story by Chris and Matthew Lomon / Woodbine
photos by Michael Burns
This story originally appeared here.
Canadian Premier Yearling Sale graduates are in the spotlight Sunday afternoon (Aug. 30) at Woodbine for a quartet of stakes races totaling $1 million in purse money.
The annual Canadian Sales Stakes precedes the Canadian Thoroughbred Horse Society’s (CTHS) Canadian Premier Yearling Sale, which will be held on Wednesday, Sept. 2 at 11 a.m. (ET) in the Woodbine Sales Pavilion.
“With the way we have our purse structure here (Woodbine) at the moment, it’s a very good incentive to go out to the sale and take a shot and buy one,” said trainer Julia Carey. “If you can get one who can run, you can make some decent money. They don’t have to be a champion, but with the conditioned races, and first-level allowance, there is some nice money you can put beside their name.”
$300,000 SIMCOE STAKES – for 2-year-old colts & geldings, foaled in Canada. 6 ½ furlongs on the main track.
Eyeing a second straight Simcoe score, trainer Bill Tharrenos will send out standout Ontario Bred and Ontario Sired maiden winner Souper Survivor (above).
Owned by Racing Canada Inc. and Natural Eight Stable, the bay son of Souper Speedy out of Rockport Harbor mare Bear’s Kitty Kitty dazzled with a 10 ¼-length victory in his 5 ½-furlong (1:05.30) debut over the Woodbine main track on July 12.
“He threw some big numbers in that race,” said Tharrenos. “I had other interests trying to buy him, but I have to believe in what we do. I have to believe in my jock and myself, and hopefully, we can prove that Sunday.”
Souper Survivor’s instant success didn’t come as a surprise to his veteran conditioner, who felt confident that all the pieces were in place going into his first start.
“We knew we had a lot of horse,” said Tharrenos. “We had sent the horse south, and when we brought him up here, we just had to keep his mind together and focus on maturing a little bit. Between Emma [rider, Emma-Jayne Wilson] and him, I think everything went exceptionally well.”
Tharrenos has been working diligently to prepare the rookie colt for his first taste of stakes action.
“We stepped it up over his last few works because we have to go 6 ½ furlongs. I want to make sure we have enough horse to finish the race strong, instead of just running five-eighths.”
Souper Survivor’s last three breezes have come at 5 furlongs over the main track, with the most recent completed in :59.20 on Aug. 23.
“The way the horse is going in physically, you couldn’t ask for anything more. He has done everything we’ve asked him to do,” said Tharrenos.
“His works have been great. His mind is good, and his feed program is right on. Emma worked him two weeks ago. We worked him this week with my exercise rider (Matt Douglas), and like I said, everything is going absolutely fantastic.”
Finding success in the Yearling Sales Stakes has been especially meaningful for Tharrenos, who bears a long-standing connection to the CTHS.
“Since I started my program as a little kid, a big part of it has been buying yearlings from the CTHS [sale],” he said. “We’ve won the Yearling Sales Stakes multiple times, and we’re just hoping that we can find another one and continue the progress.”
Recreating the feeling of past victories, including last year’s Simcoe with 29-1 longshot Big Bold and First, with Souper Survivor is an intriguing prospect.
“I’m excited about the race. Hopefully, at the eighth-pole, we’re turning for home in front and away we go.”
Tina Wilcox is the groom.
Field for the Simcoe
Post – Horse – Jockey – Trainer
1 – Silent Key – Jose Campos – Steven Chircop
2 – Road to Glory – Rafael Hernandez – John Charalambous
3 – King’s Counsel – Daisuke Fukumoto – Barb Minshall
4 – Prince Shaman – Christoff Douglas – Mike Mattine
5 – Longshot Leo – Fraser Aebly – Dale Desruisseaux
6 – It Wasn’t a Bluff – Desean Bynoe – Devon Gittens
7 – Souper Survivor – Emma-Jayne Wilson – Bill Tharrenos
8 – Forza – Eswan Flores – Mike De Paulo
9 – Logan’s Thunder – Romero Ramsay Maragh – Mark Casse
Matthew Lomon for Woodbine
$300,000 MUSKOKA STAKES – for 2-year-old fillies, foaled in Canada. 6 ½ furlongs on the main track.
Whitemudwest will make her stakes debut for trainer Todd Kettleson when she squares off with 13 foes in the $300,000 Muskoka Stakes, Sunday at Woodbine.
A bay Ontario Sired and Bred daughter of Souper Speedy out of Ministers Wild Cat mare She’s Ordained, Whitemudwest first captured Kettleson’s attention at the 2025 Canadian Premier Yearling Sale.
“She was just a big, rangy, good-looking filly,” said Kettleson. “She had lots of substance and size to her – her physical nature really caught my eye.”
