TORONTO, August 5, 2018 – Royal Intrigue entered Woodbine’s 2018 Turf Endurance Series for the second leg on Sunday and established himself as a front-runner with a winning effort over 1-1/2 miles on the E.P. Taylor Turf Course. With David Moran aboard, Royal Intrigue raced mid-pack then rallied out from behind defending series champion Tesseron, who took the lead off the final turn before finishing seventh. The eight-year-old Silent Name-Royal Dalliance gelding raced on down the stretch to win by 1-1/4 lengths in 2:26.62 for owner/trainer Joanna Iglar. With the victory, Royal Intrigue earned 10 points and moved into a tie atop the series leaderboard with Artistico, who won the 1-3/8-mile opener on July 1 but was not entered in the second of four $50,000 legs. After gapping most of the field throughout the early stages of the race, Lookin At Bravo made up significant ground as he stormed home to finish second ahead of English Illusion in a photo finish. First leg competitors Sine Metu and Kaigun added to their point totals with back-to-back top five finishes in the series. The Turf Endurance Series continues on September 9 with the third leg to be contested over 1-5/8 miles before culminating with the final 2-1/4 mile marathon on October 14. Participating horses earn points based on order of finish throughout the four legs to determine the series winner and recipient of bonuses totaling $40,000. The owner of the series winning horse will be awarded a $25,000 bonus while the trainer will receive $15,000. Sent off at odds of 10-1 in the field scratched down to 13 starters, Royal Intrigue paid $22.80, $11.20 and $7.30. He combined with 17-1 shot Lookin at Bravo ($16.60, $10.70) for an exacta worth $417.10. English Illusion ($4) completed the trifecta, which paid $1,232.50 for a $1 ticket. The superfecta returned $6,681.45 and the Jackpot-Hi paid $14,326.25 for $1 tickets. The Jackpot Hi-5 had multiple winners and the carryover climbed to $256,382.71. Live Thoroughbred racing continues at Woodbine on Monday afternoon with a special holiday program in place of this week’s Wednesday night card. The $100,000 Victoriana Stakes is featured as the eighth of nine races. First race post time is 1 p.m. Share This:Share
