“There is nothing that matches this, I’m proud to be here” – Ontario owner and breeder Rene Hunderup
Get right back up on the horse and try again.
That is literally what jockey Declan Carroll did on Oct. 2 at Woodbine when he smoothly guided Rene and Darlene Hunderup’s homebred 3-year-old SIR FOR SURE to an emphatic win in the 132nd Breeders’ Stakes, the third jewel of Canada’s Triple Crown.
The victory for the very tall, bay gelding came just a few weeks after Carroll fell off the Plate Trial Stakes winner in the Prince of Wales Stakes, the second leg of the Triple Crown, in the slop after some jostling with rivals into the backstretch.
Sir for Sure (Sligo Bay (Ire)) – Serena’s Rose by My Way Only, had finished third in the Queen’s Plate behind fab filly Moira and his stablemate Hall of Dreams, both horses trained by Mark Casse.
While Hall of Dreams was kept out of the Prince of Wales to point for the grassy Breeders’, Sir for Sure wasn’t originally scheduled to try grass for the first time in the Breeders’.
But following the miscue in the ‘Wales’, which was won by Duke of Love, also in the Breeders’ field, Sir for Sure took his place in the gate with eight others.
As the field galloped its way up the incline to the turn to the backstretch, it was recent maiden winner Gaston who had a short lead over Prince of Wales Stakes winner Duke of Love. Longshot Collaborative was tracking along the inside with Dancin in Da’Nile, the Sam-Son Farms colt who took a lot of betting support to his outside. In behind the top four, jockey Luis Contreras was having plenty of trouble with Lac Macaza, recently a close fourth in the Toronto Cup, as that colt was very eager and was in tight traffic.
Carroll, meanwhile, had Sir for Sure parked three wide under a good hold, the gelding also keen with his head turned towards the inside. Inside of Sir for Sure was his stablemate, favoured Hall of Dreams, with Patrick Husbands.
The first two furlongs of the marathon went in 24.94, honest for distance, followed by a 49.04 half-mile fraction.
“I wanted to be a little more forward, to be honest,” said Carroll. “But I didn’t want to be fanned wide so I let him bide his time and fortunately he allowed me to do that with him.”
Duke of Love with Justin Stein on board, moved up to duel Gaston late down the backstretch while Dancin in Da’Nile sat third. Around the final turn, the dueling pair continued on as Lac Macaza began to advance between rivals and the Casse pair split tactics with Sir for Sure advancing side and Hall of Dreams sneaking p the rail.
Dancin in Da’Nile bid three wide into the stretch to battle for the lead with Gaston and Duke of Love while Sir for Sure galloped up five wide. Meanwhile, Lac Macaza, trapped behind a wall of horses, was desperately seeking a way through. Sir for Sure powered away to a 2 1/4 length win over a closing Hall of Dreams while Lac Macaza battled hard to get past a drifting Dancin in Da’Nile. The latter was later disqualified from fourth and placed seventh for drifting in at the top of the stretch and interfering with Duke of Love.
The final time was 2:28.88, the fastest Breeders’ since Up With the Birds ran in 2:28.69 in 2013.
Carroll, who joined the Woodbine rider colony earlier this year after beginning his career in the U.S., is the son of David, an assistant to Casse south of the border. The young rider was noticeably emotional in the winner’s circle.
“To win this for Heste Sport and Mr. Casse, look, they have given me chances all season long. It means a lot. I may have hit the front too soon, to be honest, but luckily he kept going for me.”
Sir for Sure has now won three of eight races and over $374,000. Nicknamed ‘legs’ as a foal at the Hunderups Norse Ridge Farms, Sir for Sure is by the pensioned Sligo Bay, who stood at Adena Springs in Aurora. Sir for Sure’s dam Serena’s Rose, a two-time winner of over $136,000 is also the dam of winner My Rosebud and stakes winning speedster My Silencer.
The Hunderups raced their first Thoroughbred in 2000 (Swinging Janie Gal) and had a small racing stable while focussing on standing stallions and boarding horses for some of the top breeders including Eugene Melnyk, Ivan Dalos and others.
In recent years the couple, who also had a large Quarter Horse racing and breeding operation, started to see some nice prospects come their small broodmare band. In 2018, they started their gelding My Silencer, trained by Bill Tharrenos, in the Frost King Stakes’ first time out and watched him provide them with their first Woodbine stakes win.
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