Pageant Queen bursts onto the Fury Stakes scene  

TORONTO, June 3, 2026 – Multiple stakes-placed Pageant Queen, owned by Jeff and Annabel Begg and Upland Flats Racing, will face five rivals in the $125,000 Fury Stakes on Saturday at Woodbine.

A key prep on the road to this year’s $500,000 Woodbine Oaks Presented by Stella Artois (July 19 at Woodbine), the 7-furlong main track Fury is open to 3-year-old fillies foaled in Canada.

Pageant Queen, who has reached the podium in four of her five stakes appearances, will look to build on an impressive victory to begin her sophomore campaign.

Sent off as the slight 2-1 choice in the 6-furlong main track race on Apr. 25 at Woodbine, the daughter of Point of Entry out of the Sun King mare Queen Ofthe Dawn sat fifth at the half before rallying to take the lead 70 yards from home en route to a two-length score over stablemate Sipping History, who is also multiple stakes placed and owned by Jeff and Annabel Begg and Upland Flats Racing.

“We were really happy with her,” said trainer Jamie Begg. “What we found is that she has always run a big race at the beginning of the year, which she did now and in her first-ever start. She runs well after having a nice break. We realized that is what she wants between her races, so we decided not to run her back after this one and waited until this race.”

Pageant Queen enjoyed a strong rookie campaign in 2025, including a win in her June debut, a 5 ½-furlong sprint over Woodbine’s main track.

After briefly surrendering the lead at the quarter pole, she rebid along the inside in early stretch and then pulled away to record her first victory at 19-1, stopping the clock in 1:05.37.

“We didn’t expect her to show that speed in her first start, but she did,” said Begg. “When she got on top, I knew she was gone.”

She then contested five consecutive stakes races, beginning with the My Dear on July 12, where she closed well to finish third.

Pageant Queen followed that effort with a runner-up finish in the Muskoka on Aug. 24, was third in the Victorian Queen on Sept. 14, second in the South Ocean on Oct. 19, and fourth in the Shady Well on Nov. 22 to conclude her juvenile season.

“She is one of those horses who is push-button, she won’t give you anything you don’t ask for,” said Begg. “Last year, we added blinkers to see if it could wake her up a little bit. But as we were running her in those stakes – I think she should have won some of those – we noticed that she was running spotty. She would close at the end, but she would do this and that at times. The race she won to start this year was how we expected her to run. This year, she is a little sharper and more mature, so we pulled the blinkers off.”

Bred in Ontario by Anthony B. Russo and Leslie L. Russo, Pageant Queen brings a record of 2-2-2 from 7 starts, along with $141,283 in career purse earnings, into the Fury.

“We wintered her locally,” said Begg, who won his first stakes race with Greavette in the 2023 edition of the Finest City at Presque Isle Downs. “We rented a facility here in Ontario and laid up some of our own horses this winter. It has an indoor training facility, so before they came to the track, we jogged them for almost a month. So, they had a good base when they came in and really blossomed. I feel the horses who winter here, they get a little rough from the cold, but as it warms up and their training progresses, they seem to come into their own. I’m really happy with how she’s come along since she’s been back.”

Pageant Queen was a $35,000 (CDN) purchase at the 2024 CTHS Canadian Premier Yearling Sale.

“I’m quite a big fan if Point of Entry,” said Begg. “He was a pretty serious racehorse on the grass. He was a later-blooming horse, but I think he’s one of the most underrated stallions when it comes to Ontario-sired horses. Pageant Queen might end up being a better grass horse than on the synthetic. She had some pretty serious works on the grass last year and she travels over it so well.”

Donte Martin is the groom.

Shady Well Stakes winner Bossy Candy, Corsia Veloce, Canada’s Champion 2-Year-Old Filly and graded stakes winner, graded stakes placed Katie’s Grace, stakes-placed Mathematical, and multiple stakes winner Piper’s Gift will also contest the Fury.

Recent works: Pageant Queen recorded a quartet of 4-furlong works in May, all on the Woodbine main track.

On May 24, she breezed in :47.80 and followed it up six days later with a time of :50.00.

“The work she had last week, on May 30, she didn’t have a huge gallop out, which was by design,” said Begg. “It was one of the best works she’s had. It wasn’t a fast time. We broke her off slowly and then progressed her through the work. We were extremely happy with her and that work. She’s doing very well.”

Fast Facts: Mark Casse has won nine editions of the Fury, including four consecutive runnings from 2011-14 and three straight from 2023-25. Gracefield won the inaugural edition in 1956.

Wagering menu for the Fury: Includes Rolling Double / Exacta / 0.20 Trifecta / .20 Superfecta / 0.20 Pick 3 (Races 9-10-11) / $1 Swinger.

Need to know: First race post time on Saturday is 1:00 p.m. Fans can wager on all the action through HPIbet.com.

Field for the $125,000 Fury Stakes

Post – Horse – Jockey – Trainer

1 – Pageant Queen – Romero Ramsay Maragh – Jamie Begg

2 – Katie’s Grace – Ryan Munger – Catherine Day Phillips

3 – Mathematical – Emma-Jayne Wilson – Mike De Paulo

4 – Corsia Veloce – Fraser Aebly – Josie Carroll

5 – Bossy Candy – Pietro Moran – Mark Casse

6 – Piper’s Gift – Rafael Hernandez – Dale Desruisseaux

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Chris Lomon, Woodbine