Daily Racing Form National Digital Edition
Lorena, Jilli Marie try two turns again
ETOBICOKE, Ontario – Lorena and Jilli Marie will renew their rivalry in Friday’s $100,000 Ashbridges Bay Stakes, a 1 1/16-mile race for Ontario-sired 3-year-old fillies at Woodbine.
Lorena has beaten the diminutive Jilli Marie in all three of their meetings, including when she won the seven-furlong Algoma Stakes on Tapeta and the seven-furlong Thunder Bay Stakes on grass.
After setting a quick pace, Lorena faded to finish just in front of Jilli Marie in eighth the only time they both went long in the 1 1/8-mile Woodbine Oaks in August.
Trainer Stuart Simon is confident that Lorena will stay the trip Friday. He said the stakes scheduling in the pandemic-shortened Woodbine meet put her behind the eight ball heading into the Oaks.
“I really believe she’ll run long,” Simon said. “With the Oaks, she had a condensed, squeezed schedule.”
Jilli Marie rebounded off a dull race in the open Duchess Stakes most recently when she rallied for second in her first turf start over good ground in the Thunder Bay.
Trainer Katerina Vassilieva believes Jilli Marie has a license to go two turns.
“It was hard to evaluate the Oaks, because she was stopped and blocked so much,” Vassilieva said. “She had a bad experience and a bad trip. The farthest she had gone before was six and a half furlongs, so I wasn’t comfortable making that big leap. There was nowhere else to run her, so we had to try it.
“Based on her last race, she was closing really well at the end, so I would think that she can get the two turns, as long as she gets a better trip than she did in the Oaks. She’s pretty versatile. She can be a little bit closer, or farther back.”
Three others were entered, including Red Equinox, who won the opening leg of this Ontario-sired series, the Rondeau Bay Stakes on the dirt at Fort Erie. She was overmatched against older rivals most recently in a second-level allowance.
Lake Ontario Stakes
Secret Reserve goes long for the first time in Friday’s $100,000 Lake Ontario Stakes, the male version of the Ashbridges Bay.
Secret Reserve has won 4 of 5 starts, including a pair of sevenfurlong stakes, the Elgin on Tapeta and the Lake Superior on turf. The son of Giant Gizmo is bred for routing and always gallops out strongly in his races. He breezed five-eighths in a sizzling 58.20 seconds on Nov. 10.
Artie’s Storm has been competitive in the majority of his eight starts, including a second in the Toronto Cup Stakes and a third in the Grade 3 Ontario Derby.
Plate Trial victor Avoman and Jelgo ran one-two in an Ontario-sired allowance on Oct. 24 after Jelgo was carried out very wide on the first turn by a troubled rival.