Our Flash Drive shows off her fleet turn of foot in the Whimsical (Michael Burns)
By Chris Lomon – Woodbine Communications
TORONTO— Our Flash Drive flashed a fleet turn of foot to win the Grade 3 $158,400 Whimsical Stakes, on Saturday afternoon at Woodbine.
Ridden by Patrick Husbands, who celebrated his 100th career graded stakes victory and 350th stakes triumph overall, Our Flash Drive, the 3-5 choice in the six-furlong Tapeta race for fillies and mares, 4-year-olds and up, bested fellow Mark Casse trainee Miss Speedy by 1 ¾ lengths.
There was an early tussle on the front end with Forest Drift, to the inside, and Hard Edge, just to her outside, going head-to-head through early splits of :22.57 and :45.03 for a half mile. Husbands kept a patient hand aboard Our Flash Drive, the duo sitting chilly in third as the field readied to navigate the turn for home.
Our Flash Drive then glided past the frontrunners in early stretch and pulled away with ease down the lane as Miss Speedy and U.S. invader Baby No Worries rallied late for the runner-up prize, with the former gaining the upper hand by a half-length.
The final time was 1:10.12.
“She’s legit,” praised Husbands. “Anything you want her to do, she’ll do. She broke sharp and I was just behind the speed, and I didn’t want the speed to come back and get stopped behind it. So, by the three-eighths pole, I tipped her out into the clear and she got the job done.”
It was the second straight graded stakes crown for the daughter of Ghostzapper-Dynamotor, who came into the Whimsical off a campaign-closing victory in the Grade 2 Bessarabian in November.
The 5-year-old Florida-bred mare now has four graded triumphs to her name, including the 2021 Selene and Ontario Colleen, both Grade 3 events.
Bred and owned by Live Oak, Our Flash Drive ($3.40 for the win) is now 6-3-1 from 15 starts. After a seventh and a fourth to start her career at Saratoga in the summer of 2020, the bay broke her maiden the following June at Woodbine, the start of a three-race win streak.
Miss Speedy, Baby No Worries, Owen’s Tour Guide, Forest Drift, Hard Edge, Ambassador Luna, and Basalt Street completed the order of finish.
“You come here, and people treat you with respect and you work hard and get it,” said Husbands, of his riding milestones. “It pays off in the long run.”
Live racing resumes Sunday with a first post of 1:10 p.m.
