On a quiet Saturday in mid-November, between the Nov. 1-2 Breeders' Cup and stakes activity late in the month, only two graded stakes are to be contested Nov. 16 in North America, both worth CA$175,000 at Woodbine.
Only one such race, the Kennedy Road Stakes (G2), was originally on the schedule. The Autumn Stakes (G2) was added to the Saturday program after Woodbine halted its Nov. 9 card before its completion over concerns about the safety of its main track. After the Nov. 10 card was also scrapped, the synthetic Tapeta surface at Woodbine came under extensive evaluation, and track maintenance was modified, resulting in a resumption of training and scheduled racing this week.
Two Canadian champions, streaking sprinter Patches O'Houlihan and 2023 King's Plate Stakes winner Paramount Prince, are in action Saturday, with the former battling 2023 Breeders' Cup Turf Sprint (G1T) winner Nobals in the six-furlong Kennedy Road and Paramount Prince among the favorites in the 1 1/8-mile Autumn Stakes. Both races are on the main track.
Patches O'Houlihan and Paramount Price are full products of the Ontario breeding program. Besides being foaled there, they are by stallions that stand in the region.
Patches O'Houlihan, a 4-year-old by Reload , is pursuing a fifth straight victory. Unbeaten this year, he enters the Kennedy Road having won the restricted Pink Lloyd Stakes, Bold Venture Stakes (G3), Vigil Stakes, and Nearctic Stakes (G2T), all at Woodbine.
Although he lugged out to the center of the course down the stretch in the Nearctic, he was tenacious in victory to prevail by 1 1/2 lengths under jockey Sofia Vives. That improved his overall record to 11-for-13 for owner/breeder Frank Di Giulio Jr.
PATCHES O'HOULIHAN ($6.30) stopped at the grandstand for a drink on his way to winning the $250,000 Nearctic Stakes (G2) at @woodbinetb. The gelding took jockey @SofiaLVives for a wide trip down the lane. The fan favorite 4-year-old was trainer by Robert Tiller. pic.twitter.com/soOLWbN7dX
— FanDuel Racing (@FanDuel_Racing) October 5, 2024
"He's a fighter, a street fighter," said Canadian Hall of Fame trainer Bob Tiller. "He doesn't give up."
The rail-drawn gelding's only losses came when he was sixth in the 2022 Bull Page Stakes and a fifth in the 2023 Kennedy Road.
Patricia's Hope's Nobals, a 10-time winner through his 4-year-old season, has gone unplaced in three starts at age 5 since his 2023 Breeders' Cup Turf Sprint victory, though he has remained competitive against some of the United States' top grass sprinters. He has shown versatility in handling synthetic tracks, with five such victories, including in the 2022 Woodstock Stakes at Woodbine. He raced one other time at Woodbine on Tapeta when 12th in the 2022 Bold Venture Stakes.
Regular rider Gerardo Corrales is up for trainer Larry Rivelli, who has prepped him with two recent works over Turfway Park's Tapeta surface.
Woodbine, Saturday, November 16, 2024, Race 11Entries: bet 365 Kennedy Road S. (G2)
PP Horse Jockey Wgt Trainer M/L 1 1Patches O'Houlihan (ON) Sofia Vives 124 Robert P. Tiller 4/5 2 2Flag Of Honour (AUS) Sahin Civaci 123 Julia Carey 5/1 3 3Remuda (KY) Rafael Manuel Hernandez 120 Eoin G. Harty 4/1 4 4Nobals (KY) Gerardo Corrales 120 Larry Rivelli 6/1 5 5War Bomber (IRE) Fraser Aebly 120 Norman McKnight 8/1 6 6Armstrong (ON) Leo Salles 120 Martin Drexler 15/1
Paramount Prince Seeks to Rebound in Autumn
Michael Langlois and Gary Barber's Paramount Prince, a 4-year-old son of Society's Chairman trained by dual Hall of Famer Mark Casse, heads into the Autumn, the 10th race on the card, with a 3-for-5 record this year, having won an allowance optional claimer at Gulfstream Park on Tapeta before adding the Dominion Day Stakes (G3) and Seagram Cup Stakes (G2) over the summer. The front-runner will seek to bounce back from a rare poor performance on Tapeta when fifth in a quick-paced Durham Cup Stakes (G3).
The competition is led by Live Oak Plantation's Forever Souper, a Mid-Atlantic invader riding a three-race win streak for trainer Mike Trombetta, and the uncoupled Repole Stable-owned duo of Never Surprised and Bail Us Out, both trained by Kevin Attard.
Woodbine, Saturday, November 16, 2024, Race 10Entries: HPIbet Autumn S. (G2)
PP Horse Jockey Wgt Trainer M/L 1 1Artie's Storm (ON) David Moran 120 Paul M. Buttigieg 10/1 2 2Tosen Wish (IRE) Sahin Civaci 121 Mark E. Casse 20/1 3 3Wicked Django (ON) Keveh Nicholls 121 L. Rodney Barrow 20/1 4 4Sir London (KY) Oisin Murphy 121 H. Graham Motion 10/1 5 5Stanley House (ON) Jose Luis Campos 121 Michael P. De Paulo 12/1 6 6War Bomber (IRE) Sofia Vives 120 Norman McKnight 6/1 7 7Paramount Prince (ON) Patrick Husbands 125 Mark E. Casse 7/2 8 8Lac Macaza (ON) Fraser Aebly 122 Julia Carey 20/1 9 9Never Surprised (KY) Austin Adams 121 Kevin Attard 10/1 10 10Bail Us Out (KY) Romero Ramsay Maragh 119 Kevin Attard 15/1 11 11Dresden Row (KY) Ryan Munger 122 Lorne Richards 8/1 12 12Forever Souper (FL) Rafael Manuel Hernandez 123 Michael J. Trombetta 3/1
