TORONTO, Canada, CMC – Veteran Patrick Husbands rode a double – including a CAN$111 000 maiden particular weight – to enjoy a strong outing at celebrated Woodbine.
The 50-year-old partnered with favorite Reload’s Rebel to win race two over 6-½ furlongs before scoring with 9-2 choice Victoria’s Chief in race six over a mile and sixteenth on the 10-race card here Sunday.
Husbands lie fourth in the jockeys charts with 19 wins from 66 rides this season, two behind Rafael Hernandez, with Kazushi Kimura already the runaway leader on 40 wins.
An eight-time Sovereign Awards winner for best jockey, Husbands put all his experience on display as he comfortably guided five-year-old bay gelding Reload’s Rebel to a half-length win over the three-year-olds and upward in a front-running effort.
Husbands broke the gelding sharply and sent him to the front under pressure from the trio of Trigger’s Bay, Lobby Bar, and Dissectologist, but he was forced to fend off the fast-finishing 7-1 bet Morstachy’s before getting to the wire first.
The Barbadian’s second win came when he brought three-year-old chestnut gelding from off the pace to edge the three-year-old and upward maidens by a head.
Fanore and Bill Needle pulled the field through fractions of 22.53 for the quarter and 47.27 for the half, with Hank Ollie and Giovannino stalking together and the rest of the field bunched a length back.
At the top of the stretch, Husbands found his path blocked behind a cluster of five horses but swung Victoria’s Chief to the outside and stormed down the middle of the track to edge Fanore in a photo finish.
and then 