Woodbine: Patches O'Houlihan chases 5 straight wins Saturday

Multiple graded-stakes winner Patches O’Houlihan will face five rivals in Saturday’s Grade 2 Kennedy Road Stakes for 3-year-olds and up at Woodbine.

A 4-year-old son of Reload out of the Silent Name mare Maythefourthbwithu, Patches O’Houlihan’s latest triumph came in the Nearctic (G2), a six-furlong turf event for 3-year-olds and upward, on Oct. 5.

Canada’s reigning champion male sprinter was ridden to victory by Sofia Vives, last year’s champion apprentice.

“Sometimes, I think he’s like a person,” said Vives. “He’s very wise. He knows where the wire is, and he knows how to win. He has a lot of heart.”

With the Nearctic score, Patches O’Houlihan is now 13: 11-0-0 and has recorded US$666,674 in purse earnings.

It was the fourth win in as many starts on the campaign for the Ontario-bred, whose 2024 victories also include a pair of Grade 3 triumphs, the Bold Venture and Vigil, both of which he won in 2023.

“He's a great horse,” said Canadian Horse Racing Hall of Fame trainer Bob Tiller, who also campaigned champion sprinter and fellow hall of famer Pink Lloyd. “I love him. He’s wonderful. He’s been a blessing.”

Bred and owned by Frank Di Giulio Jr., Patches O’Houlihan launched his career in September 2022 and rhymed off a 4 1/2-length win at 5 1/2 furlongs over the Woodbine main track.

From May 21, 2023, to Sep. 16, 2023, he won six straight races.

The bay gelding’s only losses are a sixth in the 2022 Bull Page Stakes and a fifth in last year’s running of the Kennedy Road.

“He’s a fighter, a street fighter,” Tiller said. “He doesn’t give up. ? He’s one of those horses that does everything right. He’s just a real racehorse and he wants to win. He’s got that desire to win.

“At the end of the day, this is a super good horse.”

Other starters include Nobals, a multiple graded stakes winner who took last year’s Breeders’ Cup Turf Sprint at Santa Anita. The 5-year-old son of Noble Mission took the 2022 edition of the Woodstock Stakes at Woodbine.

Trained by Larry Rivelli for Patricia’s Hope, Nobals is 12: 10-3-0 with $1,562,202 in purse earnings.