Ready to Repeat Exactly That in Victoria

TORONTO, ON – Trainer Gail Cox’s eponymously-named Ready to Repeat did exactly that on Sunday, matching his last-out maiden-breaking effort with a strong gate-to-wire performance in the $100,000 Victoria Stakes at Woodbine.

Ready to Repeat was the 4/5 favorite as he broke from post 2 under Luis Contreras. He quickly took command and posted opening fractions of :22.32 and :44.40, then ran uncontested in the far turn after dispatching of early pressure from Working the Table.

Straightening for home with a clear advantage, Ready to Repeat held safe through the stretch run to win by 2 1/2 lengths in a final time of 1:03.53 for the 5 1/2-furlong fast synthetic sprint.

“He broke a little bit slow – he was kind of nervous today,” Contreras said. “With lots of wind, that probably affected him a little. It was so windy today, but he just broke a little bit slow, and when I asked him, he just (responded) right away.”

Master Spy held second gamely over a closing Gospel Way, who had to re-rally after getting stopped mid-run. Working the Table, All Canadian, and Download completed the order of finish in the race restricted to 2-year-olds.

Ready to Repeat’s victory followed a similar gate-to-wire effort over the local inner turf on July 12 and improved his overall record to 3-2-1-0. The More Than Ready gelding has now earned $87,124 for co-owners Cox, John Menary, Michael James Ambler, and Windways Farm.

“He’s always trained well,” Cox said. “I was really impressed with him after his first race and Luis said, ‘You know, he was just kind of staying with the other horse, like he was working in company.’ When we put the blinkers on, it was quite a bit of a difference. Mentally, he’s little bit immature. He plays around all the time; everything is a big game.”

Ready to Repeat returned $3.60 to win, $2.70 to place, and $2.20 to show. Master Spy brought back $4.10 to place and $2.60 to show, while Gospel Way paid $2.70 to show.