZAGORA (Fr) (Green Tune) lead a full field of 14 in the about 1 1/8-mile
turf test, which might argue for its elevation to Grade 1 status in the future.
Shared Account, who fended off Midday (GB) (Oasis Dream [GB]) to upset the
Filly & Mare Turf at odds of 46-1, has raced only once since. Reappearing in the
May 21 Gallorette H. (G3) at Pimlico, the Graham Motion mare checked in a
non-threatening fourth. She had finished a much better fourth in that same event
in the spring of 2010, an effort that set her up for a victory in the All Along
S. (G3) and a near-miss in the Diana.
Unlike last season, Shared Account has spent this summer on the sidelines.
She breezed just twice in June, and didn’t return to the worktab until late
August. Sunday’s test thus assumes greater importance as a tightener building up
toward a Breeders’ Cup title defense. Regular rider Edgar Prado will guide the
8-1 shot from post 8.
|
Motion will also be represented by APPLE CHARLOTTE (Smart Strike), who steps
up in class off a 2 1/2-length decision in the July 29 Red Carpet S. at Penn
National. Two starts back, the well-bred filly rallied for third to stablemate
Aruna (Mr. Greeley) in the June 18 All Along, but must keep progressing to
factor here at a morning line price of 20-1.
Zagora, the 3-1 favorite and 124-pound highweight, hails from the in-form
barn of Chad Brown. A two-time Group 3 winner in France last campaign, she was
fifth in the 2010 Prix de Diane (French Oaks) (Fr-G1) to the outstanding
Sarafina (Refuse to Bend [Ire]), currently the favorite for the Prix de l’Arc de
Triomphe (Fr-G1).
 |
Zagora stormed past Bay to Bay (green) in the Diana
(Jessie Holmes/EquiSport Photos) |
The Martin Schwartz colorbearer took five starts to break through in the
United States, performing well each time before earning her signature win in the
July 30 Diana. Zagora was done no favors by the draw, however: she landed in
post 13 with Javier Castellano.
Earlier this year, Zagora finished third in the April 16 Jenny Wiley S. (G2)
to NEVER RETREAT (Smart Strike) and FANTASIA (GB) (Sadler’s Wells). Never
Retreat later traded decisions with BAY TO BAY (Sligo Bay [Ire]) at Woodbine,
finishing second to her in the June 4 Nassau S. (Can-G2) before exacting revenge
in the July 10 Dance Smartly S. (Can-G2).
Bay to Bay went on to garner third to Zagora in the Diana, providing a piece
of interlocking form, and is listed as the 9-2 second choice on the morning
line. Never Retreat didn’t fare as well next out, fading to seventh in the
August 13 Beverly D. S. (G1), and rates as an 8-1 chance Sunday. The Team Block
mare should prefer cutting back slightly in trip and returning to Woodbine,
though, and could loom as an overlay.
|
Fantasia was also last seen in the Beverly D., where she got up for a
creditable fourth behind Zagora’s stablemate Stacelita (Fr) (Monsun). The
Jonathan Sheppard trainee has been reliably consistent over the past year,
edging Never Retreat in last October’s River Memories S. here, then placing in
three straight graded stakes, and capturing the July 9 Modesty H. (G3) as her
prep for the Beverly D. The 6-1 third choice projects a ground-saving trip from
post 2.
Canada’s champion turf mare MISS KELLER (Ire) (Montjeu [Ire]), winless since
taking the 2010 Canadian, has failed to finish in the top three in four starts
this campaign. She is one of a trio trained by Roger Attfield, along with Grade
2 veterans MEKONG MELODY (Ire) (Cape Cross [Ire]) and PERFECT SHIRL (Perfect
Soul [Ire]). Mekong Melody, who has been chasing Zagora, Never Retreat and Bay
to Bay, was most recently fourth in the August 27 Ballston Spa S. (G2), and
Perfect Shirl was third in the August 20 Belle Mahone S. over the local
Polytrack.
 |
Fantasia (left), Never Retreat (center) and Magic Broomstick finished noses apart in last year’s River Memories
(WEG/Michael Burns Photography) |
Trainer Mark Frostad like has three entrants — STARS TO SHINE (Tale of the
Cat), MAGIC BROOMSTICK (More Than Ready) and FOREST UPROAR (Forest Wildcat).
Stars to Shine, the Belle Mahone heroine, was a troubled fifth to Never Retreat
in the Dance Smartly two back. Marooned in post 14 on Sunday, she picks up the
services of up-and-coming Englishman William Buick.
Magic Broomstick, a distant third in last year’s Canadian, next came third in
a three-way photo with Fantasia and Never Retreat in the River Memories. She did
not resurface until July 24, when she kicked off 2011 with an 8 1/2-length
allowance conquest. Forest Uproar, a minor stakes winner at Fair Grounds in
January, has looked up against it in graded company.
Rounding out the Canadian field are HOOH WHY (Cloud Hopping), the 2009
Ashland S. (G1) queen who just landed the restricted Illinois Owners’ S. on
turf, and recent optional claiming winner WOOLLY BEAR (Proud Citizen).
|
In addition to its obvious Breeders’ Cup implications, the Canadian serves as
a stepping stone to the 1 1/4-mile E.P. Taylor S. (Can-G1) here on October 16.