Whitemudwest’s striking physique was enough to convince owner Richard Mah to cut the $55,000 (CDN) cheque and get her started under Kettleson’s care.
The statuesque rookie debuted for her connections on Aug. 1 at Woodbine, coming in off the also-eligible list.
“We weren’t sure how it was going to play out, being on the also-eligible list and then drawing in and being on that outside hole [post 10],” said Kettleson. “We were just hoping for a safe trip. We said to Jose [rider, Campos], ‘Just let her run her race.’”
Sent on her way in the 5 ½-furlong main track test at 39-1, Whitemudwest displayed tremendous grit to secure a narrow third behind 3-1 choice Sweet Bordeaux.
Pleased with the young filly’s maiden effort, Kettleson will ask Whitemudwest to stretch out to 6 ½ furlongs for the Muskoka.
Both trainer and rider believe she is up to the task.
“We’re comfortable that she should,” he said. “In her first race, she showed that she wanted to, and Jose seems confident she can. We’ve got another few works into her, and she came out of those good. She’s as ready as she’s going to be for this distance.”
Whitemudwest’s last timed breeze (1:00.60) came at 5 furlongs over the dirt training track on Aug. 12.
She went again on August 20 in what Kettleson described as a “two-minute lick sort of deal.”
“We didn’t get a time or anything, but we put her on the Tapeta and she seems to do well on that surface. We didn’t go real fast; we just wanted to put a little wind into her, keep her sound, keep her happy.”
Jesus Ambrocio Medina, a Quarter Horse jockey who serves as Kettleson’s gallop rider and right-hand man in the barn, was aboard Whitemudwest for the latter leg-stretch.
Preparing the filly for her first meeting with stakes competition has been a deliberate process.
Come Sunday, Kettleson hopes that care, coupled with a dash of good fortune, will help Whitemudwest to rise to the occasion.
“Like any race, it will take a little bit of luck over anything else,” he said. “She is a game filly; she’s all there. We schooled her this morning [August 26] at the gates, and we’ve taken our time with her to try to do things right and not rush her – hold her together mentally and physically.”
Whitemudwest was bred by Keith McClelland and Rachel McClelland.
Field for the Muskoka
Post – Horse – Jockey – Trainer
1 – Maria Sofia – Luis Reyes – Matt Douglas
2 – Tuscany Rose – Fraser Aebly – Sid Attard
3 – Awesome Grace – Romero Ramsay Maragh – Steven Chircop
4 – March – Emma-Jayne Wilson – Mark Casse
5 – Whitemudwest – Jose Campos – Todd Kettelson
6 – Kuz I’m Charming – Daisuke Fukumoto – Barb Minshall
7 – Bandolier – Keveh Nicholls – Jamie Begg
8 – Willing Guest – Rafael Hernandez – Mark Casse
9 – Champagne Sunday – Skye Chernetz – Dave Cotey
10 – Honor My Legacy – Sofia Vives – Mike Mattine
11 – Redemption Song – Jeffrey Alderson – Carlton Teape
12 – Zahari – Eswan Flores – Kevin Attard
13 – Flatter for Cat – Ryan Munger – Josie Carroll
14 – Sweet Bordeaux – Pietro Moran – Stuart Simon
Matthew Lomon for Woodbine
$200,000 ALGOMA STAKES – for 3-year-old and 4-year-old fillies, foaled in Canada. 7 furlongs on the main track.
Regal Moment and jockey Fraser Aebly winning Race 6 on July 19, 2026 at Woodbine.
Eleven fillies, including Regal Moment, will vie for top prize in the Algoma Stakes.
Trained by Stuart Simon for Anne and William Scott, the Ontario Bred and Sired daughter of Point of Entry out of the Sky Conqueror mare Regal Conqueror is riding a three-race win streak heading into her latest test.
Two of the wins have come on the inner turf and the other was over the main track, in a race originally slated for the grass.
“Each one has been impressive for different reasons,” said Simon. “I can’t say any race stands above the others. She overcame different hurdles in all of them. She has just been a very genuine filly.
“I was kind of torn because off her last race, she had six weeks until this one. I didn’t want to jam another race into her and take too much out of her for this race. So, we freshened her up to have her really ready for Sunday.”
Sporting a record of 4-3-1 from 11 starts, along with $219,340 (CDN) in purse earnings, Regal Moment, who was third in last year’s Algoma at 44-1, debuted on Oct. 5, 2024, in a 7-furlong main track race at Woodbine. Sent off at 9-1 in the eight-horse field, she rushed home to get up in the final jumps for a head victory in 1:25.31.
“Last fall, when she won on the grass going long (1 1/16 miles), the way she fought through the field and overcame a lot of adversity – the rail was out that day and she had the 10-hole – to get up and win was the moment where we thought she was going to be something special.”
