ETOBICOKE, Ontario, CMC – Patrick Husbands collected a pair of wins, including a landmark in the CAN $150 000 feature Grade 3 Whimsical Stakes, on the nine-race card on Saturday at the Woodbine Racetrack in Canada.
The ace Barbadian reinsman has been off to a slow start this season, which started on April 22. It only has four wins from 19 mounts, placing him ninth in the jockeys’ standings, headed by Japan-born defending champion Kazushi Kimura on 11 wins.
Husbands, who celebrates his 49th birthday on May 22, showed his desire for the big-money races at Canada’s premier racing oval has not diminished when he drove 3-5 favorite Our Flash Drive to a 1-3/4 lengths win in the Whimsical Stakes, going six furlongs on the all-weather track.
It was the 100th graded stakes win in Canada for Husbands and 350th triumph overall from nearly 2 000 big-money rides that have amounted to more than CAN $55 million, with Our Flash Drive prevailing over fellow Mark Casse-trained Miss Speedy, under Sahin Cavici, in the race for fillies and mares, four-years-old and over.
“You come here, and people treat you with respect, and you work hard and get it,” Husbands said about his riding milestones. “It pays off in the long run.”
There was an early tussle on the front end with Forest Drift, under Daisuke Fukumoto, to the inside, and Hard Edge, under Eswan Flores, on the outside, going head-to-head through the early splits.
Husbands kept a patient hand aboard Our Flash Drive, sitting in third with the field readying to navigate the turn for home before he got the five-year-old bay mare to glided past the front-runners in early stretch and pull away with ease down the lane for a time of one minute, 10.12 seconds.
“She’s legit,” Husbands said about his mount. “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-eighth pole, I tipped her out into the clear, and she got the job done.”
Husbands followed up in the CAN $32 800 next and final race with a one-length win astride the 3-4 favorite Bosskaye going five furlongs on the all-weather track.
Bosskaye had a good position outside, stalking the front-running trio entering the turn, before Husbands got the four-year-old bay mare to cruise around her rivals and took the lead at the top of the lane.
The duo had a bit of work to finish up, having to put away Legal Steps, under female jockey Amanda Vandermeersch, edge away late, nearing the wire, for a time of 59.66 seconds.
Earlier on the card, Jason Hoyte, another Barbadian jockey, combined with compatriot trainer Wesley Ward to deliver a convincing, seven-length win on the 3-5 Irish-bred favorite Mendeljohn in the CAN $49 600 third race over five furlongs on the all-weather track.
Mendeljohn took control from the outset and was in hand, but pressured from the outside through the turn before Hoyte got him to open up at the top of the lane and run away from the rest of the field for a time of 58.80 secs.
It was the fifth win out of 26 stars for Hoyte, placing him fifth in the jockeys’ standings, and the seven-win out of seven runners for Ward to earn a top-20 spot in the trainers’ championship.
and then 