We have the utmost respect for trainer Charlie Appleby any time he ships one of his top-class turf horses from England over for a major North American stakes.
That respect only grows when he targets a race he has already won, like Saturday’s $500,000 Summer Stakes (G1) for 2-year-olds at Woodbine.
The Summer, part of Woodbine’s annual Turf Festival, is a Breeders’ Cup “Win and You’re In” stakes, guaranteeing the winner an automatic starting spot in the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Turf (G1) this fall at Keeneland.
Appleby, winner of consecutive editions of the Summer with Albahr (2021) and Mysterious Night (2022), once again has the horse to beat in Al Hudaiba, named for a neighborhood in Dubai.
Al Hudaiba (the 2-1 morning-line favorite) looks like a standout in his first start outside Great Britain, a 1-mile race that attracted 12 runners. Seven of his rivals have only posted maiden wins. Two more -- Bounce Back (15-1) and Speaker’s Speech (12-1) -- are still looking for their first victories.
In contrast, Al Hubaiba has already posted three wins, including the Boodles Superlative Stakes (G2) at Newmarket. Al Hubaiba most recently suffered a narrow defeat by a half-length in the Coral Vintage (G2) at Goodwood as the 6-5 favorite.
Like most runners from Europe, Al Hudaiba should appreciate the long stretch run down Woodbine’s lush turf course. William Buick will be aboard.
This being Woodbine, look for Mark Casse to be a factor. He certainly has the numbers with five entrants. He sends out Play It Again, Speaker’s Speech and a trio of fillies: Bounce Back, Nicki Knows Best and Voyager.
None of the quintet look like a major threat to Al Hubaiba.
The best North American hope might be Induction, who had the misfortune to draw post 12. He has made one start for trainer Graham Motion and posted a handy maiden win at Colonial Downs. Motion won the 2017 running of the Summer with Untamed Domain, the son of Animal Kingdom who went on to finish second in that year’s Juvenile Turf.
“Honestly, that was a bit of a surprise,” said Motion. “He had worked fine leading into the race, but he hadn’t worked like the type of horse who was going to go out and win in that manner. I think just how easily he did it and did it so professionally. He’s a very attractive horse, one who catches your eye.”
Looking good is fine, but running at this level is a whole different ballgame.
Given the lackluster North American contingent, we’re going to call this an all-European trifecta.
In the second slot, we’re putting Sword Salute, a two-time winner in England for trainer Charlie Johnston. Like Al Hudaiba, Sword Salute is a homebred for the Godolphin Stable.
And we’ll round it out with Big Money Man, an Irish-bred colt shipping over from France for trainer Christopher Head,
The Summer Stakes is set for 4:12 p.m. ET as the seventh of 12 races.
The writing team at US Racing is comprised of both full-time and part-time contributors with expertise in various aspects of the Sport of Kings.
