Trainer Mark Casse and his Woodbine team added three more stakes wins (all graded) to their local total on June 29 on a Canada Day Festival of racing and one of them, ESSEX SERPENT (Honor Code), was winning a stakes race for the first time. Named for a popular novel/mini series, Essex Serpent not only won the Marine Stakes (G3) well, but jumped up to near the top of the contenders’ list for the 165th King’s Plate in 53 days.
Owned and bred by Manfred and Penny Conrad of Wellesley, ON, Essex Serpent and jockey Patrick Husbands tracked speedy Babbo (winner of the Coronation Futurity last year) early in the 1 1/16 mile Marine Stakes through fractions of :23.45, :47.14, 1:10.69 over a Tapeta track that played fast and not kindly to stretch runners all day. Husbands didn’t actually wait until the three-quarters were run before he let his bright bay gelding zoom past Babbo to take the lead into the final turn.
In front turning for home, Essex Serpent was being pursued by American invader Cameo Performance, one of a slew of runners sent to Woodbine on Saturday by trainer Brendan Walsh. Behind that one, Chiefswood Stables’ heavily-favoured Pipers Factor, fresh off a big allowance win with an 85 Beyer Speed Figure as projected by Daily Racing Form, was under a hard ride by Kazushi Kimura but falling back. Another Conrad three-year-old, Midnight Mascot, was rolling from far off the pace.
Essex Serpent held everyone off in his one-length win at 5-to-1, stopping the teletimer in 1:43.03.. Cameo Performance finished one length ahead of a charming Midnight Mascot and jockey Sahin Civaci.
This was just the third career start for Essex Serpent who did not make his career debut until April 27, winning a 5 1/2 furlong dash. He came back to be second to his more heralded stablemate, MY BOY PRINCE, the current Plate favourite, in the Queenston Stakes at seven furlongs.
“Essex Serpent and Midnight Mascot go to the Plate now,” said Casse. “My Boy Prince will contest the Plate Trial on July 20.”
The Conrads, owned of Cora Group real estate developers and well-known philanthropists in Ontario, have yet to win the Plate, but have had some nice horses. Shamrock Rose won the 2018 Breeders’ Cup Filly and Mare Sprint for the couple.
Essex Serpent is a son of the vastly underrated stallon Honor Code, who was standing in Kentucky before being sent off to Japan last year. The Conrads, through agent Zach Madden, bought Essex Serpent’s dam Eileen’s Girl carrying Honor Code for $55,000 at the 2021 Keeneland January Sale. Eileen’s Girl, a $280,000 yearling purchase, is by Medaglia D’Oro from Ciao and she won two of 10 career races.
Ciao, winner of the Caressing and Indian Maid Stakes, is the dam of Summer Stakes (G2) winner Untamed Domain. The Conrads sold Eileen’s Girl in 2022 for $7,000. The mare has a two-year-old by Spun to Run named Mattoe’s Girl in training at Woodbine and a yearling by Cairo Prince foaled in the US.
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Selene Stakes (G3)
SABATINI (Uncle Mo) stayed close to the early pace and tucked in on the rail before powering past fellow three-year-old fillies to win this $150,000 race at 1 1/16 miles for LNJ Foxwoods and NK Racing and trainer Josie Carroll. The Selene, like the Marine, is an open race and there were only two Canadian-breds eligible for the Woodbine Oaks in the field; both were unplaced.
Sabatini, who won her maiden in the Star Shoot Stakes the second time out in her career, was second to Gary Barber’s Witwatrsrand in the Ruling Angel Stakes on May 18. Facing that filly again (the champion two-year-old filly in Canada last year), Sabatini was 9-to-2 under apprentice Sofia Vives while Witwatrsrand was 3-to-5.
But Sabatini was not far off the pace on a track that played fast and conducive to pace runners and stalkers all day and won handily in 1:43.07. CRevalle d’Oro was second for the Mark Casse team while the favourite came from far back to be third. Sabatini was a $625,000 Two-year-old in Training purchase from the 2023 Fasig-Tipton MidAtlantic Sale. She was bred in Florida by Bridlewood Stable.
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