TORONTO – Barbadian Patrick Husbands scored his 24th stakes win of the season as part of a handsome triple at Woodbine on Sunday, as he continued to extend his lead in the jockeys’ championship.
Paired with 3-1 chance Native Bombshell in the CAN$156 800 Grade III Ontario Fashion Stakes, Husbands brought the four-year-old filly with a flying late run to beat the three-year-old and upward fillies and mares by a neck, in a torrid six-furlong sprint.
The 41-year-old Husbands also won race four with hot favourite Hillaby and race seven with 4-1 bet Proroguing, to take the honours on the day’s 11-race card.
A six-time champion at Woodbine, but without a title in the last five years, Husbands moved to 139 wins for the season, seven clear of three-time defending champion Luis Contreras.
Significantly, Husbands also passed the CAN$8 million earnings mark for the seventh time in the last eight seasons.
Aboard Native Bombshell, who was making her first start in a year, Husbands saved ground in mid-pack through the early fractions dictated by 23-1 outsider Cryptic Message, with Casablanca Kiss and Goldstryke Glory tracking.
As the race exited the backstretch, Husbands took Native Bombshell off the rails and swung her four-wide, getting to the front in the final sixteenth as the early leaders faded.
Favourite Disco Baby made a late bid but Native Bombshell just fended her off to narrowly reach the wire.
“She gave me everything I asked her for. The race had a lot of speed. She relaxed well, and I was getting the perfect trip,” Husbands said afterward.
“I didn’t want the three horses in front of me to stop and get me in trouble. I was clear at the top of the lane, so I led her out, and she gave me everything.”
Husbands had earlier opened his account in race four, making all the running with the four-year-old bay filly Hillaby, to win by 4-3/4 lengths going 6-1/2 furlongs.
His second win of the day came aboard the three-year-old bay gelding Proroguing, beating the three-year-olds and upward by 1-1/2 lengths in another 6-1/2 furlong contest. (CMC)
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