Two-year-olds vie for grade 1 glory, with the bonus of qualifying for Breeders' Cup races this fall at Del Mar, in a pair of CA$500,000 mile grass races Sept. 13 at Woodbine.
First up, as the sixth race on the card, is the Summer Stakes (G1T), where the 1-2 finishers of the local Soaring Free Stakes—Two Out Hero and Casson—take on United States shipper Teddy's Rocket and European invader Wild Desert.
The winner of the Summer Stakes, a Breeders' Cup Challenge Series event, receives an automatic, fees-paid berth into the $1 million Breeders' Cup Juvenile Turf (G1T) Oct. 31 at Del Mar.
Gold Square's Two Out Hero enters the Summer Stakes a perfect 2-for-2 after winning his stakes debut by 1 1/2 lengths over the well-regarded Casson in the Aug. 16 Soaring Free last time out. The son of War Front had previously graduated by 12 lengths in a six-furlong off-the-turf maiden special weight on the Woodbine synthetic main track. Two Out Hero and his rival, Casson, a front-running winner of the July 12 Victoria Stakes, try two turns for the first time in the Summer Stakes.
"He's one that showed a lot of promise before he ever ran," trainer Kevin Attard said of Two Out Hero. "Obviously, he broke his maiden in impressive fashion, came back and won the Soaring Free. It seems like he'll run all day long.
"The first time out, he went to the lead and dictated the race. Last time, we tried to teach him a little bit by taking him off the pace. I thought he sat in a pocket well, waited for room to open up and kind of made his move. It was nice to see. I don't think the two turns are going to be an issue for him. He seems to be thriving right now, and he's had a couple good works on the training track in the interim since his last race. We're obviously very excited about him."
Piloted by Rafael Hernandez, Two Out Hero is one of three horses entered for Attard, who will also send out recent Woodbine debut winners Bill of Ice and Marcus J. Attard, Canada's Sovereign Award-winning trainer of 2024, will be seeking his second Summer Stakes, having captured his only win in the race during his first year of training in 2001 with El Soprano.
Mark Casse, on the other hand, the trainer of Casson and four other contenders led by the Gary Barber and St Elias Stables-owned Military Time, has four Summer Stakes victories on his resume.
Godolphin and Charlie Appleby, who paired to land Summer Stakes triumphs in 2021 and 2022 with Albahr and Mysterious Night, return for this year's running with the Too Darn Hot colt Wild Desert. The Godolphin homebred broke his maiden nicely at first asking at Haydock Park before finishing third in Newmarket's Superlative Stakes (G2) July 12 in his third outing. He has been unraced since that effort. He is the 5-2 morning-line favorite in Saturday's race under William Buick, first-call rider for Appleby.
Representing the U.S. will be the Miguel Clement-trained Teddy's Rocket, a debut winner of a mile turf maiden special weight at Saratoga Race Course.
Woodbine, Saturday, September 13, 2025, Race 6Entries: bet365 Summer S. (G1T)
PP Horse Jockey Wgt Trainer M/L 1 1Argos (KY) Flavien Prat 122 Riley Mott 8/1 2 2Rude Procedure (KY) Fraser Aebly 122 Mark E. Casse 20/1 3 3Timeframe (KY) John R. Velazquez 122 Mark E. Casse 20/1 4 4Thesecretadversary (IRE) Lanfranco Dettori 122 James A. Stack 6/1 5 5Two Out Hero (KY) Rafael Manuel Hernandez 122 Kevin Attard 3/1 6 6Bill of Ice (KY) Pietro Moran 122 Kevin Attard 20/1 7 7Casson (ON) Patrick Husbands 122 Mark E. Casse 10/1 8 8Marcus J (ON) Pietro Moran 122 Kevin Attard 12/1 9 9Military Time (ON) Dylan Davis 122 Mark E. Casse 12/1 10 10Wild Desert (IRE) William Buick 122 Charles Appleby 5/2 11 11Jupiter (KY) Sahin Civaci 122 Mark E. Casse 20/1 12 12Teddy's Rocket (KY) Joel Rosario 122 Miguel Clement 12/1
Dance to the Music, Deep Learning Battle in Natalma
Appleby, Godolphin, and Buick also have the morning-line favorite at 2-1 in the Natalma Stakes (G1T) for 2-year-old fillies with Dance To The Music, who is unbeaten in two starts. Both of her races came over a straightaway course at Newmarket, capped by a neck victory in the Aug. 9 Sweet Solera Stakes (G3) there.
A daughter of Dubawi out of the Noverre mare Miss Lucifer, she is a full sister to 2021 Breeders' Cup Mile (G1T) winner Space Blues. If Dance To The Music wins the Natalma Saturday, she could be her dam's second Breeders' Cup starter. As part of the Breeders' Cup Challenge Series, the Natalma grants the winner an automatic, fees-paid berth to the $1 million Breeders' Cup Juvenile Fillies Turf (G1T) Oct. 31.
Appleby noted the Natalma will mark Dance To The Music's first experience racing around a turn—much less two—and "the track is tighter than anything she will have encountered before, but she has been pleasing us in her work at home, so we come (to Woodbine) with plenty of confidence," he said.
Appleby has two existing wins in the Natalma, in addition to his pair from the Summer.
Klaravich Stabes' Deep Learning, a first-out winner at Saratoga last month on grass in fast time, is the 5-2 second choice. Flavien Prat is in the saddle aboard the daughter of Cairo Prince for trainer Chad Brown.
The latter drew the far outside post, a potential disadvantage in a two-turn race over the inner turf at Woodbine. The outer E.P. Taylor Course—the customary staging ground for these races—is not in use for the rest of the season due to renovations.
Other threats in the 10-filly Natalma, the day's eighth race, include the 1-2-3 finishers from the Catch A Glimpse Stakes—Corsia Veloce, Sweet Fusion, and Dyna. The 6 1/2-furlong Catch A Glimpse was run Aug. 16 as a prep for the Natalma.
Woodbine, Saturday, September 13, 2025, Race 8Entries: Johnnie Walker Natalma S. (G1T)
PP Horse Jockey Wgt Trainer M/L 1 1Corsia Veloce (ON) Fraser Aebly 121 Josie Carroll 8/1 2 2Pina Colada (KY) Sahin Civaci 121 Mark E. Casse 20/1 3 3Sweet Fusion (ON) Patrick Husbands 121 Mark E. Casse 10/1 4 4Dixie Law (ON) Rafael Manuel Hernandez 121 Dale A. Desruisseaux 20/1 5 5Dance To The Music (GB) William Buick 121 Charles Appleby 2/1 6 6Hot Mash (KY) Joel Rosario 121 John C. Servis 6/1 7 7Star Attraction (KY) Pietro Moran 121 Kevin Attard 20/1 8 8Dyna (KY) John R. Velazquez 121 Kevin Attard 10/1 9 9La Culasse (ON) Lanfranco Dettori 121 Kevin Attard 12/1 10 10Deep Learning (KY) Flavien Prat 121 Chad C. Brown 5/2
