Patience in the world of horse racing is valuable and once again, for Chiefswood Stable, it paid off for another of its well-bred horses.
BOREALIS TRAIL (Quality Road), trained by Rachel Halden, was brought along slowly with an eye to the classic Breeders’ Stakes last month. It was a plan that almost worked when the bay three-year-old gelding was second in the 1 1/2 mile race.
The Breeders’ was only the fifth start for Borealis Trail, who then switched back to Tapeta to take on the first two winners of the Canadian Triple Crown races in the October 18 Ontario Derby (G3).
The Ontario Derby, at 1 1/8 miles, appeared to be a two-horse race between King’s Plate hero Mansetti and Prince of Wales upsetter Runaway Again. There was just one other stakes winner in the field of seven and that was 2024 Champion two-year-old colt He’s Not Joking, coming off a seven-month layoff.
Sent off at 6-to-1, Borealis Trail and jockey Jose Campos were quickly in last place out of the gate as Mansetti and Runaway Again went one-two around the first turn. After half a mile, Mansetti and jockey Pietro Moran had a clear lead through 49.43 and 113.32. Runaway Again started to drop back into the last turn, while Tracy Farmer’s Special Session was the first to try to move, albeit after racing very wide throughout. Wagstaff was even wider and tried to rally, but that pair stalled.
Inside the final two furlongs, as Mansetti continued to lead, Borealis Trail had been guided to the rail on the turn and was gaining. Tipped off the rail into the stretch, Borealis Trail got to Mansetti, made a late switch to his proper lead, and drew off to win by two lengths in 1:50.88. Mansetti held second with Wagstaff third. Runaway Again, owned by Stronach Stables, stopped abruptly and finished last.
The progression of Borealis Trail was very similar to that of Chiefswood’s 2023 Ontario Derby winner (through disqualification) Touch’n Ride, a late developer who won the Breeders’ Stakes that season before he was edged by Solo Album in the Ontario Derby.
The Ontario Derby was one of three winners for jockey Campos on Saturday.
“I think he’s an excellent horse,” praised Campos. “He’s a super horse. Rachel is doing an excellent job with the horse. He’s a difficult horse to train, and he’s doing good.”
“So I tried to save ground in the first part, and when I asked [him] to go, the horse just flew.”
Halden, who sent out Aristella to win the Wonder Where Stakes on the turf in late summer, believed fans thought Borealis Trail was strictly a grass horse and thus let him go at 6-to-1.
“I think looking at his form, and I was kind of looking at the betting, I think everyone was sort of following that, thinking of him probably as a turf horse, because that’s when he kind of came around,” said Halden. “But if you go back to his first race here on the Tapeta, it was very solid. We just went the turf route because we were thinking about the Breeders’, but he’s proved today that he can definitely handle this surface, too.”
Borealis Trail is the latest stakes winner for top US sire Quality Road and the second stakes winner for his dam Aurora Lights, a Grade 3 winner for Chiefswood of the Selene and Sabin Stakes. Aurora Lights, by Pulpit, produced four winners before her 2020 foal Simcoe, a multiple Grade 3 stakes-winning sprinter and a contender for a Sovereign Award this year.
Mansetti wrapped up his Sovereign Award for Champion three-year-old colt with a solid effort to go along with his Plate, Marine Stakes (G3) and Woodstock Stakes wins. Trained by Kevin Attard for Al and Bill Ulwelling, the son of Collected is now 10-5-2-0 in his career, with just over $777,000 (USD) in earnings.
More News
