It has been a big year for breeder MARK DODSON, who won a graded stakes race in October with the filly A Game and then watched his colt NOTORIOUS GANGSTER charge late to win Saturday’s $250,000 Coronation Futurity. Dodson, who grew up on his father Stan’s 200-acre Hopefield Farm in Georgetown and was helping out during the years of their champion filly Hope for a Breeze, breeds to sell, but does race a handful of his own horses each year.
The owner of Daybar, a steel door manufacturing company in Ontario, had withdrawn Notorious Gangster (Classic Empire – Sister Nova by Verrazano) from two sales last year and sent him to trainer Josie Carroll. In his debut on August 4 under Fraser Aebly, at the time an apprentice, the colt won his maiden in his second start at 6 1/2 furlongs. Notorious Gangster and Aebly came into the Coronation, at 1 1/8 miles on Tapeta, off a modest seventh-place finish on the turf in the Cup & Saucer Stakes.
The trip could not have been any better for Notorious Gangster in the Futurity, a race that is touted as a preview for the following year’s King’s Plate, but the winner has not come back to win the Plate in 50 years.
Nestled between rivals while just behind a trio of horses on and close to the pace, Notorious Gangster, 10-to-1, was in fifth, alongside another Dodson-bred, Kekoa, trained by Catherine Day Phillips. Over a slow surface on a bitterly cold and grey day, the half-mile split was 49.32. Chiefswood Stables’ Forty N Five, also trained by Carroll, had been leading but was joined by Ashley’s Archer late on the turn. The latter had won the Cup and Saucer, but was disqualified and placed fifth, but the son of Karakontie looked strong heading for the stretch run.
Meanwhile, favoured Dewolf (Silent Name (Jpn)) had been tracking wide and made a wide move into the stretch while Aebly and Notorious Gangster was pointed to the inside. The colt wasn’t wild about that spot, however, and Aebly had to angle him out to go around the two leaders. Once he got clear, he powered past for the win in 1:52.70.
Dewolf, owned by X-Men Racing IV and Camuck Racing Club, was second over Gary Barber and Archer Racing’s Ashley’s Archer. This was the third Coronation win for Hall of Fame trainer Carroll.
By the Eclipse Award winning two-year-old Classic Empire (Pioneerofthe Nile), who is now in Korea, Notorious Gangster is from Sister Nova, a half-sister to Didson’s good racemare Sister Nation who won the Ruling Angel Stakes in 2017 and earned over $238,000, and Grade 3 stakes winner Money Supply. Sister Nation’s first foal brought $350,000 as a yearling and that one, named Encourageeachother, is a winner this year.
Sister Nova won one of 10 races and her first foal to race is the maiden Highland Blue. Dodson bought back the mare’s Yaupon yearling filly from the Keeneland Sale in September for $110,000.
Carroll was not at Woodbine for the Coronation as she accompanied He’s Not Joking, winner of the Grey Stakes (G3), to Kentucky for the Kentucky Jockey Club Stakes (G2), but watched the colt have a disastrous journey before finishing eighth.
Next summer we will find out if Notorious Gangster can beat the Coronation/Plate jinx.
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