TORONTO — Being patient really paid off for jockey Steve Bahen on Saturday.
After a quarter-mile, Bahen and Desert Ride were last in the $500,000 Woodbine Oaks. But Bahen rallied Desert Ride from the outside down the stretch to capture the opening event of the Triple Tiara for Canadian-foaled three-year-old fillies by a neck over Bold Script.
Desert Ride won the 1 1/8-mile race at Woodbine Racetrack in 1:50.43. Earlier, Pay for Peace registered the upset victory in the $125,000 Plate Trial, also a 1 1/8-mile event that's the annual prep event for the $1-million Queen's Plate, in 1:51.63.
The Queen's Plate, the first jewel of the OLG Canadian Triple Crown, goes June 29 at Woodbine. This year, a horse winning all three legs will secure a $500,000 bonus for its handlers.
"I've watched her races and she's come from behind," Bahen said of Desert Ride following his third career Oaks victory. "Down the backside, it looked like I'm going to get out now and give her a shot to run at them.
"But when she turned for home, she gave me a huge run like she did in her previous races."
The win was Desert Side's third in four career starts — all this year — with a second-place finish. The $300,000 winner's share more than quadrupled the Sam-Son Farm-owned horse's all-time earnings ($371,220 from $71,220).
Mark Samuel of Sam-Son Farm was non-commital about Desert Ride running in the Queen's Plate.
"We just got this one on the scoreboard and we'll see how she comes out of it," he said. "Then we'll have a conversation as we always do about what to do next.
"But we're very excited by her and we love our good fillies."
Bold Script (9/2) was second in the 10-horse Oaks ahead of Speedy Soul (5/2).
Desert Ride paid $18.50, $8.30 and $5.10. Bold Script returned $6.30 and $4.30 while Speedy Soul paid $3.20.
"She's just a just a lovely filly, easy to train and the boy (Bahen) rode her beautifully," said winning trainer Neil Howard. "The 1 1/8 miles was obviously something we were looking forward to and she needed every bit of that."
Howard said Desert Ride's light racing schedule is no accident.
"Kind of by design, which they (Sam-Son Farms) like to do with their fillies — give them every chance to develop," he said. "We saw enough in her the first couple of races to put her on that kind of path.
"It’s easy to say on Monday morning but so far so good."
Pay for Peace's victory was his first in three starts this year and just the second in seven career races. Winning trainer Rachel Halden admitted the Queen's Plate wasn't really on Pay for Peace's radar before his stirring win Saturday.
"We weren't thinking about it," she said. "I think this horse will step up on the turf and we’ve been kind of thinking Breeders' (the 1 1/2-mile Breeders' Stakes turf event, the final Triple Crown race).
"We'll definitely be thinking about it (Plate) now. We'll see how he comes out of it, have a discussion with his owners and see. I'm just absolutely delighted. Obviously, he's just taken a little while to come back around this year for us."
Pay for Peace overtook 9/5 favourite Federal Law down the stretch for the 1 3/4-length victory. Rising Star, at 25/1 odds, was third.
Avie's Flatter, the 3-1 Queen's Plate Winterbook favourite, didn't run in the Plate Trial.
Jockey Gary Boulanger took Federal Law to the lead shortly after the start and at one point sat 3 1/2 lengths ahead of the field. Boulanger had Federal Law ahead coming off the final turn but couldn't fend off the hard-charging Pay for Peace, ridden by Luis Contreras.
"I can tell you he had a good break," Contreras said. "I saw (Federal Law) break a little bit and he kind of rushed to the lead and I think that kind of helped a little.
"I told Rachel before, I think he likes to run and he likes to run all day so he can run further. I think it's his style to be in the long races."
Pay for Peace paid $41.90, $13.20 and $6.80. Federal Law returned $3.50 and $3 while Rising Star paid $8.20.
The Canadian Press
