The Grade 3 Durham Cup on October 7 kicked off the big Woodbine racing weekend and spicing up the 1 1/16 mile race on Tapeta was the arrival of ALGIERS (IRE), last seen finishing second in the $12 million Dubai World Cup (G1) in March. It was quite a coup for the Toronto track to get the six-year-old trained by Simon and Ed Crisford, who supplemented the horse for $2,250 to the race.
And, ‘on paper’, it appeared the six fellows entered against the $3 million earned were in deep water. Synthetic track lover Wolfie’s Dynaghost, in town from Kentucky, was back for another Woodbine try after finishing fifth in the Eclipse Stakes to fellow Durham entrant Treason. Fresh off a grass win at Kentucky Downs, Wolfie’s Dynaghost stepped out to a clear head with his ears pricked, clicking off fractions of 24.55 and 48.22. Algiers and jockey Rob Havlin were snugly on the rail while Treason pressed on the outside.
At 6 furlongs, clocked in a much faster 110.91, Wolfie’s Dynaghost and Rafael Hernandez still had a short lead, Algiers was on the rail and behind him Ontario-bred ARTIE’S STORM and Emma-Jayne Wilson were plugging along, coming off the rail.
Midway through the stretch, Havlin had got Algiers off the rail to move to Wolfie’s Dynaghost, but by that time plucky Artie’s Storm had momentum three-wide (which appeared to be the best part of the track throughout the afternoon) and blew to the lead, holding off the invader by half a length in 1:41.08 on a cool and windy day. Algiers landed second in what was his ‘prep’ for the Breeders Cup Dirt Mile at Santa Anita next month.
Artie’s Storm, a son of the late We Miss Artie from the mare Tiz Stormy Now by Tiznow, has been a solid graded stakes performer at Woodbine for a couple of years for owner and trainer Paul Buttigieg. The fans betting the race liked him a bit, as he was only 5-to-1 and Algiers wound up second favourite by post time at a surprising 8-to-5 to Treason, who was 7-to-5.
It was hard to know where Artie was at in his form, however, with a recent win in an optional claiming race on Sept. 9 being his first win since May 2022. He was racing with bar shoes and had been on the edges in his other stakes attempts in 2023.
“He had a lot of problems early with his feet and his blood was all out of whack,” noted assistant trainer Rick Hayashi. “It just took a long time to get him to where he is today. I’ve got to give a lot of credit to our blacksmith, John Staples. The horse had nothing but bruised feet all the time and John came up with these protective shields for him. Since he’s had them on, he’s turned the corner.”
With that knowledge, jockey Wilson had confidence.
“You can just see in this situation that it takes a village,” said Wilson. “Rick gave credit to Mr. John Staples, but it’s more than that. I got to be on the glory stage and ride the horse in the race, but all spring, this is something they’ve been working on with this horse from the get-go to get him good and they got him good. They earned this and they deserve it.”
Buttigieg, as trainer, has won 636 races since the mid 1970s, according to Equibase.
The Durham Cup win put $108,000 into Buttigieg’s pocket since Artie’s Storm is also Ontario-sired. Breeder Sunrise Farm also adds bonus money to its coffers. Artie’s Storm is now 7-5-5 in 22 career races with earnings of $614,474. He is the last named foal of his dam.
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