Kevin Attard believes the time may finally have arrived for Jokestar to secure the graded stakes victory his recent form has promised, with the consistent gelding set to headline Saturday’s $175,000 Eclipse Stakes (G2) at Woodbine Racetrack .
The Woodbine Eclipse Stakes 2026 will feature a compact but competitive field of seven older runners over 1 1/16 miles on the main track, with Jokestar arriving in arguably the strongest form of his career.
The five-year-old son of Practical Joke has quietly developed into one of the most reliable dirt performers in the division, compiling four wins, three seconds and a third from his past 10 starts. His rise began with an upset allowance success at Oaklawn Park in April last year and has continued through a series of high-level efforts in graded company.
“He’s really come into his own,” Attard said. “We have always liked him. It was never a case of if he was going to be the horse we felt he could be, but always a case of when.”
Owned and bred by Al and Bill Ulwelling, Jokestar has already placed in the Autumn Stakes (G3) and Valedictory Stakes (G3), while also contesting all three legs of the Canadian Triple Crown in 2024. Earlier this season, he produced a dominant 6½-length victory in the Post Time Stakes at Laurel Park before finishing a narrow second to graded winner Parchment Party in the Temperence Hill Stakes at Oaklawn.
Attard believes the gelding’s tactical improvement has added another layer to his game.
“His last two races have been outstanding,” he said. “He’s added a new dimension to his game, where he’s shown he can be a lot closer to the pace. He’s always been a strong finisher and that hasn’t changed.”
Jokestar’s career did not begin in encouraging fashion. He finished last on debut over Woodbine’s inner turf in August 2023, but connections quickly dismissed the effort as unrepresentative.
“Definitely not what we were expecting,” Attard recalled. “We knew that wasn’t him.”
The Ontario-bred soon justified that confidence, securing his first victory in his fifth start before steadily progressing into graded company. His stamina has remained a defining feature throughout.
“He is the prototypical stamina horse,” said Attard. “He always has something left in the tank.”
Jokestar enters Saturday’s assignment off a series of sharp May workouts at Woodbine, including consecutive four-furlong breezes in :48.60 and :48.00 over the main track.
“Very happy with the past couple of works,” Attard added. “He’s just all business, mornings and afternoons.”
Pietro Moran takes the mount from post four, with Stanley House, Swift Delivery and Irish-bred Tosen Wish among the principal challengers in the Eclipse Stakes field.
The Woodbine Eclipse Stakes 2026 also carries notable historical significance. Fleet Path captured the inaugural running in 1956, while last year’s renewal went to Classic Mo Town under Eswan Flores.
Elsewhere on the Woodbine programme, Awesome Bourbon returns in the $150,000 Jacques Cartier Stakes (G3), where the Abraham Katryan-trained six-year-old will attempt to secure the first stakes victory of his career.
The son of Not Bourbon produced a strong late rally when second in last year’s Kennedy Road Stakes (G2) and enters Saturday’s six-furlong contest after a productive winter preparation in Ontario.
“He was charging hard and he was right there,” Katryan said of the Kennedy Road performance. “That is what this horse does.”
Awesome Bourbon enjoyed an excellent 2025 campaign, recording four wins and two seconds from 10 starts, including a trio of consecutive victories on the Woodbine inner turf. Katryan believes the gelding has continued to improve physically ahead of his return.
“I am so impressed with him this year,” the trainer said. “He’s put on some more weight and he looks really good.”
The Jacques Cartier Stakes will also feature the returning Possiblemente, a proven closing sprinter trained by Joe Sharp, who arrives off a strong effort in the Twin Spires Turf Sprint (G2T) at Churchill Downs.
“We’ve rediscovered him and he’s excelling as a closing sprinter,” Sharp said.
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