Husbands returns to winning ways

TORONTO, Canada – Barbadian jockey Patrick Husbands was in brilliant form over the weekend notching five victories in two days as he makes a run for the champion jockey title.

He won three of his six rides on yesterday’s 11-race card, to make all the headlines and close in on the lead at the prestigious Woodbine racetrack.

The 47-year-old captured race three aboard 8-1 chance Solidify, followed up in race seven with 4-1 choice Juxtapose before triumphing in the day’s final race with 9-2 bet Silent Causeway.

After going winless from his first 18 rides of the new season, Husbands now has five wins from 25 outings, to be tied in fourth with Gary Boulanger and Luis Contreras.

Kazushi Kimura leads a three-way tie at the top with Emma Jayne Wilson and Justin Stein, all on six wins.

A seven-times Woodbine champion, Husbands tasted success with his first ride of the day in a CAN$108 700 allowance optional claiming for three-year-olds and upward when he carried the four-year-old bay gelding Solidify to a 2-¾ length victory.

Going seven furlongs, Husbands got away slowly along the rails to trail with Split My Pants, as Magic Tapit and favourite Combative tussled for the lead through fractions of 23.71 seconds for the quarter and 46.87 for the half.

However, Husbands brought Solidify with a thundering run through the final turn and into the stretch, reeling in the leaders before charging to the wire impressively under a brisk hands-ride.

Husbands’ second came in a six-furlong sprint when he made virtually all the running with Juxtapose to get the better of the three-year-old and upward fillies and mares by 1-¼ lengths.

Juxtapose along the rails duelled with Cindervella through the first quarter in 23.01 before Husbands got the three-year-old filly to the front approaching the half-mile, to carve out a handy lead in the lane.

Piquet came with a late run but Juxtapose had more than enough to get home safely.

Husbands reserved perhaps his most dominant effort for the $64 300 race 11 when he partnered with three-year-old dark bay filly Silent Causeway to dismiss the three-year-old and upward maiden fillies and mares by eight lengths in a front-running effort.

Silent Causeway breezed through the first quarter in 22.68, taking with her Simply A Zoomer and 5-2 favourite Linda Loves Lace, with the remainder of the field chasing.

Husbands left the final turn with a three-length lead and then pulled a fabulous effort out of Silent Causeway to leave the field in their wake.

On Saturday, the veteran rider tasted success the first time for this year’s Woodbine season when he produced two winners on the 11-race card.

Husbands scored with 4-1 chance West Paw in the CAN$60 200 race two before returning in the $101 200 race 10 to win with 7-2 bet Piper’s Legacy.

Woodbine opened on June 6 following a near two-month delay due to the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic here.

Husbands paired with Mark Casse’s three-year-old roan filly to edge the three-year-old and upward fillies and mares by a neck, in a 6-½ furlong sprint.

West Paw stalked from the break, leading the pack in chase of the pacesetter Silent Charity who pulled the field through fractions of 23.22 seconds for the quarter mile and 46.62 for the half-mile, opening up a three-length lead.

Silent Charity led into the stretch but Husbands brought West Paw with a storming run to grab the lead with a furlong to run and then hold off the fast-finishing Vespolina and Cool Society to reach the wire first.

Husbands’s second win came in another 6-½ furlong trip when he put on show every bit of his brilliance to carry the Donald MacRae-trained Piper’s Legacy to victory over the three-year-old and upward fillies and mares in a photo finish.

The six-year-old bay mare endured a rough trip under Husbands, boxed in early on along the rails as 11-1 bet Short Summer Dress produced the early splits under challenge from Miss Behave and La Chauffeur in a tightly bunched field.

At the half-mile run in 45.60, Piper’s Legacy remained trapped down on the inside in seventh, with heavy traffic ahead of her heading into the final turn.

Piper’s Legacy was still squeezed in along the rails in fifth with a furlong to run but when fourth placed Miss Bobbit faded, a seam opened up and Husbands rallied the mare, split the two front-runners to catch Miss Behave on the line. (CMC)