2026 Hendrie Stakes Preview

Key Takeaways:

• The Hendrie Stakes brings together a deep, evenly matched field where proven class, Tapeta form, and pace dynamics should decide the outcome.
• An expected speed battle gives tactical stalkers and late runners a strong opportunity to capitalize over Woodbine's 6½-furlong Tapeta.
• Time to Dazzle offers attractive betting value, bringing graded-stakes class, a favorable pace setup, and untapped upside returning to Tapeta.
• Creed's Gold looks primed to defend her Hendrie title, dropping in class after facing elite turf sprinters while returning to her preferred surface.
• Reagan's Flame remains a major contender thanks to her unbeaten Tapeta record, tactical versatility, and a forgiving excuse for her troubled last start.

Filly and mare sprinters take the spotlight on Saturday, July 25 at Woodbine in the Grade 3 Hendrie Stakes. The race drew a very tightly matched field of nine runners to go 6 ½ furlongs on the Tapeta main track, with a $175,000 purse at stake.

The morning-line favorite is Reagan’s Flame, who won the Whimsical (G3) earlier in the meet and ships up again for the always-dangerous Saffie Joseph, Jr. However, it won’t be an easy task. Her foes include last year’s winner Creed’s Gold from the Mark Casse barn, as well as Grade 2 winners Kehoe Beach and Time to Dazzle, both of whom have back class and are looking to get back on track.

The history of the Hendrie Stakes goes back to 1975, when it was run at Fort Erie in honor of former Ontario Jockey Club president George C. Hendrie. In 1977, it was moved to Woodbine, where it has been run ever since. It has been run at 6 ½ furlongs on the main track through its entire Woodbine era, meaning it has been on a synthetic surface since 2007. It has been graded since 2000, with a Grade 3 designation every year except 2012, when it was a Grade 2.

Three-time Canadian champion La Voyageuse won the race twice, in 1979 and 1980. Its winner’s list is a who’s who of Canadian stars. Other Sovereign Award winners to have won the Hendrie include Dance for Donna (1993), Deputy Jane West (1994), Kirby’s Song (1999), Saoirse (2000), Tribal Belle (2010), Embur’s Song (2011), Roxy Gap (2012), Delightful Mary (2013), Spring in the Air (2014), Summer Sunday (2019), Hazelbrook (2022), and Loyalty (2023).

Hendrie Stakes Information

• Race Date: Saturday, July 25
• Track: Woodbine
• Post Time: 5:23 p.m. Eastern Daylight Time
• Distance: 6 ½ furlongs on the Tapeta
• Age/Sex: three-year-olds and upward, fillies and mares
• Where to Watch: FanDuel TV
• Where to Bet: FanDuel Racing

2026 Hendrie Stakes Draw and Odds

This is the official field for the Hendrie, including post positions, trainers, jockeys, and morning-line odds.

Hendrie Stakes Prep Race Results

The nine horses in the Hendrie come out of six different races. A trio of runners come out of the Royal North (G3) at 7 ½ furlongs on the grass June 27. The top-placed finisher among them is Without Cause, who set the pace but flattened out to fourth, six lengths behind winner Shifty. Reagan’s Flame chased on for fifth, just a nose behind Without Cause. Uphill Dance was hung wide, came up empty, and finished 11th and last.

Another pair comes into the Hendrie out of the Intercontinental (G2) at Saratoga on June 4. Neither hit the board, but neither were well beaten either. Creed’s Gold finished the better of the two, chasing toward the rear of midfield and finishing sixth, beaten 3 ¼ lengths by the winner Roja. Time to Dazzle raced at the rear and made a late run to finish seventh, a half-length behind Creed’s Gold.

Two others come out of ungraded stakes races. Slang comes out of the Clarksville Handicap on July 10 at Horseshoe Indianapolis, where she settled toward the rear, made a rally, and was outfinished by half a length by favored Big Trouble. Kehoe Beach has freshened up since setting the pace early and emptying out to finish tenth and last as the favorite in the 6 ½ furlong Wishing Well Stakes on February 6 at Turfway.

The other two runners step up from allowance company. American Women was the runner-up behind Shifty in a third-level allowance going six furlongs on the Tapeta on May 31; Shifty franked that form by winning the Royal North next out. She’s All Charm contested a third-level allowance turf mile at Churchill Downs on June 13; she tracked in range but was outfinished late to finish fifth, 4 ½ lengths behind Miwa, who ran third in the Indiana General Assembly Distaff next out.

