Regal Moment ready for Ashbridges Bay appointment / Ciunas looking to make a splash for Attfield in Lake Ontario
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TORONTO, November 13, 2025 – Eight fillies, including Regal Moment, will contest the $100,000 Ashbridges Bay Stakes, part of a 12-race card, Sunday at Woodbine.
Trained by Stuart Simon for Anne and William Scott, the daughter of Point of Entry out of the Sky Conqueror mare Regal Conqueror brings a record of 2-3-1 from nine starts into the 1 1/16-mile main track Ontario Sired Heritage Series finale for 3-year-old fillies.
Sixth, albeit only 2 ¾ lengths behind the winner in last year’s Princess Elizabeth Stakes and third, at 44-1, in this year’s Algoma Stakes in August, Regal Moment heads into the Ashbridges Bay off a sharp 1 ¼-length score over 1 /16 miles on the inner turf on October 2.
“She got a great trip from the 10-hole,” said Simon. “She finished well and galloped out strong.
“She has been a slow-maturing filly,” continued the multiple graded stakes winning conditioner. “But she is putting it together more and more as the year goes on. She definitely wants to run long – that’s her game – so this race fits her well, being Ontario-sired and going long.”
Regal Moment debuted on October 5, 2024, in a seven-furlong main track race at Woodbine. Sent off at 9-1 in the eight-horse field, she rushed home to get up in the final jumps for a head victory in 1:25.31.
Second in her next start, Regal Moment contested the Princess Elizabeth to conclude her rookie campaign.
She is 1-2-1 from six starts in 2025.
“I think she is actually going to be a very nice older mare,” said Simon, who watched the chestnut filly cover five furlongs in 1:01.40 over the Woodbine main track on November 7. “She will go seven-eighths okay, coming off the pace and then going long, she can be on the lead or just off the pace. It doesn’t really matter. She is just becoming bigger and stronger. She always seemed to be a little bit behind all the other 3-year-olds, but she is catching up now.
“She was a slight filly early on, but she has filled out and grown into a decent size. She always showed good talent in the mornings, but she was a little inconsistent for a while. But you could see her start to grow, mentally and physically, and that has led to more consistent form.”
Bred by JWS Farms, Regal Moment was a $65,000 (CDN) purchase at the 2023 CTHS Ontario Premier Yearling Sale.
Velore Wright is the groom.
Established in 2021, the Ontario Sired Heritage Series is comprised of three $100,000 legs and a $100,000 final for two divisions: 3-year-old colts & geldings, and 3-year-old fillies. The total purse structure for the series is $800,000.
There is also a total of $70,000 in bonus money for the Heritage Series, $35,000 for each division – awarded $20,000, $10,000, $5,000 for the top three point earning colts/gelding and fillies. (Details here: tip.ontarioracing.com/tip-stakes-program/).
Ashbridge’s Bay is a bay and park located on the waterfront in Toronto’s east end, known for its beaches, green spaces, and recreational amenities like walking trails and volleyball courts.
The wagering menu for the race includes Rolling Double, Exacta, 0.20 Trifecta, 0.20 Superfecta and $1 Swinger.
First post is 1:05 p.m. Fans can watch and wager on all the action via HPIbet.com and bet365.
Field for the Ashbridges Bay – Race 11
Post – Horse – Jockey – Trainer
1 – Regal Moment – Fraser Aebly – Stuart Simon
2 – Hint – Ryan Munger – Gail Cox
3 – Aussie Hyper – Desean Bynoe – Anthony Husbands
4 – Ella It Is – Pietro Moran – Mark Casse
5 – Miss Pierre – Jeffrey Alderson – John Coryat
6 – Peace Posey (S) – Keveh Nicholls – Ted Holder
7 – Brengungirl – Rafael Hernandez – Kevin Attard
8 – Juicy Hanna – Eswan Flores – Martin Hinckson
Chris Lomon, Woodbine
Ciunas looking to make a splash for Attfield in Lake Ontario
TORONTO, November 13, 2025 – Hall of Fame trainer Roger Attfield said Ciunas is in fine form heading into Sunday’s (November 16) $100,000 Lake Ontario Stakes at Woodbine.
