Patches O'Houlihan, Nobals Square Off in Kennedy Road

On a quiet Saturday in mid-November, between the Nov. 1-2 Breeders' Cup and stakes activity late in the month, only two graded stakes are to be contested Nov. 16 in North America, both worth CA$175,000 at Woodbine. Only one such race, the Kennedy Road Stakes (G2), was originally on the schedule. The Autumn Stakes (G2) was added to the Saturday program after Woodbine halted its Nov. 9 card before its completion over concerns about the safety of its main track. After the Nov. 10 card was also scrapped, the synthetic Tapeta surface at Woodbine came under extensive evaluation, and track maintenance was modified, resulting in a resumption of training and scheduled racing this week. Two Canadian champions, streaking sprinter Patches O'Houlihan and 2023 King's Plate Stakes winner Paramount Prince, are in action Saturday, with the former battling 2023 Breeders' Cup Turf Sprint (G1T) winner Nobals in the six-furlong Kennedy Road and Paramount Prince among the favorites in the 1 1/8-mile Autumn Stakes. Both races are on the main track. Patches O'Houlihan and Paramount Price are full products of the Ontario breeding program. Besides being foaled there, they are by stallions that stand in the region. Patches O'Houlihan, a 4-year-old by Reload, is pursuing a fifth straight victory Saturday. Unbeaten this year, he enters the Kennedy Road having won the restricted Pink Lloyd Stakes, Bold Venture Stakes (G3), Vigil Stakes, and Nearctic Stakes (G2T), all at Woodbine. Although he lugged out to the center of the course down the stretch in the Nearctic, he was tenacious in victory to prevail by a 1 1/2 lengths under jockey Sofia Vives. That improved his overall record to 11-for-13 for owner/breeder Frank Di Giulio Jr. "He's a fighter, a street fighter," praised Canadian Hall of Fame trainer Bob Tiller. "He doesn't give up." The rail-drawn gelding's only losses came when he was sixth the 2022 Bull Page Stakes and a fifth in the 2023 Kennedy Road. Patricia's Hope's Nobals, a 10-time winner through his 4-year-old season, has gone unplaced in three starts at age 5 since his 2023 Breeders' Cup Turf Sprint victory, though he has remained competitive against some of the United States' top grass sprinters. He has shown versatility in handling synthetic tracks, with five such victories, including in the 2022 Woodstock Stakes at Woodbine. He raced one other time at Woodbine on Tapeta when 12th in the 2022 Bold Venture Stakes. Regular rider Gerardo Corrales is up for trainer Larry Rivelli, who has prepped him with two recent works over Turfway Park's Tapeta surface. Paramount Prince Seeks to Rebound in Autumn Michael Langlois and Gary Barber's Paramount Prince, a 4-year-old son of Society's Chairman trained by dual Hall of Famer Mark Casse, heads into the Autumn, the 10th race on the card, with a 3-for-5 record this year, having won an allowance optional claimer at Gulfstream Park on Tapeta before adding the Dominion Day Stakes (G3) and Seagram Cup Stakes (G2) over the summer. The front-runner will seek to bounce back from a rare poor performance on Tapeta when fifth in a quick-paced Durham Cup Stakes (G3). The competition is led by Live Oak Plantation's Forever Souper, a Mid-Atlantic invader riding a three-race win streak for trainer Mike Trombetta, and the uncoupled Repole Stable-owned duo of Never Surprised and Bail Us Out, both trained by Kevin Attard.