BY BROCK SHERIDAN
A winner of two of her three career races with excuses in her only loss, Discovery Racing, Goldie Stable and Tom McCrocklin’s Empty Handed makes her first start on grass and black-type initiation in the CAN$175,000 Ontario Colleen (Grade 3) for 3-year-old fillies at Woodbine Saturday. Trained by Julia Carey, Empty Handed faces eight others who will go a mile on the inner turf.
A victory outside Florida at this level by Empty Handed is worth a $5,000 Export Incentive check for breeders Frank Mermenstein of Richmond Hill, Ontario and Tom McCrocklin of Ocala, Florida paid by the Florida Thoroughbred Breeders’ and Owners’ Association.
A three-and-a-half-length winner of her first race going six furlongs on the Woodbine synthetic main track in May, Empty Handed had an eventual trip in her second outing. Facing non-winners of two in a $50,000 optional claiming at six-and-a-half furlongs on the Woodbine synthetic, she was cut off out of the gate and was last of 10 leaving the backstretch chute. Jockey Ryan Munger then rushed her down the backstretch but still had more than five lengths to make up heading into the turn. She tried to get at the leaders in the homestretch but was repeatedly impeded, finishing third, nearly five lengths behind the late-running winner Slippers, who she faces again Saturday. Empty Handed was moved up to second through a disqualification.
Unaffected by all the trouble in her second race, Empty Handed rebounded with enthusiasm to win by three lengths in her next race, again under Munger in the same conditions but going seven furlongs.
By Pleasant Acres Stallions’ mainstay Neolithic, out of Russian River, by Stravinsky, Empty Handed has earned $75,801 in her three races.
Munger has the return mount Saturday and they will break from post six. She is 15-1 on the morning line.
Trainer Miguel Clement ships in from New York with Bandiagara (GB), a length winner of the $150,000 Penn Oaks at Penn National in her only race since coming from Europe.
The gray daughter of Zelzal (Fr) was one-for-four as a 2-year-old, winning an allowance race last June at Chantilly and finishing third in the Criterium du Fonds Europeen de l’Elevage at Deauville in her final race last year in August.
Sahin Civaci will ride Bandiagara, the 5-2 program favorite, from post two.
Completing the field are Slippers with Emma-Jayne Wilson in the saddle, Pietro Moran rides Aretha, Flowerhead (Ire) with jockey Rafael Hernandez, Romero Maragh has the call on Happy Destination, Smexy (Ire) will have Fraser Aebly in the irons, Jose Campos guides Dakotah Blue and Eswan Flores will take the reins on Brat Pack.
Return to the July 24 issue of Wire to Wire
