Elysian Field came with a powerful rally down the center of the course on the way to winning the $500,000 Woodbine Oaks by two-and-a-quarter lengths on Sunday, 23 July.
The three-year-old daughter of Hard Spun, who finished second to her stablemate Ticker Tape Home (Medaglia d’Oro) in the Fury Stakes, got the better of that rival on Sunday, and notched her first Stakes victory in the process.
A field of 14 went to the post in the Woodbine Oaks, with slight favoritism going to Big Brass Bed, a daughter of Nyquist. Elysian Field was settled in mid-pack and saved ground along the inside rail through the early stages of the race, as outsiders Friends for Life and Fashionably Fab set a moderate pace on the front end.
Switched to the outside on the far turn, Elysian Field took aim at the new leader, Ticker Tape Home, as she swept four-wide on the outside. Ticker Tape Home continued to lead with a furlong left to go, but Elysian Field continued her rally, eventually overhauling her stablemate and forging to the lead. Despite drifting out the stretch, she had plenty left in the tank, crossing the wire almost three lengths in front of the late-closing Wickenheiser.
Elysian Field was bred in Ontario by Anderson Farms and is out of the mare Elysian, by Smart Strike. Elysian’s dam, the Stakes-winning mare, Initiation, is herself a half-sister to Stakes winners Multiple Choice (G3 Jaipur), Silver City, and Inspired, and to the mare, Treasure (Medaglia d’Oro), dam of 2023 G1 Preakness winner, National Treasure.
Elysian Field was the second Stakes winner of the weekend for her sire, Hard Spun, and his fourth over a period of a week. Just the day before, another daughter, Loyalty, captured the G3 Hendrie Stakes, which was also at Woodbine, while Really Good and Sparkle Blue captured in Maryland and Delaware the previous weekend. In addition to his two Canadian Stakes winners, Hard Spun is also represented in 2023 by multiple Graded Stakes winner and G1 Kentucky Derby runner-up, Two Phil’s.
