American Women will attempt to secure the first stakes success of her career when she lines up in Saturday’s $175,000 Hendrie Stakes (Grade 3) at Woodbine Racecourse. The Kevin Attard-trained filly heads into the 6½-furlong sprint after a series of encouraging performances and will face eight rivals in one of the feature contests for fillies and mares on the weekend card.
Woodbine Hendrie Stakes 2026.
The four-year-old arrives with consistent recent form and will be hoping to convert that promise into a breakthrough victory in graded company.Owned by Anderson Farms Ontario Inc., Hidden Springs Inc., Nicholas G. Pelligreen, Lanni Bloodstock and Zilli Racing, American Women is a daughter of Constitution out of the Smart Strike mare Smartly Agree. Bred in Kentucky by Breffni Farm, she has steadily progressed through her career and now takes another opportunity at the graded stakes level.
Her latest outing came in a six-furlong allowance optional claimer at Woodbine on May 31, where she settled behind the early pace before producing a determined late challenge to finish second. It followed her first graded stakes appearance in the Whimsical Stakes (G3) on May 2, where she finished fifth against experienced opposition.
Earlier in the season, American Women returned with an impressive victory at Gulfstream Park on March 26, drawing clear by 4¾ lengths over six furlongs. She had also signed off her three-year-old campaign with a convincing 1½-length success over 6½ furlongs on Woodbine’s main track last November, underlining her ability to finish strongly on the Tapeta surface.
Those performances have helped build a record of three wins, two seconds and one third from 12 starts, with career earnings of $155,720. Alongside Woodbine, she has competed at Churchill Downs, Ellis Park, Keeneland and Gulfstream Park.
Preparation for Saturday’s assignment has been encouraging. American Women recorded a four-furlong workout in 48.00 seconds on July 9 before returning with a sharp 46.60-second bullet breeze over the same distance on July 19, suggesting she is in peak condition for the Grade 3 contest.
The Hendrie Stakes has a distinguished history dating back to 1975. Trudie Tudor captured the inaugural edition, while La Voyageuse and El Prado Essence remain the only two-time winners of the race.
American Women is set to start from post eight under jockey Jalon Samuel, while Kevin Attard will saddle the mare in pursuit of her biggest career victory.Saturday’s Grade 3 sprint presents another important opportunity for American Women to translate her steady progression into a first stakes triumph. With strong recent workouts and proven form over the Woodbine surface, she enters the Hendrie as one of the leading contenders in a well-matched field.
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