Woodbine: 7 older fillies and mares sprint Saturday in Whimsical

Hard Edge chases her first added-money win in Saturday’s Grade 3 US$109,821 Whimsical Stakes at Woodbine.

Trained by Stuart Simon, Hard Edge will take on seven rivals, including multiple graded-stakes winner and multiple 2022 Sovereign Award finalist Our Flash Drive, in the six-furlong Whimsical, a Tapeta event for older fillies and mares.

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A daughter of Hard Spun, Hard Edge went 7: 2-3-1 in 2022. Overall the Chiefswood Stables homebred is 11: 3-5-2 with $220,890 (U.S.) in lifetime earnings.

The 5-year-old mare, who owns a 4: 2-2-0 record at six furlongs, capped off her most recent campaign with a 3 3/4-length win over the distance on the Woodbine synthetic in November.

The Whimsical will mark Hard Edge’s first start of the year.

“You wish they were all like her,” Simon said. “She’s so easy to train and is very laid back in her training. But every time the gate opens she answers the bell. If they were all like her, it would be an easy game. She can be a little aggressive around the barn. She’s not a pet, but she’s just a good eater, a good doer and does everything right. She’s never too hard on herself.”

Hard Edge debuted in September 2021, finishing second in a 6 1/2-furlong Tapeta race. She followed it with a second and a third before breaking her maiden that December courtesy of a gritty, head score at 6 1/2 panels over the Tapeta.

Her only previous stakes appearance came in last year’s Sweet Briar Too Stakes in which she was fourth, only 1 3/4 lengths behind eventual champion female sprinter Hazelbrook, in the 6 1/2-furlong Tapeta tilt for fillies and mares.

“She’s been working well leading up to this,” Simon said. “Usually she’s not a great work horse in the morning, but she has been this spring. She seems to be as good or better than she ever has, so we’re looking for a big race.”

Regular rider Eswan Flores gets the call. The first-race post time Saturday is 1:10 p.m. EDT with the Whimsical scheduled as the afternoon’s eighth race at 4:48 p.m.

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