Stakes Recap - June 28th

HBPA
Jun 30
3 min read

Stakes Winners – June 28 2025

Woodbine's stellar Canada Day Festival of Racing included five exciting, graded stakes races on June 28 kicking off with the Grade 3 Marine Stakes, presented by HPIBet. The 1 1/16 mile test on Tapeta, worth $150,000, was won by Al and Bill Ulwelling's Ontario bred colt MANSETTI, who punched his ticket to the 165th King's Plate on August 16 with the win.

Trained by Kevin Attard, Mansetti and jockey Pietro Moran tracked the filly War Signal through half of the Marine Stakes before taking over into the stretch. Paul Braverman and Timothy Pinch's Scorching, who was coming off an eight-month layoff for trainer John Charalambous, put in a good rally to be second over Pin Oak Farm's Megalodon. Scorching also has earned a journey to the Plate.

Mansetti is a son of Collected from Gidget Girl by Sky Mesa and he was a $40,000 purchase at the 2024 Ocala Breeders' Sales' April 2-year-old auction. Mansetti was bred by Jim Rome's Jungle Racing LLC. The colt has four wins from seven races and over $255,000 in earnings.

Frank DiGiulio's homebred Horse of the Year PATCHES O'HOULIHAN showed tremendous bravery to win the Grade 2 Bet365 Highlander Stakes at six furlongs on the turf by a neck over 2023 Champion 2-year-old My Boy Prince.

'Patches', trained by Robert Tiller, was ridden by Sofia Vives and the pair led all the way, despite drifting out in the stretch run. He sped the distance in 1:08.39.

The Ontario sired 5-year-old by Reload was winning for the 13th time in 16 races and he boosted his earnings to over $853,000. Following the race, Patches was found to have a 'soft tissue' injury to a foreleg but he was reported to be resting comfortably the following day.

The Selene Stakes (G3) was race seven on Saturday and 3-year-old fillies travelled 1 1/16 miles on Tapeta. Canadian Horse Racing Hall of Fame trainer Josie Carroll sent out SERENDIPITY, owned by LNJ Foxwoods and NK Racing to a front-running victory by 2 1/2 lengths.

Serendipity, by Street Sense, had raced just twice in her career before her Selene score, taking a maiden race at Gulfstream Park in Florida on March 23 and finishing second in an allowance race at Aqueduct on May 9, both for trainer Brad Cox.

Ridden by Rafael Hernandez, the Kentucky bred bay ran the distance in 1:45.22. Gary Barber's Tiz Her Money finished second over Somethinabouther, who was third for X-Men Racing IV and Madaket Stables.

Three Chimneys Farm's FUNTASTIC AGAIN won the Grade 3 Dominion Day Stakes at 1 1/8 miles in his first outing at Woodbine. The Kentucky bred by Funtastic, trained by Wesley Ward, was ridden by Victor Espinoza and he held off Ontario bred Stanley House to win by three-quarters of a length in 1:49.28.

The 5-year-old stallion has won five of 13 races and over $502,000.

The Nassau Stakes (G2), on the grass at one mile, was won by Glen Hill Farm's OCEAN CLUB, trained by Tom Proctor. The 5-year-old mare by Curlin was visiting from New York and she led throughout the $175,000 stakes race, winning by three-quarters of a length over the Roger Attfield-trained Ready for Shirl and Ontario bred Blueberry Fields,