Gretzky the Great earned the first black-type win for his first-crop sire (by Uncle Mo) as he eventually wore down frontrunner Into the Sunrise to prevail in Woodbine's Soaring Free S. Sunday afternoon. Second to favored Ready to Repeat going five panels over the local lawn July 12, the bay broke through by daylight over a rained-off six furlongs Aug. 2. Away well from the outside five hole, Gretzky the Great skated along out in the clear in second as Into the Sunrise enjoyed a clear lead and Ready to Repeat traveled well held down on the fence in third. The pacesetter posted a :45.51 half and looked to have the race to himself at the top of the stretch, but Gretzky the Great and Kazushi Kimura kept chipping away to seize the lead in the waning moments.
“I was so satisfied the last time and today that was the best performance of his life,” said Kimura.
David Anderson paid $310,000 for the winner's dam Pearl Turn while she was in foal to Pioneerof the Nile at KEENOV '16. Pearl Turn produced a Quality Road colt in 2019 and was bred to Uncle Mo for 2021. The Uncle Mo–Bernardini cross is a potent one, having produced Grade I winner Mo Town and Grade II winners Mopotism and Modernist.
SOARING FREE S., C$112,600, Woodbine, 8-23, 2yo, 6 1/2fT, 1:13.83, fm.
1–GRETZKY THE GREAT, 120, c, 2, by Nyquist#tot">Nyquist
1st Dam: Pearl Turn (MSP, $182,560), by Bernardini
2nd Dam: Turn Me Loose, by Kris S.
3rd Dam: Adoradancer, by Danzig Connection
($295,000 RNA Ylg '19 FTKOCT). 1ST BLACK-TYPE WIN.
O-Eclipse Thoroughbred Partners & Gary Barber; B-Anderson
Farms Ont. Inc. (ON); T-Mark E. Casse; J-Kazushi Kimura.
C$72,000. Lifetime Record: 3-2-1-0, $115,873. *First black-
type winner for freshman sire (by Uncle Mo).
2–Into the Sunrise, 120, c, 2, Into Mischief–Bellini Sunrise, by
Machiavellian. ($325,000 Ylg '19 KEESEP). O-M Racing Group,
LLC; B-Edward A. Seltzer & Beverly Anderson (KY); T-Wesley A.
Ward. C$20,000.
3–Ready to Repeat, 122, g, 2, More Than Ready–Christine
Daae, by Giant's Causeway. ($60,000 Ylg '19 KEESEP). O-Gail
Cox, John Menary, Michael James Ambler & Windways Farm;
B-Stonestreet Thoroughbred Holdings LLC (KY); T-Gail Cox.
C$11,000.
Margins: NK, 1 1/4, 4 1/4. Odds: 2.35, 3.25, 1.00.
Also Ran: Gospel Way, Exceed. Click for the Equibase.com chart or VIDEO, sponsored by Fasig-Tipton.
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