Calgary Cat went from claimer to graded stakes winner with an energetic stretch run to capture Saturday’s Grade 3 $150,000 Bold Venture Stakes, at Woodbine.
Trained by Kevin Attard and patiently ridden by Eurico Rosa da Silva, Calgary Cat was last out of the gate in a field of 11 but improved position steadily along the rail as Bear No Joke sped a scintillating half in :44.47 in the 6 1/2-furlong ‘Poly’ tilt.
Black Hornet made a menacing move through the turn but could not maintain his run as da Silva guided Calgary Cat inside of Black Hornet as the field straightened away to score a three-length win. Bear No Joke stayed on strong for place money 1 1/4-lengths in front of Black Hornet who won a six-horse show photo by a nose. Calgary Cat covered 6 1/2-furlongs in 1:14.91.
It was Calgary Cat’s fourth victory in five attempts this season, arriving at the Bold Venture off a sweeping score in a grassy allowance event on August 24.
“He has tactical speed and he followed the race pretty easy,” said da Silva. “When you ask him he gives a very strong kick. He did on the turf last time and today he had a very strong kick.”
Da Silva’s patient steer paid off down the lane.
“I was concerned on the turn that maybe I need to take him outside a little bit, but when I saw the number five (Black Hornet) getting tired I thought that was the place to go as I had a little bit of room inside. It worked out,” said da Silva.
Calgary Cat made his career debut as the favourite in the Colin Stakes on July 14, 2012 finishing fifth after a troubled trip when trained by Mark Casse for John Oxley. The Cowtown Cat chestnut made seven starts for his original owners winning twice, before being claimed by Attard and owners Stephen Chesney and Cory Hoffman out of a second-place finish on November 15.
Following the claim, Calgary Cat has steadily improved winning three of five starts going into the Bold Venture where he realized the early promise that made him the favourite on that career debut.
Calgary Cat, bred in Ontario by WinStar Farm LLC, earned $90,000 in victory while improving his career mark to 6-3-0 from 13 starts.
He paid $14.50, $7.20 and $5, combining with Bear No Joke ($7.50, $5.30) for a $104.70 (2-1) exactor. A 2-1-5 (Black Hornet, $3.70) triactor was worth $501.50, while a $1 Superfecta [2-1-5-8 (Alpha Bettor)] came back $1009.75.
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