Toronto, ON – Queen’s Plate winner Eye of the Leopard and Prince of Wales’ victor Gallant head a field of 13 for Sunday’s $500,000 Breeders’ Stakes, third leg in Canada’s Triple Crown of Thoroughbred Racing, at Woodbine.
The 119th running of the Breeders’, for Canadian-foaled three-year-olds over one and one-half miles on the E.P. Taylor Turf Course, will go postward at 4:37 pm ET, with The Score providing Canada-wide television coverage in a special one-hour presentation from 4:00 – 5:00 pm. All starters will carry 126 pounds while seeking the $300,000 first place prize.
The 5-2 morning line favourite is Sam-Son Farm’s homebred Eye of the Leopard (post position #4), who won the Plate, the first leg, in dramatic fashion over Mr. Foricos Two U and Milwaukee Appeal on June 21 at Woodbine. However, in the second jewel, the Prince of Wales Stakes, July 12 at Fort Erie, he finished a close third, just a half-length behind Gallant.
The impeccably-bred A.P. Indy-Eye of the Sphynx colt, to be ridden as usual by Eurico Rosa da Silva, will be seeing turf for the first time in the Breeders’. He’s won three of five career starts and is the field’s leading money winner with $785,540. The last horse to win the Plate and the Breeders’, but not the Prince of Wales, was Basqueian in 1994.
Sam-Son has won a record-tying five Breeders’ Stakes, the last by Portcullis in 2002, while trainer Mark Frostad will be seeking a fourth Breeders’ win.
“He’s coming into the race in great shape and hopefully will perform well on the turf,” said Frostad. “I think he will handle it. He’s out of a half-sister to the dam of Quiet Resolve. There’s a lot of turf in the family.
“It was a speed-favouring day (Prince of Wales). They were all sitting back and let (jockey) Corey (Fraser) go to the lead (with Gallant) and he stayed there. (Eye of the Leopard) ran a decent race. Hopefully, he’ll run a better one on Sunday. He’s ready to go.”
Woodford Racing’s Gallant (PP3), trained by Mark Casse, pulled off a 15-1 shocker in the Prince of Wales, nosing out filly Milwaukee Appeal. It was the second consecutive win for the son of Aptitude, after breaking his maiden at Woodbine on May 31.
To be ridden again by Corey Fraser, Gallant, the 4-1 second choice, has had one previous grass outing, finishing a well-beaten fourth to Utterly Cool in last year’s Cup and Saucer Stakes. Casse won the 2007 Breeders’ Stakes with Marchfield.
“He’s a fighter. You have to give him that,” said Casse, about Gallant’s Prince of Wales effort. “He battled back after Milwaukee Appeal went by. He fought back and galloped out strong. He came out of the race great. He had a little breeze last week. I thought it went really well. When horses are fit, we don’t have to do anything really special.
“(We decided to go to the Breeders’) after he won the Prince of Wales – as long as he was healthy. Where else can you run for $500,000? I feel he can handle the 1 1/2 miles. His only turf race wasn’t a true indication because the turf was so soft.”
Plate runner-up Mr. Foricos Two U (PP11, 12-1 in the morning line), trained by Catherine Day Phillips, will be attempting to rebound from a disappointing fifth place finish in the Prince of Wales. The gelded son of Porto Foricos has won twice, along with two seconds, in six career starts for owners Frank Annecchini and D’Alimonte Holdings, but will also be trying turf for the first time.
Day Phillips saddled back-to-back Breeders’ winners in 2004 with A Bit O’Gold and in 2005 with Jambalaya, while jockey Patrick Husbands, who was aboard Mr. Foricos Two U for his maiden-breaker in May, seeks a record-tying fourth Breeders’ victory. He scored in 2003 with Wando, 2006 with Royal Challenger and 2007 with Marchfield. Jockeys Sandy Hawley and Robin Platts each won four Breeders’ Stakes during their Hall of Fame careers.
