May 16, 2025 – The story line of race 7 at Woodbine on Friday was supposed to be the expected dominance of winter-raced horses coming into the contest with the benefit of previous 2025 starts south of the border at Keeneland, Oaklawn, and Gulfstream while their Canadian-wintered counterparts awaited a snow melt. Those with the early start were expected to have an edge in the field of seven Ontario-bred and Kentucky-bred fillies between 4-to-7 years of age going 1 1/16 miles on the all weather track for a share of a $114,600 purse.
Coming in with a record of 1-1-1 in three starts this year, race favourite She Makes a Point , running under Jockey Sofia Vives, was a topic of conversation as a tough, hard knocking winter-raced mare. Piloted by Rafael Hernandez, Saccharine had hit the board in five consecutive starts (1-3-1) including being runner-up in the Breeders’ Stakes. Sahin Civaci was in the irons for Mark Casse-trained 4-year-old Aspen Dawn, a $550,000 purchase at the 2022 Keeneland September Yearling Sale. Red hot Pietro Moran was racing Gary Barber’s Swinging Mandy who won the Victorian Queen Stakes in 2021.
With a purse that matched stakes level competitions, this event was destined to be a challenging affair for Canuck Racing Club even before their 4-year-old filly War Painter, the first-ever stakes winner sired by Danish Dynaformer, drew the inside gate. Aboard her was jockey Fraser Aebly who earned the remount after ably riding War Painter to victory in the 2024 Ashbridges Bay Stakes.
She Makes a Point was the speed horse this race needed but she bobbled the break which set the table for a slower pace. Having no early speed duels and less speed throughout a race usually increases the chances of someone clearing the field and holding it gate to wire. Such was the case when #4 Swinging Mandy emerged between horses to set a very soft pace down the backside. War Painter broke well from the unfavourable inside gate and slotted into a nice spot trailing in the second and third position.
As no rider challenged the frontrunner, Pietro Moran on #4 was able to continue dictating the pace and smartly rationing his ride until the late stages. His edge was that only he knew when he would drop the hammer to play “catch me if you can”. When he did, Swinging Mandy accelerated perhaps two seconds prior to War Painter swinging out three wide in the upper stretch to give chase. Once in full stride, she shook off a charging Aspen Dawn, made it a true race down the lane, and was visibly closing on the eventual winner with each stride. In the end, the timing of Moran’s move proved just enough for Swinging Mandy to hold on for the win by a diminishing margin as War Painter ran out of road. A victim of the race’s slow pace, Canuck Racing Club’s filly claimed second at the line by 3/4 length while opening the gap on Aspen Dawn who finished a clear third.
War Painter‘s record in 13 career starts now stands at 3-5-2 and she has earned just over 7.5 times her purchase price.