“He's been training very well,” Attfield said of the gelded son of Silent Name (JPN) out of the Oratory mare Myrtle’s Gray. “He had a very nice work on Saturday, and we're just cruising into [the Lake Ontario], hoping that the weather cooperates.”
The Lake Ontario, to be contested on the main Tapeta track, is the Ontario Sired Heritage Series finale for 3-year-old colts & geldings. It drew a field of eight, with Ciunas drawing Post 8.
Co-owned by his breeder, Jeff Zlonis, along with Richard Hogan, Ciunas will be making his fifth career start on Sunday. He has a record of 2-1-0 and earnings of $60,369 in his young career. He comes into the Lake Ontario off a second-place finish over seven furlongs on the Tapeta in an optional claiming race on Oct. 19 at Woodbine.
“I thought he ran well enough, [but] I don't think he ran his best race,” Attfield said.
In the start prior to that, Ciunas finished last in a field of nine in the Breeders’ Stakes on Sept. 28 at Woodbine. Attfield said the 1 ½-miles was likely not Ciunas’ best distance.
“Outside of that, his form has been excellent,” Attfield said. “He’s got a beautiful stride to him. His attitude is quite good. He's getting better all the time that way; getting more professional about it. He’s a fairly easy horse to train. We could do just about anything I want with him. He can work fast. He can work slow. Whatever we want him to do, he does. He’s a very nice animal to train.”
As for the Lake Ontario’s 1 1/16-mile distance, Attfield said it should suit Ciunas well.
“I think a mile and a 16th is fine, but I think probably 7/8ths to a mile is probably going to be his best distance down the road,” Attfield said. “We'll find it as we go along. But a mile and a 16ths on the track as it is right now, will be fine.”
Ciunas is a half-brother to Attfield’s former graded stakes winner Gray’s Fable (Gio Ponti).
“I was quite successful with, and won two or three stakes with him in the States and [Ciunas] is a lot like him in the way that he really likes to work,” Attfield said. “He loves to go out and train every day… he just loves to train and loves to run.”
Gray’s Fable has earned over $670,000 lifetime and won the Grade 3 Kitten’s Joy Appleton Stakes in 2021 at Gulfstream Park for Attfield, who was inducted into the Canadian Horse Racing Hall of Fame in 1999 and the National Museum of Racing’s Hall of Fame in 2012.
The Lake Ontario is the finale of the division’s Heritage Series that pays tribute to the four Great Lakes that border Ontario. Go Kart Mozart won both the $100,000 Lake Huron Stakes first leg over five furlongs on June 22 on the inner turf at Woodbine and the third and final leg, the $100,000 Lake Erie Stakes over 6 ½ furlongs on Sept. 9 at Fort Erie. Dark Screen won the middle leg – the $100,000 Lake Superior over six furlongs on July 27 over the E.P. Taylor Turf Course at Woodbine.
Go Kart Mozart is not entered for the Lake Ontario, but Dark Screen has drawn Post 1.
Established in 2021, the Ontario Sired Heritage Series is comprised of three $100,000 legs and a $100,000 final for two divisions: 3-year-old colts & geldings, and 3-year-old fillies. The total purse structure for the series is $800,000.
There is also a total of $70,000 in bonus money for the Heritage Series, $35,000 for each division – awarded $20,000, $10,000, $5,000 for the top three point earning colts/gelding and fillies. (Details here: tip.ontarioracing.com/tip-stakes-program/).
First post is 1:05 p.m. Fans can watch and wager on all the action via HPIbet.com and bet365.
Field for the Lake Ontario – Race 10
Post – Horse – Jockey – Trainer
1 – Dark Screen – Juan Crawford – Beverley Chubb
2 – Kekoa – Austin Adams – Catherine Day Phillips
3 – Sedburys Ghost – Ryan Munger – Barbara Minshall
4 – Stratus – Daisuke Fukumoto – Robert Tiller
5 – Dewolf – Fraser Aebly – Kevin Attard
6 – Mymathes Correct (S) – Leo Salles – Beverley Chubb
7 – Shinigami – Keveh Nicholls – Norm McKnight
8 – Ciunas – Rafael Hernandez – Roger Attfield
Dave Briggs, Ontario Racing
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