2016 Connaught Cup Stakes Preview, Entries & Odds

Dave Bond | OTB Writer

OffTrackBetting.com - Woodbine Racetrack in Toronto, Ontario will be the scene of the Grade 2 Connaught Cup Stakes on Sunday, June 5. Horses four years old and upward will be featured when they take to Woodbine's turf track and race seven furlongs for a purse of $200,000.

A field of five will give it a go in the Connaught Cup Stakes - race 8 on Woodbine's Sunday schedule. Post time is 4:51 PM. Here is a look into the past performances of all five combatants for this Grade 2 stakes.

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2016 Connaught Cup Stakes Race Preview at Woodbine Racetrack

Passion for Action - has five wins, three seconds and a third place finish in 14 career starts - the best result coming last time out when he won the Grade 3 Vigil Stakes with an impressive 103 Beyer Speed Figure here May which followed another win in the minor Jacques Cartier Stakes on this track April 9. Before his two race win streak were consecutive sixth place finishes at Gulfstream - the Grade 3 Canadian Turf Stakes February 27 and an Allowance Optional Claiming in January. They followed a second in the Grade 2 Kennedy Road Stakes on this track in November. He also won the Cup and Saucer Stakes here as a juvenile. Passion for Action has two wins and a second place finish in his last three starts on this track and enters in career best form. Eurico Rosa Da Silva has been tabbed with keeping the roll going from post 3 Sunday.

Stacked Deck - Canada's champion sprinter of 2015 - Barbara Mishall trained gelding enters off a runner-up finish behind Passion for Action as favorite in the Grade 3 Vigil Stakes here May 7. Before that was a terrific win ahead of Passion for Action with a 103 Beyer Speed Figure in the Grade 2 Kennedy Road Stakes here November 22, a tenth place finish on the biggest stage - the Breeders' Cup Turf, a respectable third in the Grade 3 Woodford Stakes at Keeneland October 3 and a good win in the Grade 3 Bold Venture Stakes on this track September 13. He now has seven wins, a second and three third place finishes in 18 career starts and has placed in seven of his last nine starts overall. He looks to keep an impressive string of results going from gate 4 Sunday with Luis Contreras guiding him.

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Bye Bye Bernie - Brendan Walsh trained gelding has five wins, four seconds and five third place finishes in 28 career starts - two wins, a second and a third place finish in nine starts last year. He finished 2015 with an off-the-board finish however - a fourth in the Grade 2 Kennedy Road Stakes here November 22 and has failed to place in two starts in 2016. Last time out was a seventh in the minor Elusive Quality Stakes at Belmont Park April 30 after a fifth in the Grade 2 Shakertown Stakes at Keeneland April 9. He also had a very good win at 22-1 odds in the Grade 2 Nearctic Stakes on this track October 18, a third in the minor Kentucky Downs Turf Dash in September, a fifth in an Allowance Optional Claiming at Saratoga July 31 and an Allowance Optional Claiming score at Presque Isle Downs July 2. He hasn't been all that great lately but hopes for a bounce back effort from the rail Sunday. Emma-Jayne Wilson rides.

Dimension - British bred Dimension posted a win at 10-1 odds with a 102 Beyer Speed Figure in the 2013 Play the King Stakes on this track and was OK after that - a good win in the minor Kentucky Downs Turf Dash September 24, 2014 and a third in the 2014 Grade 3 Play the King Stakes were by far his best results. Dimension has not looked good lately - failing to place in his last six starts. An eighth last time out in an Allowance April 21 followed a sixth in an Allowance Optional Claiming in July, a sixth in the 2015 Connaught Cup, a fifth in the minor Elusive Quality Stakes in April, 2015, a tenth in the Grade 1 Frank E. Kilroe Mile and a twelfth in the 2014 Breeders' Cup Turf Sprint. Dimension now has 31 career starts with five wins, six seconds and a third place finish and looks as though he's in over his head in this one. David Moran has been tabbed to ride from gate 2.

Glenville Gardens - Sid Attard trained gelding has four wins and two seconds in nine career starts but enters off an ugly tenth place finish in the Grade 2 Kennedy Road Stakes here November 22. Before that was a nice three race win streak all on this track including the minor Labeeb Stakes October 25, an Allowance Optional Claiming October 10 and a Claiming in September. Glenville Gardens hopes to rebound from an ugly effort in his first race in nearly seven months from the outside post 5 with Gary Boulanger aboard.


2016 Connaught Cup Stakes Entries & Odds

Race 8 on Woodbine's Sunday card with a Post Time of 4:51 PM.

Entry Horse ML Odds Jockey Trainer
1 Bye Bye Bernie 4-1 Emma-Jayne Wilson Brendan Walsh
2 Dimension (GB) 6-1 David Moran Conor Murphy
3 Passion for Action 7-5 Eurico Da Silva Michael De Paulo
4 Stacked Deck 9-5 Luis Contreras Barbara Minshall
5 Glenville Gardens 8-1 Gary Boulanger Sid Attard