TORONTO– Crysta’s Court broke her maiden in style, at odds of 40-1, in Saturday’s $125,000 Victorian Queen Stakes at Woodbine.
The bay daughter of Silent Name-Certainly Special, trained by Justin Nixon for owner JMC’s Racing Stable, entered her first added-money event off a trio of in-the-money finishes in maiden races and proved she belonged with a determined late rally to collar Cryptic Message.
Cryptic Message, undefeated in four starts prior to the Victorian Queen, led the field through splits of :22.42 and :45.51 in the six furlong ‘Poly’ sprint with Careless Word tracking from second position.
Crysta’s Court, racing from the back of the pack following a troubled start under Luis Contreras, improved through the turn and overtook the front-running Cryptic Message in the final 70 yards for a one-length score in 1:10.64. Cryptic Message held on for place, 2 1/4-lengths in front of Strut the Course.
Contreras was happy to make a late rally with Crysta’s Court, who had been prominently placed in her three previous starts.
“We had a little trouble coming out of the gate, but it ended up working perfect for us,” said Contreras. “She relaxed very well and I had so much horse. I waited to the quarter pole to make a big kick and she responded really well.”
The victory marked the first stakes win at Woodbine for Nixon.
“It was a bit of a shock, but she’s been so honest we thought if we could get a shot at some black type, today would be the day,” said Nixon. “It worked out very well.”
Nixon noted that the off-the-pace attempt was by design.
“I asked Luis to take her off the pace a little bit and let the speed go,” said Nixon. “Getting shuffled back at the start like that was probably the best thing that could have happened for her.”
Crysta’s Court earned $75,000 for her maiden score, improving her record to one win, a second and a pair of thirds from four lifetime starts.
She paid $91.70, $16.80 and $7.80, combining with Cryptic Message ($2.40, $2.10) for a $184.10 (5-4) exactor. A 5-4-1 (Strut the Course, $3 to show) triactor was worth $1,105.70 while a $1 superfecta [5-4-1-6 (Tahnee)] came back $1,489.25.