Just four years after taking out her trainer’s license, Laura Krasauskaite had the thrill of a lifetime when her own filly SILENT CAUSEWAY (Silent Name (Jpn) – Good Religion by Giant’s Causeway) powered to victory in the $100,800 La Prevoyante Stakes at Woodbine on December 4.
Purchased at the 2018 CTHS Ontario yearling sale for just $4,000 from breeder Michael Deegan and consignor Bernard McCormack, Silent Causeway was trying stakes company for only the second time, having missed by a nose in last year’s Algoma Stakes.
Flanked by her two daughters, Krasauskaite had her first post-stakes win interview with Jeff Bratt of Woodbine following the thrilling victory by her big filly.
“This is amazing… I’m still shaking. I can’t believe that I won a stakes race. It was so close last year, so close, but this year we finally did it. Closing the season with a stakes win is an amazing feeling.”
Sent off as the 9-2 third choice in the field of 10, Silent Causeway was at the back of the pack into the first turn when some jostling between two rivals required some quick manoeuvering from jockey Justin Stein.
It was Silver Dahlia and Summer Sunday, along with a host of others, who tussled for the early lead, with the former holding a head advantage over the latter through an opening quarter-mile timed in :24.23, with Silent Causeway sitting last.
Summer Sunday, the multiple stakes-winning champion contesting her final race before heading to Ireland to become a broodmare, then took over top spot and guided her rivals through a half-mile in :47.72, as Silent Causeway moved into ninth spot.
November Fog, the slight 2-1 choice, engaged Summer Sunday around the turn for home and soon struck front while Stein had his charge rolling down the lane.
Fourth and gaining at the stretch call in 1:38.59, Silent Causeway went on to notch a two-length victory in a time of 1:45.62. November Fog was second, and Golden Vision was third. Summer Sunday was fifth.
“Going into the first turn, there was a little bit of trouble for a horse in front of me,” stated Stein. “It almost unseated the rider and I had to kind of anticipate maybe riding around a spill, but we adjusted and worked out a trip from there.”
“She’s got a lot of talent and a lot of heart,” said Stein. “When she comes over, she’s happy. She’s really effective. She shows up every time.”
Krasauskaite, who owns all her trainees, is from the capitol of Lithuania, Vilnius, and that is where she fell in love with horses. She rode horses, studied about horses and did some jumping, but found that horse sport was a bit “boring.”
When her family moved to Canada and bought a house in Etobicoke in 1998, the first horses she saw that year were at Woodbine racetrack. She worked as an exercise rider for 20 years for trainers such as John McKenzie and bought her first horse for $500. Sweet Shobiz was a difficult filly who would not train or go to the gate for her owners and Krasauskaite bought her as a project. The filly finished second for her and that lead to the purchase of a yearling in 2016, Vision of Future, her first winner as owner.
That is when she decided to study for her trainer’s test. “It was not easy, being a single mother of two,” said Krasauskaite, whose children are now seven and 10. “But I had a lot of support from my mother. I studied everything I could about horses, inside and outside, their mentality, what they like, who they are, everything.”
Regarding the 2018 CTHS sale purchase, Krasauskaite said, “Actually, I bought her blind. I saw the bloodline (in the catalogue); I said ‘well, that is nice bloodlines.’ The mare never ran and her children had not shown a lot, but I decided to gamble because it was Silent Name (Jpn).
“I just liked the way she looked, her attitude and how proud she was [in the ring].. The price was affordable so I closed my eyes and bought her.”
Silent Causeway has now earned over $175,000 with a record of 15-3-5-1.
Party time for Artie
One of the 2021 Woodbine season’s top 3-year-olds, ARTIE’S STORM, won his second consecutive stakes win of his career when he charged to a 1 1/4 lengths win in the $101,200 Steady Growth Stakes a race before the La Prevoyante. Both stakes races at Woodbine on Dec. 4 were 1 1/16 mile events for Ontario-sired older horses.
Owned by trainer Paul Buttigieg’s Buttigieg Training Centre and ridden by David Moran, Artie’s Storm settled in md-pack behind a modest pace set by heavily favoured Secret Reserve and jockey Rafael Hernandez. Gail Hughes’ Magical Man, who had been stalking the pace, went to the lead on the final turn but was soon overhauled by Artie’s Storm who went on to the win. Full Extreme, owned by Derek Chin, rallied for second with Magical Man third. The time was 1:44.04.
Artie’s Storm is a son of the late We Miss Artie from the mare Tiz Stormy Now by Tiznow and he was bred by Sunrise Farm. He is the sixth foal of his placed dam who has produced winners Conquer Him and Stormy Egbert for Buttigieg.
Artie’s Storm has four wins in nine career races including the Lake Ontario Stakes in his previous race. He was third in the Grade 3 Ontario Derby, and Greenwood Stakes, and second in the Toronto Cup and Queenston Stakes. He puts his name on the list for Champion Three-Year-Old in Canada and has earned $279,000.
Artie’s Storm scores his second stakes win in the Steady Growth Stakes for Paul Buttigieg – Michael Burns photo
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