Habibi, trained by champion conditioner Mark Frostad, is coming into Sunday’s Grade 1 Pattison Canadian International the way she began her career – at the top of her game.
A dark bay daughter of Ekraar, the New Zealand-bred Habibi zips into the 1 ½-mile turf classic off two primetime performances, including a runner-up effort to PCI rival Interpol in the Grade 1 Northern Dancer on September 13.
Dismissed at 17-1, Habibi (an Arabic word to describe someone you have affection for) stormed down the long E.P. Taylor Turf Course stretch, an all out bid that left her just a half-length back for all the spoils.
“She’s been great in her past two races,” praised Hall of Famer Frostad, who won the 1997 International with Chief Bearhart. “She’s really been improving along the way and she should be at her best on Sunday.”
The lifetime winner of seven races from 16 starts launched her career in impressive fashion, reeling off five-straight scores and six triumphs her first seven starts in New Zealand.
A victory in the Grade 1 New Zealand Derby in 2013 was the major highlight, a half-length victory in the 1 ½-mile turf event.
Owned by George Strawbridge (Augustin Stable), Habibi began her North American racing career in 2014. She made one start when eighth in the Grade 2 Royal Heroine at Santa Anita. She returned to action this spring at Santa Anita for a pair of starts before shipping to Woodbine where she just missed a trip to the winner’s circle in her Canadian debut when nosed at the wire in an optional claiming event on the grass.
“She’s a very solid, stout filly,” praised Frostad. “Obviously, you had to be impressed by her record in New Zealand. She’s fared very well on the turf course here at Woodbine, and we’ve been really happy with her.”
Jockey Robby Albarado will partner the dark bay on Sunday.
ATTFIELD SEEKS ELUSIVE INTERNATIONAL SCORE WITH DANISH DYNAFORMER
Hall of Fame trainer Roger Attfield has long had a knack for winning on Woodbine’s E.P. Taylor Turf Course. On Sunday, he’ll look to add to his ultra-impressive racing résumé with a win in the Grade 1 Pattison Canadian International (PCI).
His opportunity to win his first International (Attfield has finished second on three occasions) comes in the form of Danish Dynaformer, a bay son of Dynaformer owned by Charles Fipke.
In his start prior to Sunday’s fall turf classic, Danish Dynaformer finished a disappointing sixth (on ‘yielding’ ground) to PCI rival Interpol in the Grade 1 Northern Dancer on September 13 at Woodbine. It was only the second time in 10 starts that the Ontario-bred finished lower than fifth.
“He’s really coming into the race in great shape,” said Attfield. “The one thing I’ll be hoping for is that the course isn’t yielding. I don’t think he cares for the soft turf.”
Danish Dynaformer was strong in the Plate Trial, contested this June, displaying an impressive turn of foot in the nine-furlong race. He swung three-wide turning for home and pulled clear inside the eighth pole and easily held several closers at bay, to win by three-quarters of a length, getting the mile and one-eighth over the Polytrack in 1:49.81.
A victory in the Queen’s Plate, one that would have put Attfield all alone for most wins in the Gallop for the Guineas with nine, wasn’t in the cards, however. Danish Dynaformer finished second behind Shaman Ghost.
After finishing sixth in the Prince of Wales Stakes (second jewel in the Canadian Triple Crown series) at Fort Erie, Danish Dynaformer took on nine rivals in the turf Breeders’ Stakes, third jewel in the series. Sent off at 7-5, the colt thoroughly dominated his eight rivals, going on to a 7 ¾-length score, while delivering Attfield a ninth win in the 1 ½-mile event. “He’s a very nice horse,” said Attfield. “He’s got a big turn of foot and a huge cruising speed. He’s a very versatile horse, too.”
Attfield is no doubt a big fan of the Fipke homebred. Can his International hopeful be a great Dane on Sunday? “This is going to be his toughest race so far,” he noted. “He’s doing very well heading into it. He’s done well on this course in the past and it would be nice to see him come up with another big effort this Sunday.”
