Maryland-based horse Warming extended her impressive North American campaign by winning the bet365 Dance Smartly Stakes (G2) on Saturday at Woodbine. The $200,000 race, honoring Canada’s first Breeders’ Cup winner, featured seven fillies and mares competing over 1 1/16 miles on the E.P. Taylor Turf Course, rated good.
Early in the race, it was Proctor Street and Eponine (IRE)—who finished first and second in the Grade 2 Canadian Stakes—that set the pace. Proctor Street, victorious in that August 15 event at Woodbine by a neck over Eponine, led by a length through the first quarter mile in 25.05 seconds. Behind them, Power of Destiny (GB), Ozara (IRE), Warming, Elysian Field, and Pin Up Betty followed in sequence.
Proctor Street, ridden by Pietro Moran, maintained the lead through a half-mile in 50.31 seconds and reached the six-furlong marker in 1:14.21. Meanwhile, Warming, trained by Graham Motion and coming off a dramatic last-to-first win in the Grade 2 Yellow Ribbon Stakes at Del Mar on August 8, settled nicely in fifth, saving ground along the rail before beginning her charge.
Inside the final quarter-mile, jockey Fraser Aebly guided the white-blazed 4-year-old chestnut off the rail, finding room in the four path to surge past Proctor Street and win by one and three-quarter lengths over a late-charging Power of Destiny. The mile split was 1:37.46, with a final time of 1:43.78.
Riding Warming for the first time, Aebly said post-race that he wasn’t concerned about the lack of early pace because she was traveling so well on the backstretch. He praised her impressive acceleration, noting she quickly found a opening and responded powerfully when asked.
This marked Warming’s sixth racetrack of 2026 and secured her second consecutive Grade 2 victory following the Yellow Ribbon Stakes. She also claimed the Grade 3 Gallorette at Laurel Park two races earlier. The Dance Smartly win brought her 4-year-old season record to three wins, one second, and two thirds from six starts.
Motion’s assistant trainer Ian Wilson remarked on Warming’s adaptability, saying, “She shipped up so well. She’s raced all over the country. This is just another day, another business day for her.” Bred in Kentucky by M. Auerbach, LLC and owned by Eclipse Thoroughbred Partners, Warming has now tallied six wins, one second, and three thirds from 14 career starts, and earned automatic entry into the 2027 Pegasus World Cup Filly & Mare Turf Invitational Stakes (G2T) at Gulfstream Park.
Listed at 2-1 on Woodbine’s morning line, Warming went off at 2.35 to 1 odds, returning $6.70 to win. Power of Destiny (GB) finished second, Proctor Street was third, and Elysian Field completed the superfecta.
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Fan Take: Warming’s continued success across varied tracks highlights the growing versatility and international competitiveness in North American turf racing. Her string of high-profile wins not only cements her status as a top filly but also adds excitement for fans anticipating her showdown at the Pegasus World Cup next year.
Source: sports.yahoo.com
