Piper's Gift Puts Blacktype on Sire Yorkton's Name

Second-crop sire Yorkton earned his first blacktype winner Oct. 12 when his daughter Piper's Gift won the Glorious Song Stakes at Woodbine. Trailing early on the all-weather track, Piper's Gift hung close to the lead through the opening half-mile of the 7-furlong contest. Moving off the rail, Piper's Gift challenged two wide at the turn before taking control early in the stretch. She stopped the clock in 1:23.56. Piper's Gift paid $4.70 for the win. "Nothing is easy in the races, you have to make choices," said jockey Rafael Hernandez. "And the (trainer Dale Desruisseaux) just told me, 'Rafi, try to give me a smart race.' I know usually, maybe one guy says he's smarter than everybody, but you know, when you got the horse, obviously you look smart. So, I got the horse today. I look smart today." Piper's Gift is a Chiefswood Stables Limited homebred from Canada. She is 2-1-0 from four starts. Her sire, Yorkton, entered stud in 2021 and stood this year for $5,000 at Crestwood Farm near Lexington. Bred in Canada by the same breeder as his daughter, Yorkton was 7-4-3 from 30 starts. He was trained by Graham Motion and earned $546,332. Yorkton is by Speightstown and is out of the A.P. Indy mare Sunday Affair. He twice won the Bold Venture Stakes (G3).