Janet Jeanpierre’s Parabola (PP7, 8-1), who captured last year’s Kingarvie Stakes, an Ontario Sires event, and most recently won a turf allowance event July 8, will be ridden by Chantal Sutherland for trainer Barbara Minshall.
The gelded son of Trajectory is a three-time winner in 10 starts, with earnings of $167,600. Sutherland rode Sligovitz to a second-place finish behind Marlang in last year’s Breeders’, while Minshall has twice saddled a Breeders’ runner-up…Mt. Sassafras in 1995 and One Emotion in 1997.
Goldie Stables and Weila Ye’s Reservoir (PP13, 6-1) will try to start another win streak in the Breeders’, after finishing 11th, 19 lengths behind Eye of the Leopard, in the Queen’s Plate. The gelded son of Sky Classic had won his first two outings for trainer Julia Carey, including a mile and one-eighth turf contest, before the ‘Gallop for the Guineas.’
Jockey Jim McAleney will be seeking a second Breeders’ win after taking the 2001 renewal with Sweetest Thing.
Like Eye of the Leopard and Mr. Foricos Two U, Keino West and Flip for the Coin are the only other horses in the Breeders’ to have also contested the first two legs of the Triple Crown.
Track West Racing’s Keino West (PP9, 12-1), trained by Steve Attard, finished sixth in the Queen’s Plate and fourth in the Prince of Wales. The gelded son of Kissin Kris will be ridden by Gerry Olguin.
Molinaro Stable’s Flip for the Coin (PP10, 20-1) is one of two in the Breeders’ trained by Vito Armata. The other is Genius Kinshasa (PP5, 20-1), owned by F. Scala Stables and Enza Armata.
Flip for the Coin finished fifth in the Plate, almost six lengths behind Eye of the Leopard, but was a distant sixth and last in the Prince of Wales. The gelded son of Compadre also makes his turf debut and will be ridden for the first time by Emma-Jayne Wilson.
Genius Kinshasa, a gelded son of Kinshasa, enters off a turf debut allowance score at one and one-quarter miles on July 10 and will be piloted by Emile Ramsammy.
Trainer Analisa Delmas will send out three hopefuls for Fieldstone Farms: Guipago (PP6, 12-1), with Tyler Pizarro, Hisaki (PP1, 12-1) with Jerry Baird and Mensch (PP8, 20-1), to be ridden by Roderick Dacosta. Guipago recently broke his maiden over one mile and three-eighths on the turf, while winless Hisaki and Mensch are trying to become the first maidens to win the Breeders’ since Fair Montague in 1915.
Gustav Schickedanz’s homebred Full Throttle (PP2, 20-1), another maiden, will try to give his owner a third Breeders’ win, after victories by Marlang in 2008 and Wando in 2003. Schickedanz also bred, but did not own, Jambalaya, the 2005 winner. The gelded son of Dixie Union tries turf for the first time for trainer Mike Keogh and jockey Todd Kabel. Keogh saddled Wando to win the 2003 Triple Crown while Kabel, a seven-time Sovereign Award winner, is still seeking his first Breeders’ score.
Charles Fipke’s homebred Perfect Shower (PP12, 30-1) recently broke his maiden on Woodbine’s Polytrack in a $25,000 claimer. The son of Fipke’s former star Perfect Soul is conditioned by Hall of Famer Roger Attfield, who has won seven Breeders’ Stakes, the last by Sweetest Thing in 2001. Jono Jones, who won the 2004 Breeders’ with A Bit O’Gold and the 2005 edition aboard Jambalaya, rides.
Since the inception of the Triple Crown in 1959, favourites have taken 24 of 50 (4 of the last 10) runnings. The shortest-priced winner was Peteski ($2.20) in 1993 while Social Wizard ($43.70) is the longest-priced winner in 1981.
The largest margin of victory since 1959 was by Ben Fab, a 14-length winner in 1980, while four editions have been won by a nose, the last by Charlie’s Dewan in 1995, who also set the Breeders’ Stakes record time of 2:26 2/5 seconds.
This year’s Breeders’ field of 13 equals the largest since 1999, while a record 15 went postward in 1987.
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