2004 Woodbine Oaks Entries

Sam-Son Farm's unbeaten Eye of the Sphynx heads a select field of five for Sunday's $500,000 Labatt Woodbine Oaks, the country's premier race for Canadian-bred three-year-old fillies. This will be the 49th edition of the mile and 1/8 classic, with post time at approximately 4:37 pm ET. All fillies carry 121 pounds. The Score will nationally televise the entire Sunday card from Woodbine, including a special feature on the Oaks. The winner of this year's Labatt Woodbine Oaks will receive $300,000.

The Labatt Woodbine Oaks is also the first leg of the Triple Tiara, followed by the Labatt Bison City Stakes at Fort Erie, July 4 and the turf Wonder Where Stakes, August 1 at Woodbine. Any filly which wins all three earns up to a $350,000 bonus. Since being instituted in 1999, however, the Triple Tiara has yet to be claimed.

Eye of the Sphynx, a homebred daughter of Smart Strike who will be ridden by Woodbine's leading jockey Todd Kabel, has been established as the 6-5 morning line choice. At the post position draw today, with recent World Golf Hall of Fame inductee Marlene Stewart Streit in attendance as guest drawmaster, Eye of the Sphynx drew post two. Unraced as a juvenile, she's won all three of her starts this season, with the trio of victories all coming on off-tracks. After breaking her maiden in the slop at Keeneland in late April, the bay filly returned to Woodbine to first win the seven furlong Fury Stakes, May 9 by three and one-quarter lengths in the mud, then the mile and one-sixteenth Selene Stakes, May 23 by a neck, over a sloppy racetrack. In both stakes wins, she decisioned Oaks rival Silver Bird. "She's coming into the race in good order," said trainer Mark Frostad. "She's training well, she's a big, strong filly and hopefully the extra week between races will be of some benefit."

Trainer Reade Baker will saddle three hopefuls in the Labatt Woodbine Oaks, including Jim McAlpine's Silver Bird, the 2-1 second choice who will break from the rail. The daughter of 1996 Breeders' Cup Sprint champion Lit de Justice won the Glorious Song Stakes last season while finishing second to My Vintage Port in both the Princess Elizabeth and in balloting for year-end honours. This year, the grey filly, who'll be piloted by Jim McAleney, has twice finished second to Eye of the Sphynx, the latest being the Selene Stakes, May 23 when dropping a neck decision to the undefeated Sam-Son runner after gaining a slight lead during the stretch battle. "I wouldn't worry about that (a lack of pace)," said Baker. "Jimmy's an excellent judge of pace. I'm not concerned about that. The way the track's been playing the last month, they've dug the track up, off-the-pacers have been winning on a regular basis.

Peter Ho's Hong Kong Dancer, the 7-2 third choice, will be ridden by Rui Pimentel from post five. She comes into the Oaks off only two career starts, but like Eye of the Sphynx, is also unbeaten. After breaking her maiden impressively on May 1, the daughter of Tejano Run stretched out to a mile and one-sixteenth and blew away her rivals by more than six lengths. She'll try to make history as the first filly to win the Oaks with only two previous career starts, in addition to remaining undefeated. "I've got a little speed," said Pimentel. "But you never know what's going to happen until the gates open. I can maybe take the horse back. She ran good the last time and I still had gas left in the tank. She's a good filly. We'll just have to wait and see."

Baker's other entrant is George Farr's Touchnow, a daughter of Pleasant Tap. A winner once in four career starts, she's been listed as a 15-1 longshot from post four, but will have the services of four-time Sovereign Award-winning rider Patrick Husbands, who is seeking his first Oaks win.

My Vintage Port, last year's Sovereign Award winner as Canada's top two-year-old filly, drew post three and is pegged at 6-1. Trained by Ken Parsley, who also shares ownership with Richard Pettifer, My Vintage Port won three stakes in 2003, including the prestigious Princess Elizabeth. The field's leading money-winner, with $395,653, will be handled once again by Jono Jones. She's winless in three outings this season but enters the Oaks off a second place finish to Blonde Executive in the Lady Angela, May 29. The last Sovereign Award-winning juvenile filly to win the Oaks the following year was Ginger Gold in 2002.