Hendrie Stakes Contenders

These are the contenders entered in the Hendrie:

1. Without Cause: Speed is her game, and from the rail she is going to need a sharp break. She also stands to have to work hard on the front end with the speedy Kehoe Beach drawn outside of her. She’s a turf horse trying Tapeta for the first time, which is not a huge deal since form can transfer between those surfaces, but since she has shown speed over distances shorter than this, she may end up being a pacemaker for her stablemates.
2. Creed’s Gold: The defending champion, she has been defeated in her last three starts, but she has been facing truly classy turf sprint competition in those starts. This is a class drop compared to those – she has a right to improve with that, and with the switch to a Tapeta track. She went gate to wire in this race last year, but does not need that kind of race shape to win, as she has been able to win from a stalking or tracking spot as well. She consistently runs races fast enough to win this, and looms as a serious repeat contender.
3. Uphill Dance: On a positive note, it’s fair to toss the last; that was a 7 ½-furlong turf race, and her form tends to come over one-turn distances. And, the barn is excellent when switching from turf to all-weather – 33% wins and a colossal 70% on the board over the last three years, including last summer when Uphill Dance herself switched from turf to synthetic and cleared her two-other-than. This race is going to require her best form to make her a contender, but she will be a huge price, and she does have the tactical speed to get a decent trip. Especially for a share of the exotics, she has some price appeal.
4. Slang: After a downright star-crossed juvenile season, things have been going better in her three- and four-year-old years. She was risked for a $25,000 tag in an optional claimer at Turfway back in March – trainer Anna Meah bit, and Slang has run second in two starts since, including in stakes company last out. However, even with some decent Tapeta form and upside third off the lay. This is a step up in class, and she has yet to run a race likely to be fast enough to win this.
5. She’s All Charm: She has been doing most of her running on turf lately, though she has a few starts on the Turfway Tapeta earlier in her career. However, she has yet to hit the board on the all-weather and would need a serious step forward in order to be a contender here. She is trying something new, an extended sprint on the Tapeta, and her one six-furlong try on Tapeta wasn’t bad, but it would be a surprise for her to be a factor even despite Eoin Harty’s strong record with limited shippers at Woodbine.
6. Reagan’s Flame: She was a troubled fifth last out when stretching out to 7 ½ furlongs on the lawn, but two back she won a six-furlong sprint on the Woodbine Tapeta, so the surface is no question. Between that and a win on the Gulfstream Park Tapeta in March, one can argue it’s her best surface. She has yet to try 6 ½ furlongs on all-weather, but a 6 ½ furlong try on the Kentucky Downs lawn last year wasn’t bad and a seven-furlong try there a week later was even better. Since she has the tactical speed to work a trip, there’s a lot to like.
7. Kehoe Beach: She shapes as the speed of the speed. She probably won’t be alone up front, unless the break is a disaster for rail-drawn Without Cause, but she certainly drew the better of the two dedicated frontrunners. However, it’s hard to see her doing anything but showing pace and fading – she went through a hot streak in 2024 but has not appeared quite the same since trying some very hard spots in 2025. The only thing that gives a bit of pause dismissing her is how well Wesley Ward does with fresh horses – but that was an argument last time, too, and she finished a well-beaten last as the chalk.
8. American Women: She cleared her first-level condition over this course and distance last year, and has been in the exacta in three of her four starts over the Woodbine Tapeta. However, that one off-the-board outing came in the Whimsical, her only graded-stakes try, meaning she has class to prove. And, that’s the major concern – that, even coming from a perennial high-percentage barn at Woodbine, she’s just not fast enough to win against these types.
9. Time to Dazzle: This Mark Casse trainee has spent most of her career on the lawn, more often an underneath type in graded-stakes races, though she did win the Franklin (G2) in dazzling fashion last October at Keeneland. She has only raced on the Tapeta once, but it went well – she contested a two-turn allowance back in December of her juvenile year at Gulfstream Park, a race that got washed off, and she led at every call. The stretch out from those 5 ½-furlong races in her last few should help her, and with a pair of one-way speeds, she should get something to close into.

Hendrie Stakes: 3 Best Bets

These are the three best bets in the 2026 Hendrie Stakes:

1. Time to Dazzle (6-1)

Time to Dazzle may be the second-stringer of the trio from the Mark Casse barn, but from a betting value standpoint, she is number one. She should get a clean trip from the outside gate, and with both Kehoe Beach and her rail-drawn stablemate Without Cause in the field, she should get pace to chase.

