Eclipse Stakes at Woodbine Racetrack

Dave Bond, OTB Writer

Las Vegas, NV -- The Grade 3 Eclipse Stakes is on tap for this Saturday May 26th from Woodbine Racetrack. Horses four years old and upward will be after their share of the $150,000 purse when they go 1 1/16 miles on Woodbine's all weather track.

The Eclipse has attracted a terrific field of 11 horses that will go in race 8 on Woodbine's Saturday schedule. Post time is 4:49 PM. Let's take a look at the 11 entrants and the recent results that brought them into the Grade 3 Eclipse.

Horse Racing Rebates

2012 Eclipse Stakes Race Favorites

Pender Harbour - won two-thirds of the Canadian Triple Crown last year and will be making his 2012 debut. He won last year's top honors as the country's champion three-year-old male. Pender Harbour did have a poor showing mixed in with the good - an eighth in the Grade 2 Pennsylvania Derby on September was an uncharacteristically bad performance. He will be looking to build off a respectable second place finish in the Grade 2 Autumn Stakes that ended his 2011 campaign.

Stunning Stag - will also be making his 2012 debut and will be trying for the third time to win this race (3rd last year and 2nd in 2010). Stunning Stag has 31 career starts with 28 of them coming on this track with 10 wins and 15 placings. Needless to say, he knows this track. In his last four starts overall; Stunning Stag has three-thirds and a second place finish.

Eclipse Stakes 2012 | Remaining Field Entries

James Street - has three wins and two seconds in the last six starts. The most impressive win over that span came in August in the Grade 3 Seagram Cup Stakes and the two seconds came in Grade 3 events at Woodbine as well. Last time out was a rather disappointing fifth in the Grade 2 Autumn Stakes on this track in November.

Eye of the Leopard - won the 2009 Queen's Plate but hasn't been the same since. In 2011 Eye of the Leopard had three starts with a fourth in the Grade 3 Durham Cup Stakes a second in an Allowance and a third in the Grade 3 Valedictory. So far this year Eye of the Leopard has just one start - a distant fifth in the Grade 3 Ben Ali Stakes at Keeneland on April 22nd.

Eclipse Stakes betting at Woodbine Racetrack with OffTrackBetting.com

Queen'splatekitten - Todd Pletcher trained colt that finished second in an Allowance last time out in his first start since September. He finished fifth in the Queen's Plate last year and followed that up with a second to close out his 2011 campaign in the Grade 3 Saranac Stakes at Saratoga.

Mister Marti Gras - has six wins in 23 career starts and finished a decent third last time out in the Grade 3 Charles Town Classic Stakes on April 14th. He also has a pair of fourth place finishes recently (the Grade 2 New Orleans Handicap on April 1st and the Grade 1 Clark Handicap on November 25th) and a fifth in the Grade 3 Mineshaft Handicap on February 25th. Mister Marti Gras is no stranger to graded stakes action and could be one to watch on Saturday!

City Wolf - had a string of four straight wins including the Grade 3 Durham Cup Stakes in October interrupted by a disappointing eighth last time out in the Grade 2 Autumn Stakes at Woodbine on November 12th. City Wolf has yet to race in 2012 and is starting from the outside.

Hunters Bay - has win two of his last three starts - both Allowance Optional Claiming races at Woodbine. This will be Hunters Bay`s graded stakes debut.

Check Your Soul - finished seventh in the Queen`s Plate in June and has since recorded a seventh in the Prince of Wales Stakes and an eighth in a Allowance race at Keeneland.

Hothersal - will be making his graded stakes debut after just four career starts with two wins and two seconds in Allowance and Maiden Special Weight races.

Alpha Bettor - has 13 career starts all at Woodbine. Most recently he has a second in an Allowance Optional Claiming and a fifth in the Grade 3 Valedictory Stakes. In November he has a win in an Allowance Optional Claiming race.


2012 Eclipse Stakes Entries

Race 8 on Woodbine's Saturday card with a Post Time of 4:49 PM.

Post Horse Jockey Trainer ML Odds
1 Check Your Soul A. Solis R. Attfield
20-1
2 Stunning Stag G. Olguin S. Attard
5-1
3 Pender Harbour L. Contreras M. De Paulo
12-1
4 Queen'splatekitten C. DeCarlo T. Pletcher
12-1
5 Hunters Bay E. Wilson R. Baker
3-1
6 James Street J. Stein J. Carroll
6-1
7 Eye of the Leopard E. Da Silva M. Pierce
12-1
8 Mister Marti Gras J. Campbell C. Block
8-1
9 Hothersal P. Husbands M. Casse
8-1
10 Alpha Bettor T. Pizarro D. Vella
20-1
11 City Wolf E. Wilson R. Baker
4-1