Woodbine’s leading trainer, Mark Casse, and leading owner, John Oxley, will look to Dynamic Sky to deliver a win in Sunday’s Grade 1 turf classic.
Dynamic Sky, a four-year-old son of Sky Mesa, heads into the 1 ½-mile event off a sparkling effort in the Grade 1 Northern Dancer Stakes, on September 14.
Dismissed at odds of 24-1, the Ontario-bred, who finished third in last year’s Queen’s Plate, rallied strongly to finish second, just a half-length behind at the wire.
The result came on the heels of a fifth-place showing in the Grade 2 Sky Classic Stakes on August 16, a performance that confounded Casse.
“I wasn’t quite sure what to expect,” said Casse, of the Northern Dancer, a race won by Sheikhzayedroad. “I was very disappointed in the previous start (fifth in the Sky Classic). “I expected him to win that race. I knew he had it in him to run a good race in the Northern Dancer, so we were very pleased with his effort.”
In 18 starts, Dynamic Sky has four wins, four seconds and four thirds, along with $703,738 in purse earnings.
The colt will be reunited with Patrick Husbands, the Toronto oval’s leading rider, for Sunday’s race.
“When the horse breezed ahead of the race, Patrick couldn’t wait to call me,” noted Casse. “He wanted to talk about him. He said that’s the best he’s ever been.”
Dynamic Sky has two seconds and one third in four lifetime tries on the E.P. Taylor Turf Course.
Romans Bullish On O’Prado Ole
Donegal Racing’s O’Prado Ole will make his first trek across the border for Sunday’s $1-million Pattison Canadian International.
The chestnut son of English Channel-Mexican Moonlight has posted a record of 2-1-2 from 12 career starts while managing to hook some of the toughest turfers in the business including Main Sequence, Jack Milton and International rivals The Pizza Man and Suntracer.
After a pair of narrow neck scores from two sophomore starts, O’Prado Ole has really come into his own in a four-year-old campaign that includes a second-place finish in the Grade 3 Stars and Stripes and a fourth-place run in the Grade 3 Kentucky Turf Cup.
“He’s a horse that’s running well. His second at Arlington proved he could be a stakes horse running marathon distances. He’ll find a group he can outrun,” said Romans. “I think he can be a victim of pace at times. He’s not one to control a race but if the pace goes right for him he’s going to be tough.”
On O’Prado Ole’s tendency to win by the narrowest of margins, Romans says, “That’s turf racing for you. He always trained like a good horse but it just took him awhile to put everything together. He broke his maiden on the grass and he’s bred for the grass right up to the top.”
Romans isn’t too concerned with rain in the forecast this week at Woodbine and he expects the chestnut to be prominent once again while facing familiar foes.
“I don’t think it matters to him (firm or soft turf). He hasn’t shown me a true preference one way or the other,” said Romans. “Either way, I think he’s at his best laying fairly close.”
EARLY LOOK AT THE PATTISON CANADIAN INTERNATIONAL (9)
Horse / Trainer / Owner / Jockey
Big Blue Kitten / Chad Brown / Ken & Sarah Ramsey / Joel Rosario
Brown Panther / Tom Dascombe / A Black & Owen Promotions Ltd / Richard Kingscote
Dynamic Sky / Mark Casse / John Oxley / Patrick Husbands
Hillstar / Sir Michael Stoute / Sir Evelyn De Rothschild / Ryan Moore
O’Prado Ole / Dale Romans / Donegal Racing / TBA
Reporting Star / Pat Parente / Copper Water Thoroughbred Company / Justin Stein
Suntracer / Chris Block / Team Block / Carlos Marquez Jr.
The Pizza Man / Roger Brueggemann / Midwest Thoroughbreds Inc. / Florent Geroux
War Dancer / Kenneth McPeek / Diamond M Stable / Luis Contreras
EARLY LOOK AT THE E.P. TAYLOR (10)
Horse / Trainer / Jockey
ANGEL TERRACE/JONATHAN SHEPPARD/FLORENT GEROUX
DECEPTIVE VISION/MALCOLM PIERCE/EURICO DA SILVA
EYEFUL/ANDRE FABRE/FLAVIEN PRAT
JUST THE JUDGE /CHARLIE HILLS/JAMIE SPENCER
MERI SHIKA /ROGER ATTFIELD/EMMA-JAYNE WILSON
ODELIZ /KARL BURKE/RYAN MOORE
ROYAL FURY/BRIAN LYNCH/TBA
WALL OF SOUND /TOM DASCOMBE/RICHARD KINGSCOTE
WATSDACHANCES /CHAD BROWN/TBA
WHITE ROSE/BILL MOTT/TBA
EARLY LOOK AT THE GRADE 2 NEARCTIC STAKES (8)
Horse / Trainer / Jockey
Big Blue Spirit / Darrin Miller / TBA
Black Hornet / Pat Parente / Justin Stein
Calgary Cat / Kevin Attard / Eurico Rosa da Silva
Caspar Netscher / David Simcock / Ryan Moore
Dreamsgonewild / Bruce Alexander / Trevor McCarthy
Excaper / Ian Black / Emma-Jayne Wilson
Paso Doble / Mark Fournier / David Moran
Stormy Rush / Lorne Richards / TBA
Weather Report
Environment Canada is calling for a mix of sun and cloud on Pattison Canadian International day with a low of 5 degrees Celsius (41 Fahrenheit) and a high of 12 degrees Celsius (53 Fahrenheit). There is a 30 percent chance of showers.
Post Times
The Pattison Canadian International, contested at 1 ½ miles over the E.P. Taylor Turf Course, will go as Race Six (3:32 p.m. EDT) on Sunday as part of a live national broadcast on TSN from 3:00 to 4:00 p.m. The $300,000 Grade 2 Nearctic Stakes, a six furlong turf sprint for three-year-olds and upwards is set for Race 8, while the $500,000 Grade 1 E.P. Taylor Stakes for fillies and mares is slated as Race 10.
The post position draw will be streamed live on CanadianInternational.Com on Thursday October 16 at 12 p.m. with Toronto Maple Leaf legend Wendel Clark in attendance as the draw master. Follow Clark on Twitter @WendelClark17.
For more information on the field and contenders, visit CanadianInternational.Com and follow the conversation on Twitter using the official #WoIntl hashtag.
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