Husbands Sweeps Saturday’s Stakes at Woodbine

TORONTO, ON – Patrick Husbands completed a sweep of Saturday’s stakes events at Woodbine, taking the $100,000 Victorian Queen and matching Sweet Briar Too in front-end fashion.

Husbands continues to lead all jockeys for stakes wins at the current Woodbine meet with 15 added-money scores during his comeback campaign.

Owlette ran away with her second stakes title, winning Saturday’s co-featured Victorian Queen for Ontario-sired 2-year-old fillies.

Shady Well Stakes champion Owlette fired to the lead from post 2 in her latest assignment and shrugged off the maiden filly Victorian Moon after a :22.24 opening 1/4. She opened up 2 lengths on top through a :45.51 1/2-mile clocking before Wake Up Maggie emerged between foes and tried to reel in the front-striding filly down the stretch, but chased in vain.

Sent postward as the even-money favourite, Owlette completed the 6-furlong Tapeta test in 1:10.10 for trainer Wesley Ward and owner Ten Broeck Farm Inc. She paid $4.10 to win and finished 2-1/2 lengths in front of Wake Up Maggie, with She’s a Dream following in third.

Bred in Ontario by Michael C. Byrne, the daughter of Frac Daddy out of the stakes-winning mare Itstartswithadream has now won three (consecutive) races at Woodbine after debuting as a runner-up at Keeneland.

“I know I got a little pressure from Justin (Stein and Wake Up Maggie) on the outside, you know as a little rabbit, but she was just playing with them down the back,” said Husbands, who has won a record five editions of the Victorian Queen Stakes.

Husbands claimed his second Sweet Briar Too title with another successful stakes outing on Saturday courtesy of Jean Elizabeth just two races later in the 6-1/2-furlong main track event for fillies and mares, 3 years old and up.

Partnering with the Larry Rivelli trainee for the first time, Husbands guided Jean Elizabeth to a 2-length triumph over favourites Sister Peacock and Special Relativity.

Hustling out from post 9, Jean Elizabeth crossed to command with local two-time stakes winner Sister Peacock and Jesse Campbell pressing the pace through a 1/4 in :22.70 and 1/2-mile in :45.06.

“Both of them are classy fillies and both of them are speed horses, so when the gates flew open, Jesse looked at me, I looked at Jesse, and we just did what we had to do,” said Husbands.

Jean Elizabeth eventually drew clear in the stretch for the victory in 1:15.64 and returned $10 to win as the 4/1 third wagering choice.

The four-year-old Adios Charlie-Rooney Doodle filly, who had finished third by a neck in her first Woodbine appearance last October in the Ruling Angel Stakes, is now eight-for-14 in her career with more than $310,000 banked in purse earnings. Rivelli and Richard Ravin bred the winner and share ownership with Patricia’s Hope.