British Royalty Reigns in 130th Breeders' Stakes at 24-to-1

In the rain on soft turf at Woodbine, the bay gelding BRITISH ROYALTY reigned over fellow 3-year-olds in the 130th Breeders’ Stakes, the final jewel of the Canadian Triple Crown, sponsored by OLG. The Ontario-bred fellow was 24-to-1 and drew off from his rivals in the stretch run under a jubilant Patrick Husbands to win by four lengths for owners Bruce Lunsford and Barbara Minshall, who also trains. Richard Lister bred the son of English Channel – Queen Martha by Rahy and sold him as a 2-year-old for $30,000 at the Fasig-Tipton February Winter Sale in 2020.

While British Royalty was a longshot in the 12-horse field, it was not much of a surprise that the 1 1/2 mile Breeders’ was one again going to yield an unusual result, especially since the E P Taylor turf course was soaked by rain. Queen’s Plate winner SAFE CONDUCT had bypassed the Prince of Wales Stakes to train for the Breeders’ on his favourite surface, but the handsome colt owned by Robert Vukovich’s Wellspring Stables was not looking for ‘off’ turf.

Fans at Woodbine were leery, too, and made Stronach Stables’ RIPTIDE ROCK the slight 5-to-2 favourite off his second-place finish in the Plate and third-place finish in the Toronto Cup Stakes on turf.

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It was Safe Conduct and jockey Emma-Jayne Wilson who predictably went to the front early in the Breeders’, as Haddassah, the Prince of Wales winner in second, and Keep Grinding in third, kept close tabs on the leader. Husbands had British Royalty comfortably settled in seventh spot through an opening quarter in :25.00.

The Plate winner continued to call the shots through a half-mile reached in :51.53 as Collective Force, now second, shadowed the pacesetter’s every move. Husbands guided British Royalty into sixth spot, as the gelding and Riptide Rock started to gain momentum on the frontrunners.

Safe Conduct soon found himself under siege from both sides, as Collective Force battled on gamely, and British Royalty found another gear, blasting to the lead and holding a one-length advantage on a surging Riptide Rock at Robert Geller’s stretch call reached in 2:09.05.

At the wire, British Royalty was well clear. Riptide Rock (Point of Entry) and Collective Force (Tiznow), second and third respectively, were well ahead of their nearest rivals. Harlan Estate was fourth in the race contested over yielding ground. The final time was 2:34.00.

Daily Racing Form gave British Royalty a 92 Beyer Speed Figure, 20 points higher than his previous top.

It was a big win, a satisfying victory for Minshall and her assistant trainer Chad Elder and the team.

“I thought about this race when I first had this horse,” said Minshall. And British Royalty looked like a good one when he won his career debut October 11, 2020 at one mile and 70 yards on the Tapeta.

Minshall, the only woman trainer to receive a Sovereign Award for Outstanding Trainer in Canada, was having a lean season mostly due to the difficulties of organizing a stable during the Covid-19 lockdown that delayed racing in Ontario.

She is fully invested in horse racing in this province, not just as a trainer, but as an owner and a breeder of her own horses. She had some horses race in Florida, New York and Kentucky in the first few months of 2021 and saw Designer Ready and Diamond Ore place in stakes.

But come mid-July, the Minshall stable had just two wins at Woodbine. British Royalty was out of sorts as he caught a sloppy track he hated at Keeneland in April, had a tough trip in a grass race at Churchill, and then raced erratically in an allowance race on Tapeta for Queen’s Plate hopefuls.

Minshall dropped British Royalty into a $25,000 claiming race on the turf on July 11. He finished second by half a length and was claimed by trainer John Charalambous.

“I don’t know what happened that day when I put him in for a quarter. I was looking to win a race. I was upset when I did that after the fact, but that’s racing.”

British Royalty appeared in a $40,000 claiming race on turf just 13 days later.

“I couldn’t get a claim slip in fast enough.”

The gelding finished fourth when she claimed him back and then eighth in a 1 1/4 mile turf race on September 5. Minshall put blinkers back on the bay for the Breeders’.

“Everything about this horse said he would go long on the turf and if you look at his race lines he has had a troubled trip every race.”

How much faith did she have in British Royalty? Just a few weeks ago at the Keeneland September yearling sale Minshall paid $30,000 for the horse’s yearling full brother.

PEDIGREE NOTES: British Royalty’s dam QUEEN MARTHA won two races in England on turf and was third in the Lady’s Secret Stakes on dirt at Monmouth Park. Queen Martha, a foal of 2006, was a half-sister to Grade 3 turf stakes winner Clearly a Queen, and a host of other winners.

She was purchased for $330,000 in 2011 in foal to Medaglia D’Oro and in 2016 was sold to Lister for $40,000 in foal to Carpe Diem. The Medaglia D’Oro colt, Geologist, won three races, as did her third foal, Hard to Deny, an allowance runner at Emerald Downs this year.

For Lister, Queen Martha produced a colt by Carpe Diem that he could not sell for $32,000 and $19,000 as a weanling and yearling respectively. Named Prince Martheus, the horse was unplaced in six races in 2020.

British Royalty followed and in 2019 the mare produced Too Much Talk, a full brother to the Breeders’ winner. That youngster sold a year ago at the 2020 Fasig Tipton Winter Sale as a short yearling for $12,000 to Richard Hogan. Lister reportedly sold Queen Martha at the same sale for $16,000 in foal to English Channel to White Hart and that is the yearling that Minshall now owns. Queen Martha produced a colt by Audible this year and was bred to Goldencents.