Ride a Comet Scores in $100,000 Charlie Barley

TORONTO, ON – John C. Oxley and My Meadowview Farm’s Ride a Comet scorched a trail down the stretch en route to his first career stakes score in Saturday’s $100,000 Charlie Barley Stakes at Woodbine.

Breaking without incident from post 6 under Patrick Husbands as the 2-1 favorite, Ride a Comet soon took back and ran one lane off the rail while El Tormenta dashed out to a 4-length lead through opening splits of :22.61, :45.82, and 1:09.05. Still running near the rear while needing room with a furlong to go, Husbands pushed Ride a Comet through a narrow window between foes and commenced a rally. With open space in front of him, Ride a Comet shot past tiring foes like a bullet, taking the lead at the 1/16-pole with ease before drawing off convincingly to win by 2 3/4 lengths in a final time of 1:32.24 for the mile-long turf event.

“Patrick was confident every step of the way,” said Kathryn Sullivan, assistant trainer for Mark Casse. “I thought (El Tormenta) looked really good. I thought he still had a lot of horse at the top of the turn. But he (Ride A Comet) turns so well.”

After chasing El Tormenta in second for the entire race, Elusive Mischief was only able to close within a length of the early leader, taking third over Flight Deck. The remainder of the field came across as Machtree, Tale of Vienna, and Blueblood.

Ride a Comet’s win was his second straight at Woodbine, following an allowance score here on June 1, and his fourth in eight career starts. The 3-year-old son of Candy Ride, eighth while making his stakes debut in the Grade 3 Jeff Ruby Steaks, increased his career bankroll to $131,856.

Ride a Comet returned $6.50 to win, $3.70 to place, and $2.80 to show. El Tormenta brought back $5 to place and $3.70 to show, while Elusive Mischief paid $3.20 to show.