Alpha Gamma Girl will return to Woodbine on Saturday with a long-awaited first victory within reach, but the five-furlong Zadracarta Stakes will offer little room for another near miss.
The Darren Glennon-trained five-year-old will line up against six rivals in the $150,000 contest for Ontario-bred fillies and mares aged three and older. The race will be run over five furlongs on Woodbine’s inner turf, a course where Alpha Gamma Girl has already shown that she can be highly competitive.
Zadracarta Stakes will be the first stakes assignment of Alpha Gamma Girl’s lightly raced career.
The daughter of Souper Speedy will arrive with a record of eight starts, four seconds and two thirds, still searching for the breakthrough that her recent form suggests may not be far away. Three of those runner-up finishes have come in her last three appearances, all at five furlongs on the inner turf.
Her latest two starts will have been particularly close. She will have been beaten by a head in her most recent outing after previously finishing just a neck behind the winner.
That sequence will give Glennon plenty of encouragement, particularly because Alpha Gamma Girl appears to be learning how to finish her races with greater purpose.
The filly will also have shown more versatility this season. Earlier in her career, her races tended to follow a more predictable pattern, but her recent performances will suggest that she can either press the pace or settle behind the leaders before making a late move.
That added tactical dimension could prove useful in a compact seven-horse field.
Alpha Gamma Girl’s career has been shaped by patience. Bred and owned by Ronald House, she made her debut on July 20, 2024, finishing third over five furlongs on Woodbine’s inner turf. That outing will remain her only appearance of the season.
Her next race did not come until 469 days later, when she returned to finish second in a maiden special weight over the same distance and course.
Since then, the picture will have gradually become clearer. She will have made four starts this year, recording three seconds and a third. The third-place finish came in her seasonal opener over five furlongs on Woodbine’s main track, before she returned to the inner turf and produced a string of strong efforts.
Her pedigree will also provide reason for patience. Alpha Gamma Girl is out of Firey Grill, an unraced daughter of Bold Executive whose four runners include two stakes-placed performers. Her family also includes multiple stakes winner Poulin in O T and stakes winner Zazinga.
The family connection will extend to Trading Bay, Alpha Gamma Girl’s sister, who became stakes-placed in the 2022 Ballade. Glennon will be hoping that Alpha Gamma Girl can take the next step on Saturday.
The five-furlong distance has already suited her, although the trainer has indicated that an extra half-furlong or furlong could eventually allow her speed to be used even more effectively.
For now, however, there will be no need to look beyond the Zadracarta Stakes. The race will provide Alpha Gamma Girl with her first opportunity to measure herself against stakes company, while also giving a lightly raced performer the chance to turn a string of close finishes into something more substantial.
She will start from post four with Romero Ramsay Maragh aboard. Olivia Rose will break from post one for Rafael Hernandez, while defending champion Little Teddy will occupy post two with Austin Adams. Foresters Exec, Dolce Fortuna, Home for a Rest and Sinclairity will complete the field.
Alpha Gamma Girl will also arrive off a sharp preparation. She covered four furlongs in 48 seconds on Woodbine’s turf training track on August 21, a maintenance move that will have pleased the Glennon team.
The Zadracarta Stakes itself carries a piece of Woodbine history. Named for the multiple stakes-winning Zadracarta, the race honours a mare who compiled seven wins from 27 starts and recorded stakes success in the Fanfreluche and Star Shoot.
Little Teddy won last year’s renewal and will now return to defend that title, adding another layer of interest to a race in which Alpha Gamma Girl will be trying to write a new chapter of her own.
There will be no finish order to report until Saturday’s race has been run. The seven-horse field, however, is already set, and Alpha Gamma Girl will enter the contest with a compelling case built on consistency, course experience and a recent ability to find the line with greater determination.
For a mare who has come close so often, the Zadracarta Stakes will represent a chance to finally put daylight between herself and the chasing pack.
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