Love Cervere on the lead. (Michael Burns)
Chris Lomon, Woodbine
TORONTO, Ont. – Love Cervere made her first start at Woodbine a winning one, taking Saturday’s $100,000 Alywow Stakes Presented by the Greenwood Stakes.
Trained by Miguel Clement for the ownership group of Edward Seltzer, Beverly Anderson and Reeves Thoroughbred Racing, Love Cervere engineered a second straight stakes score after winning the inaugural running of the $150,000 Take the A Train, a six-furlong outer turf sprint for sophomore fillies, at Belmont at the Big A, on May 10.
She delivered another top-shelf performance, this time at 6 ½ furlongs over the E.P. Taylor course.
Under Eric Cancel, Love Cervere, the 9-5 choice, broke sharply in the race for 3-year-old fillies and sat second to pacesetter Flaunt through an opening quarter in :23.21.
It was status quo on the front end through a half in :46.31, as Cancel had his bay filly ready to pounce as the field of eight straightened for home.
Love Cervere took control mid-way down the long stretch and went on to notch a 2 ½-length win in a time of 1:15.46 over good ground.
It Ain’t Two (GB) rallied to finish second, 3 ½ lengths clear of Flaunt, who was 1 ¼ lengths ahead of Personify. War Signal was scratched.
“I had a wonderful position coming out of the gate,” said Cancel, who survived a claim of foul from the rider of It Ain’t Two (GB) for possible interference ahead of the half. “I was very happy where I was. I didn’t want to get in her way, so I just let her do her thing freely.
“She really liked the track, and once we turned for home and I asked her, she went on with it.”
Bred in Kentucky by Edward and Beverly Seltzer, Love Cervere, who won her debut at Belmont at the Big A last November, is now 3-1-0 from 5 starts.
The daughter of Into Mischief is out of the stakes-placed Black Minnaloushe mare Panther Strike and is a half-sister to Grade 3-winner Chapalu and dual stakes-placed Caroline Test.
Love Cervere paid $5.60 for today’s win.
