Husbands’ sizzling form continues

TORONTO, Canada – Veteran Barbadian jockey Patrick Husbands maintained his imperious added-money form at Woodbine on Saturday, sweeping both feature races on the 11-race card in front-running style.

The seven-time champion first partnered with hot favourite Owlette to win the CAN$100 000 Victorian Queen Stakes in race seven, and then returned in race nine with 4-1 choice Jean Elizabeth to capture the $100 000 Sweet Briar Stakes.

With the success, the 46-year-old Husbands moved his stakes tally for the season to 15 – the most by any rider during the campaign. He lies fifth on 51 wins in the jockeys’ standings with earnings of $2.5 million.

Husbands opened his account in a six-furlong trip with the bay filly Owelette, trouncing the two-year-old fillies by 2-½ lengths in a time of one minute, 10.10 seconds, to land a record fifth Victorian Queen Stakes.

Owelette set a brisk pace, hauling the field through sharp splits of 22.24 seconds for the quarter and 45.51 for the half, with Victorian Moon right alongside on the outside and a gap of two lengths back to She’s a Dream and Bambarra Bay.

Husbands had pulled Owlette two lengths clear by the time the race hit the final turn and even though Wake Up Maggie came to challenge down the lane, Owlette never budged to take the wire comfortably.

“The more they come at her the more she goes and when you leave her she relaxes … and today that’s what she did throughout the whole race,” Husbands said afterwards.

“I know I got a little pressure from Justin [Stein aboard Wake Up Maggie] on the outside, you know as a little rabbit, but she was just playing with them down the back.”

Husbands’ second success came over 6-½ furlongs when he partnered with the four-year-old Jean Elizabeth to beat the three-year-old and upward fillies and mares by two lengths in a time of one minute, 15.64 seconds and claim the Sweet Briar.

He broke the gray sharply from the outside post to carve out fractions of 22.70 seconds for the quarter and 45.06 for the half, with Sister Peacock glued to their flank and Cypress Park and Special Relativity chasing.

When the race turned for home, Sister Peacock presented strong opposition on the outside but Husbands found an extra gear with Jean Elizabeth and she pulled away to hit the wire strongly.

“When I got past the three-eighth pole and she pricked her ears all the way to the quarter pole, I knew I had horse,” Husbands said.

“Down the backstretch when she had her ears pinned I was a little concerned … but once we got to the three-eighth pole and she brought her ears back to me, I knew it was trouble from there.”