Bred by JWS Farms, she was sixth, only 2 ¾ lengths behind the winner in the 2024 Princess Elizabeth. The Algoma marks her return to the stakes ranks.
“She is just so genuine and that she is going to give her best on any surface and at any distance,” said Simon. “Knock on wood, she is ready to run a big one this weekend and be ready for a good campaign from the fall until the end of the season.”
Regal Moment was a $65,000 (CDN) purchase at the 2023 CTHS Ontario Premier Yearling Sale.
Velore Wright is the groom.
Field for the Algoma
Post – Horse – Jockey – Trainer
1 – Brandy and Me – Jason Hoyte – Evette Chartrand-Hoek
2 – Hawberry – Christoff Douglas – Krista Cole
3 – Ella It Is – Pietro Moran – Mark Casse
4 – Arianna’s Tour – Romero Ramsay Maragh – Krista Cole
5 – Souper Diva – Jose Campos – Steven Chircop
6 – Pageant Queen – Sofia Vives – Jamie Begg
7 – Fleury (S) – Rafael Hernandez – Josie Carroll
8 – Campus Queen – Da-Sean Gaskin – Steven Chircop
9 – Regal Moment – Fraser Aebly – Julia Carey
10 – Flying Schulzy – Emma-Jayne Wilson – Rachel Halden
11 – Mighty Tanner – Ryan Munger – Kevin Attard
Chris Lomon, Woodbine
$200,000 ELGIN STAKES – for 3-year-old and 4-year-old colts & geldings, foaled in Canada. 7 furlongs on the main track.
Paynes Spirit and jockey Emma-Jayne Wilson winning Race 9 on August 9, 2026 at Woodbine.
Eleven colts and geldings are set to contest the Elgin Stakes.
Trained by Julia Carey, Paynes Spirit, a son of Shaman Ghost out of the Paynes Bay mare Buckden House, heads into the Elgin on a winning note after a one-length score at 6 ½ furlongs on the Woodbine main track.
Bumped early, the bay gelding soon found his footing and went on to secure the victory in 1:16.65.
“He’s a pretty cool horse,” said Carey. “He doesn’t have fancy breeding, but he is a stone-cold trier. He always gives his all and he’s very consistent in his running style and ability to finish strong. He has a very long stride. He doesn’t know anything else but trying hard and running hard.
“This horse is Ontario-sired and Ontario-bred, so the money is good for these horses. If you can get one of these Ontario-sired horses who can run, you can make all kinds of money, good money. With the purse bumps here, it’s good.”
Under the tutelage of Carey, Paynes Spirit has been the model of consistency, hitting the top three in his last eight starts (he was elevated from fourth to third in the Pink Lloyd Stakes on July 5.
“He clipped heels in the Pink Lloyd,” said Carey. “He lost his momentum and then got it going. I’m not sure he would have won, but he likely would have finished second.”
The 4-year-old gelding broke his maiden in his fourth start, taking a 6 ½-furlong main track maiden optional claimer by 1 ½ lengths.
“He is a big, strong horse, but he’s not malicious or mean,” said Carey. “I saddle him outside and get the valets to do that because he is just a strong guy. He’s getting better, but he’s a sturdy guy. The bottom line is that he is a very handy horse.
“His last few works have been great. He did them very easily. This horse, he just keeps on rolling.”
Paynes Spirit brings a 4-3-2 mark ($242,675 (CDN) in purse earnings) from 13 starts into his second career stakes appearance.
Owned by Twin Bullets Racing and bred by 2 Points Ranch, Inc., he was RNA at the 2023 CTHS (Manitoba Division) Yearling Sale.
“Jeff Goy is the person behind both Twin Bullets and 2 Points,” said Carey. “He’s breeding his own, so for him to see this horse running so well through his own breeding, it’s wonderful for him. He’s from Manitoba and he races at Assiniboia, and he would also like to breed horses who are good enough to compete at Woodbine. He has this one and hopefully, there are some others to come.”
Gary Sutherland is the groom.
Field for the Elgin
Post – Horse – Jockey – Trainer
1 – Dark Screen (S) – Juan Crawford – Bev Chubb
2 – Back River – Desean Bynoe – Desmond Maynard
3 – Duckduckduck – Ryan Munger – Evette Chartrand-Hoek
4 – Kekoa – Fraser Aebly – Catherine Day Phillips
5 – Lover Boy Mo – Christoff Douglas – Harold Ladouceur
6 – Yukon Striker – Pietro Moran – Kevin Attard
7 – Paynes Spirit – Emma-Jayne Wilson – Julia Carey
8 – Carnew – Romero Ramsay Maragh – Stuart Simon
9 – Sedburys Ghost – Austin Adams – Barb Minshall
10 – Scorching – Rafael Hernandez – John Charalambous
11 – Ride for the Purse – Jose Campos – Steven Chircop
Chris Lomon, Woodbine
