Stakes weekend starts with Saturday quartet

Woodbine’s weekend stakes showcase launches Saturday afternoon with four stakes contests to lead into Sunday’s Queen’s Plate card.

A pair of Grade 3 $150,000 events, the Singspiel Stakes and Seaway Stakes, and two $125,000 stakes, the Catch A Glimpse and Soaring Free, makeup Saturday’s stakes quartet.

After blazing to a course record in the $150,000 Buckland for 3-year-olds and older on the Colonial Downs’ inner turf, Eons will make his Canadian debut in the 1 ¼-mile Grade 3 Singspiel, for 3-year-olds and up, to be contested over the E.P. Taylor Turf Course.

Trained by Arnaud Delacour for owner Mark Grier, the chestnut covered 1 1/8 miles in 1:48.14, heading Kentucky Ghost for the Buckland victory.

A 5-year-old son of Giant’s Causeway, Eons returned $13.20 for the win.

“He ran a very, very good race,” said Delacour. “I was [expecting him to run well]. I was happy with the horse and happy with the ride because it was a patient ride. He always runs well. It was such a long time since he went to the winner’s circle, but not by lack of good effort. He was running well against good horses.

“He’s always on edge, but he is great. You can do what you want with him. He’s really athletic, but he has a lot of energy, for sure.”

Eons launched his career with a pair of starts at Tampa Bay Downs in early 2019, before making four consecutive trips to the winner’s circle, including a victory in the Grade 3 Kent Stakes at Delaware Park.

His win in the Buckland was his first since the Kent triumph. Overall, he sports a mark of 5-2-1 from 17 career starts.

“The key with him is always the same… I’m always hoping for a fast pace, where the other horses can come back a little bit,” said Delacour. “He needs a lot of stretch to get going and that’s probably one of the reasons I would love to try him at Woodbine. The stretch is very long and horses have time to really get into a rhythm.”

Patrick Husbands, who won the 2016 Singspiel aboard Danish Dynafomer, will ride Eons on Saturday.