Down Time: Kevin Attard Stays Put for The Winter

Kevin Attard has not slowed down much since the 2024 Woodbine racing season ended in mid-December, but Canada’s second-leading trainer by purses and third by wins is hoping to have some downtime soon.

Attard recently returned from a trip to New York where he saddled stakes winner Mansetti for the Jerome Stakes at Aqueduct. The Ontario-bred three-year-old was one of several pace types in the one mile race over a dirt track that was very tiring for horses throughout last weekend. Mansetti wound up fifth and will now rest up for a Canadian campaign.

Attard began 2025 with Hammerhead, who finished a close second in the Dania Beach Stakes at Gulfstream Park on the Tapeta.

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Overall in 2024, Attard’s horses earned over $6.4 million, a career best which was reached with some help from his superstar Moira, who won the $2 million Breeders’ Cup Filly & Mare Turf at Del Mar. Attard’s runners won 14 stakes, matching his previous best earned in 2023.

And Attard was hoping to keep a string of horses racing during the winter at Laurel Park in Maryland, but plans fell through and instead he is overseeing some 80 horses at nearby Trinity Farm (the former Gardiner Farm) in Caledon East.

“I haven’t slowed down much,” said Attard. “We have horses at the farm and they all needed to be fed on Christmas Day.” Other star runners from the trainer’s barn in 2024 are in Ocala or Kentucky for some ‘R & R’.

Attard reflected on last season with Canadian Thoroughbred this week, grateful for his owners, their horses and his staff. He’s missing Moira, who is on her way to Australia for her new owners, but is excited that the Canadian mare is favoured to be named the Eclipse Award-winning Turf Female at the ceremony on January 23 in Florida.

“Even when she was not in the barn at times during the past few years, there were always daily conversations about her,” said Attard. “She was never a robust filly and keeping weight on her was always a conversation.”

There are plenty of horses to keep Attard’s attention in this new year, however. His King’s Plate winner, Caitlinhergrtness, currently resting up at WinStar Farms in Kentucky, can be a top older mare in Canada in 2025. Of his litany of newly-turned three-year-olds, he is excited about Dewolf, the Silent Name (Jpn) colt, a stakes winner of last season.

“I’m hoping he physically makes a move from two to three and be the right horse for the classics. I don’t think he found that killer instinct as a two-year-old, but I’m hopeful he does going forward.”

We stayed away from a conversation about his chances to win his first Sovereign Award for Outstanding Trainer in Canada (voting begins later this week), but certainly the Breeders’ Cup and Plate wins should be enough for Attard to achieve that goal, even with Mark Casse setting a record for the most stakes wins in a Woodbine season.

And last year was not the easiest to navigate for any horseperson – owner, trainer, groom, etc. – with unprecedented situations arising throughout the year. Heavy rain and a storm wound up halting the King’s Plate race day in August and the race was held on the following Friday. Later in the season, Woodbine’s main track came under scrutiny when almost a dozen horses suffered breakdowns or serious injuries on the Tapeta.

“To win the King’s Plate this year was incredible and I can appreciate how hard a race it is to win. Unfortunately, Woodbine got unlucky with the weather. And then holding the race on a Friday, it lost a lot of its pizazz. ”

Attard had a couple of horses injured on the Tapeta in the fall, but praised Woodbine staff for getting the Tapeta representatives to Ontario to inspect and work on the track. “There were five weeks there that put a real dim picture on our racing, but year after year Woodbine has the best record for safety. By the end of the season the track was in good shape.”

Attard is entering his 25th year as a trainer, and in six weeks, his runners will once again begin to ship back into Woodbine. “We’re hoping to have a family trip first, relax for a bit.” He also plans to head to Florida for a visit as his trainer/father Tino will be there.

Woodbine opens the backstretch on February 24. A proposed opening day is April 26.