Olivia Rose captures the Thunder Bay (Michael Burns)
Chris Lomon/Woodbine Communications
TORONTO– The Ontario Sired Heritage Series continued Sunday afternoon at Woodbine with Olivia Rose winning the $100,000 Thunder Bay Stakes.
The six-furlong E.P. Taylor turf sprint for 3-year-old fillies is part of an eight-leg stakes series open to Ontario sired 3-year-olds.
Sent off as the 1-2 choice in the Thunder Bay, Olivia Rose, with Rafael Hernandez aboard, glided to the front as Little Teddy, second on the board at 2-1, tracked the leader from in second. Miramichi settled into third, just ahead of Just Follow Me through an opening panel of :23.10.
Olivia Rose continued to show the way around the turn for home as Little Teddy began to dial up the pressure in early stretch after a half in :45.35.
It set the stage for a throwdown to the wire, with Olivia Rose digging in to notch a 1 ½-length win in a time of 1:08.71 over firm ground. Little Teddy finished six lengths ahead of third-place Tabloid Material. Miramichi, Just Follow Me, and Red Eleanor rounded out the field. Vandoo was scratched.
Last time out, on July 7, it was Little Teddy who bested Olivia Rose by a neck in the Georgian Bay Stakes, also an Ontario Sired Heritage Series event, at five furlongs on the Woodbine inner turf.
On Sunday, the Mark Casse trainee was able to turn the tables against her game rival.
“I just didn’t want to pull the trigger too soon,” said Hernandez, who won Sunday’s other Ontario Sired Heritage Series race, the Lake Superior, with Live Lucky. Everything worked out good. We got the lead and we got an easy pace.
“I have confidence in this horse.”
Bred and owned by Gabe Grossberg, the daughter of Silent Name (JPN), who took last year’s South Ocean Stakes and this year’s Fury Stakes, is now 4-3-0 from 10 starts.
Olivia Rose broke her maiden in her third engagement, a 13 ¾-length score at 6 ½ furlongs over the Woodbine all-weather track on August 26, 2023.
She paid $3.10 for Sunday’s win.
Established in 2021, the Ontario Sired Heritage Series is comprised of three $100,000 legs and a $100,000 final for two divisions: 3-year-old colts & geldings, and 3-year-old fillies. The total purse structure for the series is $800,000.
All three legs and the final are contested over different distances and surfaces: the Woodbine inner turf, the Woodbine E.P. Taylor turf, the Woodbine all-weather track, and Fort Erie dirt track.
In addition to the $400,000 in purses for each division, there is $70,000 in bonus money allocated to the top point earners in each division at the end of the series.
