Pageant Queen looks to break through in Woodbine Fury Stakes

Pageant Queen arrives at the Fury Stakes looking less like a filly still finding herself and more like one ready to claim a spot in Woodbine’s summer class. The chestnut daughter of Point of Entry has already finished in the top three in six of seven starts, owns a record of 2 wins, 2 seconds and 2 thirds, and comes into Saturday’s $125,000 test with a profile that suggests there may still be more in the tank.

That matters because the Fury is more than a local stakes. The seven-furlong main-track race for Canadian-foaled 3-year-old fillies is one of the first true measuring sticks on the road to the $500,000 Woodbine Oaks Presented by Stella Artois on July 19. Woodbine’s preview says Pageant Queen will face five rivals, and a victory would move her from promising contender to something closer to the standard-bearer spot in the division.

Her 2026 debut on April 25 is the race that sharpened the case. Pageant Queen won a six-furlong sprint at Woodbine by two lengths as the slight 2-1 favorite with Rafael Hernandez aboard, sitting fifth at the half before taking control 70 yards from the finish. That kind of late response matters here because the Fury asks for a little more stamina, and trainer Jamie Begg has said the filly tends to run best after a break. In other words, the placement was deliberate, not opportunistic.

The rest of her record already tells you this is not a filly arriving from nowhere. As a juvenile, Pageant Queen was stakes-placed in four of five starts, with performances in the My Dear, Muskoka, Victorian Queen, South Ocean and Shady Well. She opened her career with a win and has kept showing up against better company, a steady line of progression that makes Saturday feel like a possible turning point rather than just another start.

Equibase lists Pageant Queen as a chestnut filly foaled May 2, 2023, in Ontario, out of Queen Ofthe Dawn and bred by Anthony B. Russo and Leslie L. Russo. She has earned $141,283 in her career, including $23,657 from her lone start this year, and her ownership group of Jeff Begg, Annabel Begg and Upland Flats Racing has every reason to view the Fury as the next step toward the Oaks. Woodbine’s 2026 stakes schedule, with 39 graded stakes and five Grade 1 races, sets a deep backdrop. A first stakes win here would tell the rest of the Ontario filly division that Pageant Queen is no longer just improving. She is arriving.