She has only run once on a Tapeta surface, but that was a powerful wire-to-wire win going two turns at Gulfstream, and Tapeta is consistently enough maintained that Tapeta form at one track tends to translate well to other racetracks. She also hasn’t been disgraced going 6 ½ furlongs, albeit on turf – she was beaten only half a length in an allowance over the trip, about a week and a half after she ran a bang-up fourth behind the top-class Ag Bullet in a Grade 2, also at Kentucky Downs. With a few other horses more likely to take money, her class and form may go undetected by some of the bettors, which means she should be a very appealing price.

2. Creed’s Gold (3-1)

The top-stringer from the Casse barn, Creed’s Gold won this race last year and would be no surprise to make it two in a row. Though she has been defeated in her last three, she has been running in the best American turf sprint races for fillies and mares this time of year, and holding her own – she hit the board in both the Giant’s Causeway (G2) at Keeneland and the Unbridled Sidney (G2) at Churchill. Even though she was sixth in the Intercontinental (G2) at Saratoga, she was only 3 ¼ lengths beaten for the whole thing. That kind of class transfers well to a Grade 3 at Woodbine.

And, of course, the stretch out and the switch to Tapeta aren’t bad for her at all – she won this race last year, after all, and also has a victory in a washed-out turf race last year over the Gulfstream Tapeta. She went gate-to-wire last year, but her other Tapeta win came from a tracking spot, as have several of her other wins. If she can harness that tracking gear at this distance – quite possible, especially with two one-way speeds in the field – she shapes as a strong repeat contender.

3. Reagan’s Flame (5-2)

Saffie Joseph, Jr. comes in hard with his shippers, and he has a well-placed one here. Though she was defeated in the Royal North last out, she had to deal with trip trouble, and still kept on honestly enough to pass a few late. Now she switches back to Tapeta – the surface on which she won the Whimsical (G3) in May. In fact, she is unbeaten in two starts on that footing, as she also won a 1 1/16-mile handicap at Gulfstream on it three back.

The biggest question is the 6 ½-furlong trip, as she has never tried it on Tapeta, and was sixth in her only try at the distance on turf. However, she had to deal with some early trouble and a wide trip that day at Kentucky Downs, and rebounded a week later with a close second going seven furlongs over that same course. In short, she is a horse who can run a good race over virtually any surface and distance, and has the tactical versatility to work out a trip.

Hendrie Stakes FAQ

Q: When is the Hendrie Stakes?

A: The Hendrie is scheduled for Saturday, July 25, 2026, at 5:23 p.m. Eastern Daylight Time.

Q: Where is the Hendrie Stakes?

A: The Hendrie Stakes happens at Woodbine Racetrack in Etobicoke, Ontario, Canada.

Q: Which trainer has the most wins in the Hendrie Stakes?

A: Mark Casse is the undisputed king of the Hendrie with five wins between 2012 and 2025. He brings back 2025 winner Creed’s Gold for a repeat try in 2026, alongside both Without Cause and Time to Dazzle.

Q: Who is the favorite for the Hendrie Stakes?

A: Reagan’s Flame is the 5-2 morning-line favorite in the Hendrie for trainer Saffie Joseph, Jr. She is a likely choice, between her win in the Whimsical earlier in the meet and the fact that she had some trouble last out when she was beaten in the grassy Royal North last out. However, watch for action on Creed’s Gold, the 3-1 second choice; she is the defending champion, and though she has been beaten in her last three starts, she has been running in top-class turf sprints, and bettors will expect her to thrive on the class drop, the stretch out, and the return to Tapeta.

Q: Who is the best Hendrie Stakes jockey?

A: David Clark, Patrick Husbands, and Todd Kabel have all won the Hendrie four times, though none of them are active any longer. Among jockeys with rides in the 2026 edition, Rafael Hernandez leads with two wins, with Summer Sunday in 2019 and Creed’s Gold in 2025. He rides Creed’s Gold again this year.

Q: Who won the Hendrie Stakes in 2025?

A: Creed’s Gold won the 2025 Hendrie for Mark Casse and Rafael Hernandez, who unite behind her this year as well. Casse also sends out Without Cause with Emma-Jayne Wilson in the irons, as well as Time to Dazzle with Fraser Aebly riding.

The above author is a FanDuel employee and is not eligible to compete in public daily fantasy contests or place sports betting wagers on FanDuel. The advice provided by the author does not necessarily represent the views of FanDuel. Taking the author's advice will not guarantee a successful outcome. You should use your own judgment when participating in daily fantasy contests or placing sports wagers.