Woodbine’s main track will host a stirring Sunday finale to the 2025 Thoroughbred season as the $100,000 Steady Growth Stakes draws a competitive field of Ontario-sired 3-year-olds and upward for a 1 1/16-mile feature. At the center of attention is Awesome Bourbon, a powerful 5-year-old bay trained by Abraham Katryan, who aims to claim his first career stakes triumph.
After a determined run in the Kennedy Road Stakes (G2) on November 15, where he overcame a troubled trip to finish a close second, Awesome Bourbon arrives at his fifth stakes engagement brimming with potential. “It was a very tough trip,” said Katryan. “He is a very powerful horse and he kept on fighting. He surprised me because I know that he prefers turf to Tapeta. But he was feeling good and he wanted to run. I was very happy with the grit he showed – that is what I always look for in a racehorse.”
Bred in Kentucky by Charles Fipke, Awesome Bourbon first captured attention by breaking his maiden in a six-furlong main track race at Woodbine in August 2022. Since then, he has proven consistent at stakes and allowance levels, including notable placings in the Bull Page Stakes, last year’s Overskate Stakes, and a narrow defeat in this year’s Overskate.
The Katryan-trained bay has compiled a strong 2025 campaign, notching four wins and two runner-up finishes in 10 starts. His victories include a trio of impressive turf performances on Woodbine’s inner course, with two wins at 7 ½ furlongs. “You get a horse like this, and he can be dangerous at any level,” Katryan said. “He is game, he loves to run, and he can adapt to different race scenarios. I am very fortunate to have a horse like this.”
Recent works have kept Awesome Bourbon sharp, including a four-furlong breeze over the main track in :49.80 on December 5. Katryan, a trainer with 671 career wins and multiple stakes victories including past Steady Growth triumphs with One Way Love (2000) and Runaway Love (2002), expressed confidence heading into Sunday’s feature. “He always has his game face on race day – much more relaxed than he is in the morning. He is a big, heavy horse and has had a very good year. We’d love to see him get a stakes win.”
Also slated to line up are an accomplished array of competitors, including multiple graded stakes winner Cruden Bay, stakes winners No More Options and Rapid Test, three-time winner Jaggersgotagun, multiple stakes-placed Souped Up, 2024 Overskate Stakes winner Hunt Master, multiple graded stakes winner Paramount Prince, and 2024 Niagara Stakes winner Lac Macaza.
The Steady Growth Stakes honors the 1979 Queen’s Plate winner Steady Growth, a son of Briartic out of the Crepello mare Crelita. The champion chestnut, who also captured the 1979 Arlington Classic (G2), went 5-3-2 from 14 starts and became the sire of 1989 Canadian Champion Older Horse Steady Power.
First post for Woodbine’s 12-race finale is 1:05 p.m., promising an afternoon of high-quality racing for fans and enthusiasts alike.
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