TORONTO, August 15, 2020 – Curlin’s Voyage and jockey Patrick husbands won the $500,000 Woodbine Oaks presented by Budweiser on Saturday at Woodbine Racetrack. The Ontario-bred three-year-old daughter of Curlin is trained by Josie Carroll for Hill ‘n’ Dale Equine Holdings Inc. Top three finishers: Curlin’s Voyage-Afleet Katherine-Merveilleux PATRICK HUSBANDS, JOCKEY Jason Portuondo (JP): Despite everything she’s done, there have been doubters as to whether or not she’s the real deal. She proved today that she is. Patrick Husbands (PH): “She likes the game. One thing about her, you’ve got to ride her hard… She gets the job done.” JP: Talk about the ride, that was an aggressive move you made. PH: “The first quarter was pretty quick, so that singled them out. As you know, I have to ride Hernandez from the wire, he was on me… and so, in the first turn and in the second turn, he was on me and so I told myself, ‘I’m on the best horse’ so when I reached the five-eighths pole I was looking for any holes. The first hole that opened up, I was clear of that one and then the second hole opened up by the three-eighths pole, and then at the quarter pole the other one opened up and it was all sailing from there.” JP: Statement win here today. If you’re Josie Carroll, do you put this horse in the Queen’s Plate? PH: [Clears throat, knowing Josie’s behind him and listening] “I’m not getting involved, I am not getting involved.” JOSIE CARROLL, TRAINER JP: She just continues to be a really good racehorse. You said you’d have her ready and this was an emphatic victory. Josie Carroll (JC): “She’s a very special filly; a very, very special filly. I think we knew what we had from the start when we were very bold and put her against the boys the first time out in a stake. It’s not something you do lightly; you have to think one’s special. I had a few concerns this year with the way the stakes schedule played out. I knew I wasn’t going to get a two-turn race in her and it gave me some concern but I trained her fairly hard into this race and she just thrived on it. Good horses thrive on training.” JP: You’ve been down this road before with Inglorious in 2011. Are we going to see Curlin’s Voyage in the Queen’s Plate? JC: “You know, with Inglorious I think I had everybody frustrated because I wouldn’t make up my mind until the week before the Plate. I’m very much about my individual horses and she’s going to tell us.” Share This:Share
