Creed’s Gold returned to Woodbine with another commanding display on Saturday, successfully defending her title in the Grade 3 $175,000 Hendrie Stakes. The five-year-old mare once again proved her quality over the Toronto oval, producing a strong finishing effort to secure back-to-back victories in the six-and-a-half-furlong feature.
Creed’s Gold Hendrie Stakes 2026.
Trained by Mark Casse, Creed’s Gold entered the race following a productive campaign and showed her versatility by adopting different tactics from her previous Hendrie Stakes success. While she had led throughout in the 2025 renewal, this time she settled behind the early pace before making her decisive move.
Breaking sharply from post position two, Creed’s Gold was allowed to settle in third as Kehoe Beach took control of the race. The Wesley Ward-trained runner set the early fractions, covering the opening quarter-mile in 22.38 seconds and reaching the half-mile mark in 45.08 seconds while maintaining a narrow advantage.
Approaching the final turn, jockey Rafael Hernandez kept Creed’s Gold travelling smoothly along the inside before shifting her into a clear path entering the stretch. Time to Dazzle, another Mark Casse-trained runner, launched a challenge from the outside, while Kehoe Beach began to lose momentum.
Once in the clear, Creed’s Gold found another gear and finished strongly to pull away from her rivals. She crossed the line 1½ lengths ahead of Time to Dazzle, completing the race in 1:16.14. Reagan’s Flame finished third, followed by Uphill Dance in fourth place.
The victory marked another important milestone for Creed’s Gold, who has now demonstrated her ability to succeed under varying race conditions. Her latest Hendrie Stakes triumph also extended her impressive record on synthetic surfaces, improving her Tapeta record to three wins from four starts.
Creed’s Gold had returned from a break earlier this year with a victory in the Lightning City Stakes at Tampa Bay Downs, where she won over five furlongs on turf. She entered the Hendrie Stakes in strong form after completing a series of preparations at Woodbine, including a sharp five-furlong workout in 59.40 seconds on July 9.
Bred in Kentucky by Linda Griggs and owned by Kristin Meldahl, Creed’s Gold is a daughter of Jimmy Creed and Foxyfromfairbanks by Fairbanks. The chestnut mare improved her career record to six wins, three seconds and three thirds from 16 starts with her latest success.
The Hendrie Stakes victory further strengthened Creed’s Gold’s reputation as a highly consistent performer at the top level. After winning the race in different styles across two editions, she remains one of the standout female sprinters competing at Woodbine.
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