Not This Time got his fourth graded stakes winner of the year on Sunday when Arzak scored a very sharp-looking victory in the $150,000 Jacques Cartier S. (G3) at Woodbine.

Arzak joins Not This Time’s illustrious list of 2022 graded winners that includes Just One Time, Epicenter, and Simplification. Just One Time won the Madison S. (G1) at Keeneland in April, while both Epicenter and Simplification are scheduled to run in Saturday’s Preakness S. (G1) after their excellent showings in the Kentucky Derby (G1).

In the six-furlong Cartier, Arzak went right to the lead from the break, taking the field through a quarter-mile in :22.55. He continued to blaze along, with a half-mile in :44.49 and a 2 ½-length lead. Kept to task in the stretch, the chestnut colt was never seriously threatened and won by 1 ½-lengths in 1:08.91.

“He’s a completely nice horse,” said winning jockey Kazushi Kimura. “I just dropped the lines to show the natural speed and just go wire-to-wire. He doesn’t have to go to the lead. I wanted to drop the lines and make it comfortable for him, and he’s going to show up for the final stretch.”

A two-time listed winner prior to Sunday, Arzak is now 5-1-1 in 13 starts and has earned $253,378 for owner Sonata Stable.

Arzak was bred in Kentucky by John Oxley and sold for $575,000 at the 2020 OBS Spring 2-year-old sale.