Musical Ride sharp for her return

ETOBICOKE, Ontario – Saturday’s featured conditioned allowance-optional claimer at Woodbine contains a mixed bag of six fillies and mares. Handicappers should ponder trainer intent and several other angles when sizing up their chances in the 6 1/2-furlong Tapeta sprint.

Musical Ride is arguably the most talented entrant. Trained by Liz Elder, she improved by leaps and bounds late last summer while winning a maiden race on the inner turf before an impressive closing score in a first-level allowance on the main turf.

Musical Ride tailed off in the fall and got the winter off in Florida.

“Musical Ride had a good winter in Ocala at Winding Oaks Training Center, an excellent facility and dirt surface,” Elder said. “She’s had several decent works and is ready to run. We were planning on waiting to race her on her preferred surface, the turf. However, she’s so sharp at the moment, we have chosen to get a positive race on the Tapeta.”

Ms Vancougar and Jilli Marie, also 4-year-olds making their first start of the year, are more likely win candidates than Musical Ride.

Ms Vancougar closed out her 2021 campaign with back-toback victories, in front-running style against maidens and from off the pace against allowance opposition with a 77 Beyer Speed Figure.

Ms Vancougar has been working fast, including fiveeighths in a sizzling 58.60 last Friday. The fly in the ointment is that trainer Nick Nosowenko was 0 for 21 with 61-180 day layoff runners over the past five years, although 10 of those runners were either second or third, which included Ms Vancougar when she ran third in her 2021 opener on the grass.

Jilli Marie was unbeaten in two starts at 2, including the South Ocean Stakes for Ontariosired fillies. After notching a victory in an Ontario-sired allowance in her 2021 season debut, she was competitive in several Ontario-sired stakes, but missed the board in both the Woodbine Oaks and Duchess Stakes.

Jilli Marie’s trainer, Katerina Vassilieva, was 2 for 4 with sixmonth-plus comebackers since the beginning of last year, with a substantial return on investment.

Hai Bobbi should make her presence felt if she continues to improve for trainer Kathy Patton. She rallied for second behind favored Join the Dance when coming off the sidelines on April 23, and then cleared the first allowance condition with a modest 74 Beyer after prevailing in a speed duel three weeks ago.

Ghaaleb the Great was competitive in her last three starts, all on the dirt at Oaklawn. Most recently, she was a slow-starting third in a $30,000 starter allowance in her debut off a $30,000 claim by trainer Norm McKnight, who began this meet by going 1 for 20.

Hello Friends came up empty after getting wiped out at the break in her season debut. She beat Ontario-sired allowance stock second time out last year.