Hall of Fame jockey John Velazquez, a veteran of the New York circuit, doesn’t ride north of the Canadian border all that often. His previous trips there have been profitable, though; he has ridden the winner of the Woodbine Mile (CAN-G1) five times and the winner of the E. P. Taylor Stakes (CAN-G1) three times, as well as taking the King’s Plate (then the Queen’s Plate) with Wonder Gadot in 2018. Last Sunday, he added the classic Woodbine Oaks to his resume, bringing No Time home by 3¾ lengths over race favorite Shifty. Winterberry was home third, completing a 1-2-3 sweep for trainer Mark Casse, who tied Jim Day’s record of five wins in Canada's premier Classic for 3-year-old fillies. It was also the second Oaks win for Gary Barber, whose Lexie Lou swept the 2014 Oaks and Queen’s Plate on the way to Canadian Horse of the Year honors.
No Time, who was gaining her first stakes win, will need to step up her game substantially to warrant comparison with Lexie Lou, who ended her 3-year-old season by running an excellent second to 2014 American champion 3-year-old male and Horse of the Year California Chrome in the Hollywood Derby (USA-G1). Nevertheless, she has a pedigree suggesting that we haven’t seen the best of her yet, as well as connections that should have every chance of bringing out whatever potential she has.
No Time is the fiftieth stakes winner for Not This Time, who has gone from strength to strength since entering stud in 2017. The sire of 12 stakes winners (five of them graded) in 2025, the son of Giant’s Causeway was represented by 17 stakes winners last year, headed by the blazing-fast turf sprinter Cogburn and Matriarch Stakes (USA-G1) winner Sacred Wish. A versatile sire who gets good runners on all surfaces and from sprints to classic distances, he currently stands seventh on the American general sire list.
On the distaff side, No Time is a half sister to two-time Bing Crosby Stakes (USA-G1) winner Ransom the Moon (by Malibu Moon) and to 2022 Frank E. Kilroe Mile Stakes (USA-G1) winner Count Again (by Awesome Again), both horses that needed some time to mature before finding their best form. Their dam, the Red Ransom mare Count to Three, became a stakes winner at age 4, and her “nephew” Paijan (by Mingun out of Count to Three’s half sister Countus Affair, by Black Tie Affair) became a Group 3 winner in Peru at age 4. Of the stakes winners in No Time’s immediate family, Think Red (a full brother to Count to Three) was the most precocious, winning the 2000 Toronto Cup Handicap in July of his 3-year-old season.
Count to Three, in turn, is out of 1990 Matriarch Handicap (USA-G1) winner Countus In (by Dancing Count x Cloudy and Warm, by Cloudy Dawn), who took down her signature score as a 5-year-old. Two of her half sisters did win stakes as 3-year-olds, though at a significantly lower level: Tulindas (by Shelter Half) and Aube d’Or (by Medaille d’Or). The last-named mare is the third dam of 2021 American Horse of the Year Knicks Go (by Paynter), who reached his best form as a 5-year-old.
No Time, then, is a filly one would reasonably expect to be slow to come to her best form. Even as she stands, on speed figures she would be a reasonable fit for the upcoming King’s Plate, a race won by eight previous Oaks winners. The most recent to complete the double was Moira (2022), who went on to become the 2022 Canadian Horse of the Year and the 2024 American champion turf female. That would be a lofty standard to emulate, but given time, it may not be out of reach.
No Time, who was gaining her first stakes win, will need to step up her game substantially to warrant comparison with Lexie Lou, who ended her 3-year-old season by running an excellent second to 2014 American champion 3-year-old male and Horse of the Year California Chrome in the Hollywood Derby (USA-G1). Nevertheless, she has a pedigree suggesting that we haven’t seen the best of her yet, as well as connections that should have every chance of bringing out whatever potential she has.
No Time is the fiftieth stakes winner for Not This Time, who has gone from strength to strength since entering stud in 2017. The sire of 12 stakes winners (five of them graded) in 2025, the son of Giant’s Causeway was represented by 17 stakes winners last year, headed by the blazing-fast turf sprinter Cogburn and Matriarch Stakes (USA-G1) winner Sacred Wish. A versatile sire who gets good runners on all surfaces and from sprints to classic distances, he currently stands seventh on the American general sire list.
On the distaff side, No Time is a half sister to two-time Bing Crosby Stakes (USA-G1) winner Ransom the Moon (by Malibu Moon) and to 2022 Frank E. Kilroe Mile Stakes (USA-G1) winner Count Again (by Awesome Again), both horses that needed some time to mature before finding their best form. Their dam, the Red Ransom mare Count to Three, became a stakes winner at age 4, and her “nephew” Paijan (by Mingun out of Count to Three’s half sister Countus Affair, by Black Tie Affair) became a Group 3 winner in Peru at age 4. Of the stakes winners in No Time’s immediate family, Think Red (a full brother to Count to Three) was the most precocious, winning the 2000 Toronto Cup Handicap in July of his 3-year-old season.
Count to Three, in turn, is out of 1990 Matriarch Handicap (USA-G1) winner Countus In (by Dancing Count x Cloudy and Warm, by Cloudy Dawn), who took down her signature score as a 5-year-old. Two of her half sisters did win stakes as 3-year-olds, though at a significantly lower level: Tulindas (by Shelter Half) and Aube d’Or (by Medaille d’Or). The last-named mare is the third dam of 2021 American Horse of the Year Knicks Go (by Paynter), who reached his best form as a 5-year-old.
No Time, then, is a filly one would reasonably expect to be slow to come to her best form. Even as she stands, on speed figures she would be a reasonable fit for the upcoming King’s Plate, a race won by eight previous Oaks winners. The most recent to complete the double was Moira (2022), who went on to become the 2022 Canadian Horse of the Year and the 2024 American champion turf female. That would be a lofty standard to emulate, but given time, it may not be out of reach.
RSS Feed