Piper’s Gift Rallies Late to Capture Fury Stakes at Woodbine
%20(1).png)
TORONTO, June 6, 2026— Chiefswood Stables Limited homebred Piper's Gift, made a rousing local return to win the $125,000 Fury Stakes on Saturday at Woodbine.
Ridden by Rafael Hernandez, the daughter of Yorkton - Piper's Legacy by Silent Name, launched an eye-catching late rally to defeat pacesetter Bossy Candy by a 1/2 length, in the 7F main track sprint for 3-year-old fillies foaled in Canada.
Bossy Candy broke alertly and left the chute in command, leading the field of six through an easy opening quarter mile in 23.60. Piper's Gift, undefeated in 3 previous starts at Woodbine, took up a stalking position in 2nd. Pageant Queen and Mathematical raced in tandem behind the top pair. Undefeated Corsia Veloce, Canada's 2-Year-Old Champion Filly in 2025, tracked closely in 5th, in her much anticipated 3-year-old debut. Katie's Grace trailed the field of six early.
Bossy Candy, ridden by Pietro Moran continued to show the way comfortably, through a half in 46.60. Piper's Gift continued in 2nd, while Corsia Veloce, launched a 3-wide move approaching the top of the lane.
Turning for home Bossy Candy opened up on the field and appeared a winner, cutting out the first six panels in 1:10.40, while carrying a 2-length lead past the 1/8th pole.
Trained by Dale Desruisseaux, Piper's Gift suddenly rebroke outside the 1/16th marker and caught Bossy Candy in the final yards, to score her third career stakes win, capturing the Fury in a final time of 1:23.21.
Hernandez piloted the bay in all five of her 2-year-old starts (all at Woodbine), impressively winning the last three, which included a smashing 8-length maiden win, followed by authoritative off the pace scores in the Glorious Song and Princess Elizabeth Stakes respectively.
The pair got first run on Bossy Candy, but Hernandez instinctively knew he had to call on his trademark patience.
"I know if I pulled the trigger too early, everybody gonna pull the trigger early too. So I said you know what, I'm just going to ride like her like we work in the morning, just sit off, sit off and she going to make her kick and she did it."
Piper's Gift made her sophomore debut over a yielding turf at Aqueduct where she finished an even 4th. She ran without Lasix in that event, but returned to it for the Fury, where she improved to a perfect 4-for-4 over the Woodbine Tapeta surface.
"If you look at her form it's pretty obvious when she's on synthetic and Lasix, she's a different horse. We'll try grass maybe later on down the road, but the races right now are synthetic," said Desruisseaux.
The Fury is a key steppingstone toward the 9-furlong, $500,000 Woodbine Oaks, presented by Stella Artois. The Oaks, the premier race for 3-year-old fillies foaled in Canada, is scheduled for July 19th at Woodbine.
"We'll see," said a coy Desruisseaux when asked if the Oaks would be next up.
Canadian Hall of Fame jockey and Chiefswood General Manager Robert Landry said the stable has several possible Oaks candidates, but is hopeful that Piper's Gift is on schedule for that big dance.
"Obviously we'll have a discussion. That's where we were pointing her to last year.
We'll see how she comes out of the race and we'll have a discussion with Dale and I'll have a discussion with the owners and we'll go from there."
The Fury triumph improves Piper's Gift's record to 4-1-0 from 7 starts.
Listed at 2-1 on the morning line, she went off at 4/5 and returned $3.80 for the win.
Bossy Candy was a hard luck second, while Corsia Veloce tasting defeat for the first time, finished third. Katie's Grace rounded out the superfecta.
Phil McSween, Woodbine
