TORONTO – Veteran rider Patrick Husbands continued to make a strong finish to the Woodbine season, producing a handsome double on Sunday to take some of the spotlight on the ten-race card.
The Barbadian, a seven-time champions at Canada’s premier racetrack, scored with back-to-back wins when he took race six with favourite Royal Intrigue and race seven with 3-1 chance Dexter Road.
With the double, Husbands moved to 123 wins from 603 rides for the season, which wraps up next weekend.
He sits fourth in the standings topped by two-time reigning champion Eurico Rosa da Silva on 196 wins, with three-time former champion Luis Contreras second on 163 and Rafael Hernandez, third on 151 wins.
Husbands opened his account over a mile and sixteenth when he brought the seven-year-old gelding Royal Intrigue from well off the pace to beat the three-year-olds and upward by three-quarter lengths.
His second win also came over a mile and sixteenth when he piloted the three-year-old gelding Dexter Road to a convincing 2-3/4 length victory over the three or four-year-olds and upward.
Husbands stalked the pace in fourth through the opening splits set by Wilshire Star, with Seize the Bay and Rocket Plan chasing.
The pair made good progress into the stretch, where they commenced a strong rally to overhaul the leaders in the final furlong before coasting to the wire.
Husbands’ older brother, Simon Husbands, was also in winners’ row when he paired with 9-1 chance Malibu Wood to get the better of the three-year-olds and upward going a mile and eighth in race three. (CMC)
