ETOBICOKE, Ontario – Off a heartbreaking loss in the Grade 3 Singspiel, English Conqueror drops into a conditioned allowance/optional-claimer on Saturday at Woodbine and should be favored in the 1 3/8-mile inner turf route. A 7-year-old trained by Darwin Banach, English Conqueror lowered the 1 3/16-mile course record winning his season debut in a second-level allowance in June at Aqueduct, after which he finished fifth in the Grade 2 Bowling Green at Saratoga. In the 1 1/2-mile Cape Henlopen Stakes at Delaware in August, English Conqueror faded to third after attending a slow pace on the outside. In a field that scratched down to five horses, Banach said things didn’t go the gelding’s way after breaking from the outside post under Rafael Hernandez. “He’s the type of horse who likes to get covered up, or he doesn’t relax and wants to take a hold the whole way,” Banach said. “He was stuck on the outside and couldn’t get down in behind.” :: Bet the races with a $200 First Deposit Match + FREE All Access PPs! Join DRF Bets. English Conqueror was scratched from the Sept. 7 Niagara Stakes due to an issue with his Lasix administration. Everything went his way in the 1 3/8-mile Singspiel on the main turf, except for the result. He saved ground in fifth before Hernandez angled him wide for the drive. He hit the front in midstretch and seemed headed for his first stakes score, but was overhauled late by the favored shipper Truly Quality. The red-hot Hernandez retains the mount on English Conqueror, who breezed a bullet half-mile in 48.60 seconds on the training track Oct. 27. Ron’s Gizmo, Stone Age, and Dancin in Da’nile are the other contenders in the seven-horse field. Collective Force was entered for the main track only. The hard-knocking 7-year-old Ron’s Gizmo was never better than he was in his last two starts. He crushed conditioned allowance opposition with a career-high 91 Beyer Speed Figure Sept. 14, beating the favored next-out winner Loose Wire in the process. Ron’s Gizmo is coming off a narrow loss in the Grade 3 Durham Cup to Dresden Row, who came right back to take the Grade 3 Ontario Derby. Fraser Aebly inherits the mount from the suspended Sahin Civaci on Ron’s Gizmo, who was claimed for a bargain $25,000 in December of 2022 by trainer Ron Sadler. Irish-bred Stone Age, the runner-up in the 2022 Breeders’ Cup Turf at Keeneland, has run hot and cold since joining trainer Pat Parente’s string in the spring. He led all the way in a 1 1/4-mile allowance on the main turf Aug. 11 and got fried in a speed duel when favored in the Niagara. The son of Galileo worked a quick half-mile since ending up third in the Singspiel. The Gail Cox-trained Dancin in Da’nile rallied from ninth to finish a respectable fourth in the Singspiel, a much better performance than his flat fifth in the Niagara. Post time for the 10-race card is earlier than usual, at 12:50 p.m. Eastern. :: Want to learn more about handicapping and wagering? Check out DRF's Handicapping 101 and Wagering 101 pages.