Golden Vision upsets in Ballade Stakes

TORONTO, July 17, 2021 – Longshot Golden Vision wore down 6-5 favourite Summer Sunday in deep stretch to take the $100,000 Ballade Stakes with Omar Moreno aboard for trainer Tino Attard on Saturday afternoon at Woodbine Racetrack.

“She was tough to get by, but my horse just dug in a little bit harder today,” said Moreno of Golden Vision’s late stretch battle with her stubborn foe. “It was a tough field for sure, but we finished better today.”

With a pair of scratches (Artie’s Princess and Ishiyaya), the field of Ontario-sired fillies and mares was reduced to four with the betting public backing Summer Sunday, a multiple graded stakes winner and Canada’s 2019 Champion Female Sprinter.

The Stu Simon trainee got the first call breaking well from the outside but Spanish Ballerina shot through from the inside to take command. She set fractions of 22:95 and 46:08 with the bettors’ choice and 8-5 second choice Sav stalking the pace.

However, it was Golden Vision who stole the spotlight after kicking into action from the back of the four-pack on the turn as Summer Sunday duelled past Spanish Ballerina entering the stretch. With the favourite in her sights at the top of the lane, Golden Vision rallied outside and nabbed the victory at the end of the six-furlong sprint. The final time was 1:10.75.

Sent postward at odds of 6-1, Golden Vision returned $14.90 to win. She defeated Summer Sunday by a half-length, with Spanish Ballerina finishing 2 ¾ lengths back in third ahead of Sav.

“I thought actually I had a really good chance of winning this race today,” said Moreno. “There was a lot of speed. The last time when we won with her, she was sitting way off of it and she made a huge run, so I thought if I got somewhere maybe a little bit closer to the pace today, I thought she had a real chance of winning today.”

Fresh off that 6 ½-furlong turf triumph three weeks ago in rein to Moreno, Golden Vision is now two-for-two this season and has a lifetime record reading 5-3-1 from 14 starts.

“She’s been training really good, she’s been working good, and she looks good so we said we’re going to give it a shot in this race,” said Attard after Golden Vision’s first stakes score.

A five-year-old homebred mare by Court Vision out of Good as Gold, she is owned by Elizabeth Lickrish and Gordon Lickrish.

Live Thoroughbred racing resumes at Woodbine Racetrack on Sunday, featuring the $175,000 Connaught Cup (Grade 2). Post time for the first of 12 races is 1:10 p.m.