Dixie Strike installed as 5-2 favorite for Breeders' Stakes

That race followed a pair

of Polytrack wins at Woodbine as a juvenile, including the Ontario Lassie

Stakes where Dixie Strike romped by 5 1/2 lengths. She fell a bit out of form

when fifth in the Grade 1 Ashland Stakes at Keeneland in April, but returned to

the winner's circle at Woodbine next out to take the Grade 3 Selene Stakes by 3

3/4 lengths.

Dixie Strike was unable to emulate her half-sister with a win in the Woodbine

Oaks, winding up fifth that day, but came with a nice late run to take down

third in the Queen's Plate prior to her one-length triumph in the Prince of

Wales on Fort Erie's dirt track last out.

Casse was so impressed with that race, her first dirt attempt, that he sent the

bay filly to Saratoga to train for

the Grade 1, $600,000 Alabama Stakes on August 18. However, when news broke that Plate champion Strait of Dover would miss the

Breeders', Casse reconsidered.

"A big part of it was Strait of Dover," the horseman admitted. "He's by English

Channel and he would have been tough to beat. We brought her over to run her in

the Alabama and it looked like the best she could possibly be in the Alabama is

fourth choice. Running her in the Breeders', she very well could be the favorite.

(Owner) Mr. (John) Oxley and I talked about it and we just thought that it made more

sense to run her in the Breeders'."

Casse believes that racing over turf will be a little bit easier on the filly

who has already made a field-best seven starts in 2012.

"The difficulty with running at Saratoga is it's a very deep and tiring

racetrack where I'm going to have to train her much harder," Casse

explained.

"Going into the Breeders', she doesn't have to do a whole lot. She can run on

the turf and turf isn't going to be as difficult. Our thoughts are that down the

road she'll have other opportunities to run on the dirt."

Casse is hopeful

Dixie Strike will relax for rider Patrick Husbands in Sunday's 1

1/2-mile test.

"I think she's probably, right now, at the top of her game," he

remarked. "The

key to her is that Patrick will be able to get her to shut off and gallop along,

whatever he wants her to do, and when he needs her to run he can ask her to run

and that's what helps for a mile and a half. She has shown the ability to do

that and I think the mile and a half shouldn't be a problem for her."

Irish Mission will be looking to rebound off her sixth-place run in the

Prince of Wales when lining up in the Breeders'. The Giant's Causeway filly

finished in front of Dixie Strike when the pair faced off in the Woodbine Oaks

and Queen's Plate. The other filly in the field, Lateegra, could also offer up a

challenge off a half-length second in the 1 1/4-mile Wonder Where Stakes on the

grass last out.

"He's put on more and more muscle and he's continued to develop nicely,"

trainer Catherine Day

Phillips said.

Sammy Maudlin, named after a character on SCTV, the popular Canadian sketch

comedy television program, could deliver Day Phillips her

third victory in the Breeders' Stakes. She became the first female conditioner to win the 1 1/2-mile event

when saddling A Bit O'Gold to victory in 2004, and was back in the winner's

circle one year later with Jambalaya.

Sammy Maudlin's most recent performance, a three-length triumph as the near

5-2 favorite, prompted Day Phillips to supplement the Ontario-bred to Sunday's race for $12,500.

"After his first race, when you have a horse that is really well-bred for

turf, the Breeders' is always in the back of your mind," she noted. "He

was a big and gangly guy as a two-year-old, but we were patient with him, making

sure he was ready to race. He's put on more and more muscle and he's continued

to develop nicely. Hopefully, he comes up with another big effort on Sunday."

Campbell, aboard Sammy Maudlin in all three of his starts, once again

gets the call.

While the Breeders' Stakes takes center stage at Woodbine on Sunday, the

Toronto track has also carded the C$125,000

Nandi

Stakes for juvenile fillies earlier on the program. That six-furlong

Polytrack affair will feature the Cryptograph filly Cryptic Message seeking a

perfect three-for-three mark after breaking her maiden by 3 1/4 lengths and

taking the Shady Well Stakes in her last two.

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