The Canadian Triple Crown wraps up on Sunday, September 27 with the 1 1/2 mile Breeders’ Stakes for $400,000 at Woodbine. Only six horses were entered, and both the King’s Plate winner, Luster, and Prince of Wales winner, Military Time, are passing on the third jewel of the Crown.
The filly KATIE’S GRACE, by Independence Hall, figures to be the fan’s choice for the Breeders’ and it makes sense since her trainer, Catherine Day Phillips, has plenty of experience racing and winning the turf marathon. Day Phillips has won two Breeders’ Stakes with Jambalaya in 2005 and A Bit o’Gold in 2004. The latter’s win marked the first time a woman trainer had won the Canadian classic.
Since then, Debbie England saddled Marlang to win the Breeders for owner Gus Schickedanz in 2008, Josie Carroll has won two Breeders’ and Barbara Minshall and Rachel Halden are more recent winning trainers.
And fillies have had no trouble beating the boys in the Breeders’; in fact, the first of 136 winners of the race was a distaffer, HELEN LEIGH.
Vrana won it in 1924 (at Old Woodbine), of course, not to be confused with Sarah Ritchie’s mare who won at Woodbine last week, Vrana (Ire). Queensway won the Breeders’ to wrap up the Triple Crown (although it was not known by that name at the time) and the great MONA BELL won the 1 11/16 mile Breeders’ in 1938 for Cosgrave Stable, owned by E.P. Taylor.
Fillies won the Breeders’ six times in the 1970s and 80s. Those include greats such as BELLE GESTE, CAROTENE, DANCE SMARTLY, etc.
There wasn’t a better grass horse – male or female – in Canada in the early 1970s than Belle Geste. The long-striding filly dominated turf racing at Woodbine and Fort Erie. Owned by Beatrice and Bill Latimer of Toronto and trained by Carl Chapman, the daughter of The Scoundrel-French Safari was bred by Jim Boylen and was purchased at the 1969 CTHS yearling sales for $7,000. She retired following the 1972 season with a career record of 22 wins, 11 seconds and two show finishes from 41 starts. Eight of her wins came in stakes races.
Nicknamed “Lana Turner” by her effervescent trainer “Chappie”, the grass-loving filly excelled in stakes races against the males. They brought out the best in her as she ran long and extremely fast, as evidenced by her track records in the Marshall Turf Course in the 1971 Breeders’ Stakes and the 1972 Canadian Maturity. Her win in the Maturity was certainly one of the greatest duels ever witnessed at Woodbine. The robust filly and Queen’s Plate winner Kennedy Road hooked up coming out of the gate in the 1 1/4-mile event and it was basically a match-race between them as they ran in tandem for 10 furlongs. At the wire it was Belle Geste and jockey Noel Turcotte by a neck. Her record clocking of 2:01 2/5 stood until 1988.
In 1971, Belle Geste set the Woodbine 1 1/2-mile record with her victory over the boys in the Breeders’ Stakes, a mark that stood for 20 years. She also whipped the boys in the Niagara Stakes at Fort Erie. Her other stakes wins came in the prestigious Nettie (now called the E.P. Taylor), Canadian, International Handicap and back-to-back runnings of the Nassau Stakes.
One of her greatest races came in defeat when she lost by a neck to North American grass champion Droll Role in the Canadian International.
Thoroughbreds aren’t made like they were back then, but now and then fillies arise to win tough races against the boys.
Katie’s Grace, bred by Sherry McLean’s Northern Dawn Stables and Sandy Giffen of Buttigieg Training Centre, has won twice in nine races including the Bison City Stakes on Tapeta. She made her grass debut in the 1 1/4 mile Wonder Where Stakes on Sept. 6 and was second by a neck.
Katie’s Grace comes by her love for grass and long distances honestly since her dam, Bella Joy, is by US champion turfer Kitten’s Joy. Incredibly, McLean bought Bella Joy for $5,000 carrying Katie’s Grace. The filly races for US interests Chivalry Thoroughbred Racing and Hubert Vester and was an $80,000 April Ocala two-year-old purchase in 2025.
There is plenty of good karma around Katie’s Grace as well. Her rider, Ryan Munger, became a father for the first time this week with wife Kelsey.
The maiden BUIUM will get a lot of play with his six top-three placings in 10 races and a very good third-place finish in the Prince of Wales Stakes. The Uncle Mo gelding is a homebred for Al and Bill Ulwelling and he has been pointed to this race for some time. Buium’s half-brother Haddassah loved the grass.
Kevin Attard trains Buium and he is aiming for his first Breeders’ win. His horse is competing against one trained by his good friend, Don MacRae, who sent out William T for an upset win in the Grade 3 Durham Cup recently and credited Attard for his eagle-eye, encouraging him to supplement Michael Lay’s horse to that race.
MacRae has Lay’s KEEPMYPOWDERDRY in the Breeders, a big son of Omaha Beach who won his career debut on Tapeta and then finished a game fourth in the Prince of Wales Stakes.
Polo Management’s BOND STREET, also with just two career starts including a win on the turf, IMYOURMEDICINEMAN and FIRE AND WINE, complete the field.
In 2010, Miami Deco broke his maiden in the Breeders’ Stakes and paid $132.00 to win.
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