Lakota Lady takes on six in Saturday’s Star Shoot Stakes
.jpg)
TORONTO, April 22, 2026 – The first stakes event of the 2026 Woodbine season, Saturday’s $125,000 Star Shoot, has attracted seven fillies, including Lakota Lady.
The six-furlong main track Star Shoot, for 3-year-old fillies, has traditionally been a key prep for the $500,000 Woodbine Oaks Presented by Stella Artois. The first leg of the prestigious Canadian Triple Tiara series will be run on July 19.
A daughter of Army Mule out of the Outwork mare Flaine, Lakota Lady will be making her first start at Woodbine.
Owned by CamHaven Farms, the filly, bred in Kentucky by Nancy C. Shuford, has one second from two races, both coming at Fair Grounds.
“She’s quite a handful,” said trainer Preston Ferris. “She’s a big beast of a filly. There were a few times, early on, where she wouldn’t even train. So, there have been some challenges getting her to the races, but at the same time, we knew that the talent base was there.”
The chestnut debuted on February 14 at the New Orleans oval in a 6-furlong sprint over the dirt. Off a step slowly, Lakota Lady tracked the leader along the inside and then battled gamely down the lane, finishing a half-length behind the winner.
The final time over a fast main track was 1:10.18.
“We thought she would run well,” said Ferris. “She was a little rank in that race. She’s sort of tough to ride and made a big move on the backside, which might have cost her some energy for the stretch.
“Overall, we were very pleased. Obviously, you want to get the win, but she showed a lot of toughness down the lane.”
In her next start, on March 13, over the same distance and surface, Lakota Lady led the way early through a hotly-contested opening quarter and half before fading to fifth.
“It was a disappointment and not a true reflection of what we think she is capable of,” said Ferris, who teamed with CamHaven to win with Impulsive Bid on opening day Saturday at Woodbine. “You could probably point to a few things here and there as to why it didn’t pan out for her that day. There were some fast fractions, along with pressure from the inside and outside along the backside. She likes to see horses in front of her and go after them.”
Ferris anticipates a much different performance on Saturday from the $60,000 purchase (Hip #2853) at the 2024 Keeneland Association September Yearling Sale.
“She is coming into the race in great shape,” said Ferris. “She is in very good order. “Goodall, the horse that beat her in that first race, won the Purple Martin Stakes at Oaklawn in March. We were considering going there, too. Goodall won by 4 ½ lengths, so that picked my head up after the most recent race.
“Maybe I got in her way too much after the first race, so you learn from that and we are going to take her into this race the way we did with her first one.”
Rafael Hernandez, Woodbine’s leading rider – in wins (148), stakes wins (23) and purse earnings ($6,480,932) in 2025 – gets the call.
Belinda Cummings is the groom.
Recent works: Lakota Lady’s last three works have come over the Woodbine main track – a 4-furlong breeze in :50.00 on March 29, a 5-furlong bullet in :59.00 on April 12, and a 4-furlong breeze in :48.40 on April 18.
“Her breeze (April 12) was a little faster than I like to go, but she handled it all so well," said Ferris. "The second-last breeze before a race is my set-up breeze, where I like them to work a little harder and let them gallop out a little stronger. But we definitely like what we see based on the last two works. Hopefully, that carries over to Saturday.”
Wagering menu for the Star Shoot: Includes Rolling Double, Exacta, 0.20 Trifecta, 0.20 Superfecta and $1 Swinger.
Fast facts: Named for Star Shoot, sire of Sir Barton, the race was first run in 1956 at Greenwood, with Orchestra winning the inaugural edition. Jockey Luis Contreras won three straight editions (2015-17) with Ancient Goddess, Treasuring, and R Naja.
Need to know: First race post time on Saturday is 1:20 p.m. Fans can wager on all the action through HPIbet.com.
Field for the $125,000 Star Shoot
Post – Horse – Jockey – Trainer
1 – Golden Thread – Pietro Moran – Eoin Harty
2 – Mony Mony (S) – Sofia Vives – Joe Sharp
3 – Edey – Ryan Munger – William Morey
4 – Nonna’s Love – Romero Ramsay Maragh – Kevin Attard
5 – Day to Day (S) – Sahin Civaci – Saffie Joseph, Jr.
6 – Lakota Lady – Rafael Hernandez – Preston Ferris
7 – Likely Story – Fraser Aebly – Mark Casse
-30-
Chris Lomon, Woodbine
