Nov 16, 2023 – After three races and finishing all in the money, Canuck Racing Club’s 2 year old filly Vandoo was back on the track in Woodbine’s first race on Thursday taking on five rivals in a 6-furlong race for a $61,800 purse.
Trained by Kevin Attard, Vandoo broke well from the gate and then eased off the throttle as top jockey Kazushi Kamura elected to play the role of a closer rather than pacesetter. Vandoo tucked in on the rail behind a trio going around the bend. Following Just Follow Me, she started closing in the final quarter, angling out with momentum and going four-wide. Turning for home, Vandoo had her sights set on the two horses in front with – as track announcer Robert Geller put it – “a chance to have a crack at both of them as they corner”.
Just Follow Me was in a great spot and pushed the pace running through that turn. Novel matched her energy to close in and pass the early frontrunner in the deep stretch. For a bit, the two looked to be inching away, but Vandoo was fully extended and in stride.
With a deft move around the 330 yard mark, Kimura angled her outside to set up a 3-horse sprint to the finish. Our filly simply wore down her rivals through the lane to – as Equibase reported – “draw away convincingly crossing the wire”. The final time of this 6-furlong race was 1:11.44.
