Canada’s unique Triple Crown, sponsored by OLG, comes to a completion on Sunday, October 2 with the $400,000 Breeders’ Stakes at 1 1/2 miles on Woodbine’s E.P. Taylor turf course. A field of nine Canadian-bred 3-year-olds has been entered.
Queen’s Plate winner Moira, who easily won the first leg of the Triple Crown, is not present as X-Men and company’s filly will be heading to the Grade 1 E.P. Taylor or Queen Elizabeth Stakes at Keeneland, a decision to be made following a grass workout at Woodbine on Saturday, Oct. 1.
HALL OF DREAMS (Lemon Drop Kid), SIR FOR SURE (Sligo Bay (Ire) and DANCIN IN DA’NILE (Pioneerof the Nile) were also behind Moira in the Plate and will try to scoop the Breeders’ as will Prince of Wales Stakes winner DUKE OF LOVE (Cupid) and a couple of newcomers to the Triple Crown series, LAC MACAZA (Giant Gizmo) and GASTON (Hard Spun).
Those five are the main contenders in the Breeders’ and three of them are making their turf debuts.
HALL OF DREAMS was second in the Plate and this stretch-running fellow, trained by Mark Casse for Gary Barber, Peter Deutsch, Wachtel Stable and Leonard Schleifer, was kept out of the Prince of Wales in order to prepare for the Breeders’.
“We breezed Hall of Dreams on the dirt before the Prince of Wales, and just felt that he handled it okay,” said Casse. “He’s bred up and down for the grass, so we decided to bypass the race for the Breeders’ and he’s trained very well for it.”
Lemon Drop Kid, the sire of Hall of Dreams, is a noted turf sire and the dam Hallnor has produced a grass winner and is a half-sister to turf stakes winners.
Sir for Sure, owned and bred by Hester Sport, was third in the Plate and one of the favourites for the Prince of Wales but the gelding lost rider Declan Carroll early in the race after some jostling.
“The original plan was to run Sir for Sure in the Prince of Wales, and we all know how that went,” said Casse. “But he came out of it fine. The biggest thing we do know about the Breeders’ is that both Sir for Sure and Hall of Dreams will relish the mile and a half. That’s a big factor as far as turf goes. You just don’t know for sure. Both their breeding says turf, but what the breeding says and what they do can be two different things. They’re both doing well heading into the race and hopefully they both have a good race on Sunday.”
Sam-Son farms’ Dancin in Da’Nile ran well in his 2022 debut which came on turf and had a good rally in the Plate after getting too far behind in the early stages.
“I think he got really far back,” said trainer Gail Cox, of the Plate trip. “He was behind, got stuck in traffic and really couldn’t go anywhere, so it left him with a lot to do at the end. He did come with a nice late rush, he came out of the race really well, and he’s been training well heading into this one.”
Dancin in Da’nile has six career starts under his saddle, highlighted by a victory in his career bow on August 29, 2021, and a second in the Coronation Futurity last October.
The colt was fourth in his first try over the grass, in his second start, the Cup and Saucer Stakes, a 1 1/6-mile test over yielding ground that saw Dancin in Da’nile close well after encountering traffic trouble at the head of the E.P. Taylor.
On June 12, in his 3-year-old debut, he took on 10 foes in a 1 1/6-mile allowance race on Woodbine’s Inner Turf, and finished third, three-quarters of a length behind the winner.
“I think he loves the turf. The race this year was his first start back against older horses and he did get bounced around at the top of the lane. I don’t think it [mile and a half distance] will be an issue. It’s far, but I think he can handle it. He’s a much more mature horse now. He’s more focused. He’s always handled everything well, which is something that has remained the same.”
LAC MACAZA comes off a close 4th place finish in the Toronto Cup at one mile on turf. The Julia Carey-trained gelding is a stretch runner for Goldie Stables and Discovery Racing and he won three straight Tapeta races as a 2-year-old last year.
The improving Gaston just won his maiden on the turf for X-men Racing and Madaket Stables and he is trained by Kevin Attard.
“He’s a nice little horse,” said Attard. “He ran well first time out and then came back with somewhat of a letdown performance in his second start. We tried him on the turf, which he’s bred for, and he ran a good second that day. It was actually on Queen’s Plate day when he broke his maiden. He’s a horse that’s bred to run the mile and a half distance, so we’re excited. He definitely gets over the turf very well. He relaxes well and he waits for the rider to ask him, then kicks in. In a race like this, you need a horse with that running style.”
Post time is set for 1:10 p.m. ET, with the Breeders’ Stakes scheduled as the ninth race (approximately 5:38 p.m. ET). The race will be broadcast live from 5:00 p.m. to 6:00 p.m. ET on TSN2.
FIELD FOR THE BREEDERS’ STAKES (RACE 9)
Post – Horse – Jockey – Trainer
1 – Lac Macaza – Luis Contreras – Julia Carey
2 – Gaston – Kazushi Kimura – Kevin Attard
3 – Hall of Dreams – Patrick Husbands – Mark Casse
4 – Ice Road – Jason Hoyte – Mike Dunslow
5 – Shamateur – Sahin Civaci – Sid Attard
6 – Collaborative – Leo Salles – Ravendra Raghunath
7 – Dancin in Da’nile – Rafael Hernandez – Gail Cox
8 – Duke of Love – Justin Stein – Josie Carroll
9 – Sir for Sure – Declan Carroll – Mark Casse
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