Yorkton Repeats in Bold Venture

TORONTO, ON – Winless since this race a year ago, Chiefswood Stable’s homebred Yorkton utilized similar tactics en route to repeating in Saturday’s $125,000 Bold Venture Stakes (G3) at Woodbine.

The race began quite eventfully when the original 2/5 favorite Pink Lloyd‘s gate opened a beat earlier than his foes, which caused him to leap in the air and stutter-step while everyone else broke away. Yorkton and jockey Patrick Husbands left the far outside post sharply and assumed a slight command, setting the pace through fractions of :21.68 and :44.29. 

Yorkon came out a lane off of the far turn, giving Sable Island a small window along the rail while Ikerrin Road commenced a wide rally on the outside. An advancing Pink Lloyd soon joined the fray, threading between Sable Island and Yorkton to create an exciting finish.

In the end, though, none were able to get close enough as Yorkton crossed with a neck advantage over Ikerrin Road. The Stuart Simon trainee completed the 6 1/2-furlong sprint over the fast main track in a final time of 1:14.96.

“I breezed him his last few breezes,” Husbands said. “Not being cocky, you still have to show respect for the other horses in there, especially Pink Lloyd, but the last time I breezed him, I said, ‘This is what I call a steal job.’ He’s naturally fast and he’s a horse that every jockey wants to ride, a fast horse.”

The stewards hung the Inquiry sign immediately after the race finished in order to take a closer look at the start. They ultimately ruled that Pink Lloyd’s gate issues created an unfair situation and he was deemed a non-starter after crossing the wire in fourth.

The refunds pushed Yorkton and third-place finisher Curlin’s Honor up to co-favoritism at 7/5. Sable Island was placed in fourth, while behind him came O’Kratos and Tringale to complete the order of finish.

Yorkton’s win was his fifth at the stakes level – all over the local oval – and improved his career record to 24-7-2-2. The 5-year-old son of Speightstown has now earned $498,090.

“He had some things go wrong all the way along earlier this year,” Simon said. “He grabbed a quarter really bad in his last race and, talking it over with the guys, we wanted to totally regroup and start over kind of with him, and the horse has just been training out of this world. He’s just in good order. He’s a nice horse when he’s right.”

Yorkton returned $4.80 to win, $3.70 to place, and $2.30 to show. Ikerrin Road brought back $6.10 to place and $3.30 to show, while Curlin’s Honor paid $2.10 to show.