Conquest Tsunami blew away the competition with a scintillating 7 3/4-length score in Saturday’s $154,500 Victoria Stakes, at Woodbine.
Trained by Mark Casse for the Conquest Stables of Ernie Semersky and Dory Newell, Conquest Tsunami broke sharply and never looked back winning the five furlong ‘Poly’ stake for two-year-olds in hand under Patrick Husbands.
The bay son of Stormy Atlantic-Classic Neel, bred in Ontario by Josham Farms and Yvonne Schwabe Thoroughbreds, brought $190,000 at the Keeneland September Yearling Sale and looked full value in taking his first stakes score covering five furlongs in :57.91.
Conquest Tsunami debuted on April 25 at Keeneland winning a 4 1/2-furlong maiden allowance tilt by 6 1/4-lengths in :51.06. With four local works under his belt in preparation for the Victoria Stakes, the betting public correctly made the colt the 2-5 betting choice.
A claim of foul by Chantal Sutherland Kruse, jockey of rallying runner-up Honkeytonk Man, for interference at the break when Conquest Tsunami broke outward was disallowed by the stewards.
“He broke hard but Chantal’s horse left a step slow, so it probably looked a little worse than it was. He did it pretty easy,” said Husbands. “It’s amazing to sit on horses like this that make you look good.”
Semersky and Newell were in attendance for the colt’s impressive Canadian debut.
“We think we’ve got a lot of Canadian horses that are real special this year and you’ll see a few of those two-year-olds running here (at Woodbine). We really love it up here,” said Semersky.
Conquest Tsunami banked $100,000 in victory while maintaining a perfect record through two career starts.
He returned $2.90 and $2.10, pairing with Honkeytonk Man ($5.70) for a $26.10 (3-4) exactor. A 3-4-1 (R U Watchingbud) triactor was worth $86.30. Conquest Typhoon was scratched.
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