STRUT THE COURSE TO CARRY CANADA’S COLOURS IN E.P. TAYLOR
While the $1 million Pattison Canadian International highlights Sunday’s spectacular card of racing at Woodbine, there are two other turf stakes on the program which could merit the spotlight in their own right – the $500,000 Grade 1 E.P. Taylor and the $300,000 Grade 2 Nearctic.
The E.P. Taylor, for fillies and mares at one mile and one-quarter, has long been a fixture on International day and has been won by some tremendous females, almost all from Europe in the past 20 years, with a few exceptions – like Woodbine-based Fly For Avie in 2000, Arravale in 2006, who also earned Canadian Horse of the Year honours that year and the Roger Attfield-trained Miss Keller in 2011.
But those fillies weren’t Canadian-breds. This year, John Unger’s’ homebred five-year-old Strut the Course, trained by Barb Minshall, will carry the maple leaf in the E.P. Taylor. And she’s the 4-1 second choice in a field of 12. The daughter of Strut the Stage-Bold Course is not only a local campaigner, she’s the sole Canadian-bred in this year’s renewal.
You have to go back to 1976 to find a Canadian-bred winner of the race – Momigi – but that was when it was known as the Nettie. The race officially became the E.P. Taylor in 1981, and along with the name change, came a significant purse increase and grading to attract many top fillies from Europe.
Thus, should she succeed, Strut the Course, the 2014 Sovereign Award winner as Canada’s top older female, would officially become the first Canadian-bred to win the E.P. Taylor. She enters off a fast-closing victory in the Grade 2 Canadian on September 13 at Woodbine, a Breeders’ Cup Win and You’re race (for the Filly and Mare Turf at Keeneland on October 31).
“She’s coming up to the race in great shape. I’m very, very happy with her. She’s trained really, really well since her last race,” said Minshall. “We’re looking for some racing luck. She’s in good order. I’m very pleased with the way she’s doing. She drew well (post 6). You don’t want to be hung too wide on that first turn (going a mile and a quarter). (Jockey) Luis (Contreras) really rides her well, he knows her well. (In the Canadian) she was behind horses and looking for a seam all the way down the lane, when she found it, she came flying.
“There’s a lot of European horses (in the E.P. Taylor). That’s their style too. There’s going to be quite a cavalry charge to the wire.
“Absolutely (we thought about the Breeders’ Cup after taking the Canadian). The problem was she isn’t a Breeders’ Cup-nominated horse. I believe it would going to cost $100,000 to supplement her, even though she won the ‘Win and You’re In’. That’s a lot of money. So that basically made the decision a lot easier. She also really likes this turf course. She’s been very successful on it. With all those factors, it was a logical decision (to stay home and run in the E.P.)”
Last year’s Canadian winner, the lightly-raced Deceptive Vision, also decided to pass on the Breeders’ Cup Filly and Mare Turf, then finished a close third in the E.P. Taylor.
Strut the Course has been doing a lot of ‘strutting’ this year in only four starts, winning not only the Canadian but also the Grade 2 Dance Smartly on July 5, when she defeated the well-regarded Watsdachances.
“She’s gotten better and better as she’s gotten older,” continued Minshall. “Ironically, I planned a schedule at the end of last year (for this year) and it’s almost like a dream that’s come true. I can honestly say, every race she’s been in was mapped out. After (her success in) the Ontario-sired races, she was in good order. I felt it was time for her to step up and I thought she could step up to the next level (open company). We had to give it a try.
“I had a good filly years ago named Bold Ruritana (a $1.1 million career money winner who finished fifth in the 1996 E.P. Taylor) and she’s (Strut the Course) every bit as good as her. She’s good on Poly, too, and the distance of a mile and a quarter is not an issue. It’s well within her realm.”
Strut the Course is also far and away the field’s leading money winner with just over $1 million, although she’s the second choice to British-bred Group 2-winning three year-old filly Curvy, the 3-1 favourite, who finished a disappointing fifth in the Grade 1 Flower Bowl at Belmont Park in her North America debut on October 3. The 5-1 third choice is the Graham Motion-trained Eastern Belle, a half-sister to Europe’s current Horse of the Year Golden Horn, winner of the recent Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe.
The E.P. Taylor will go postward at 4:57 p.m. and will be seen live on TSN5 as part of its 4:30 – 6:00 p.m. Pattison Canadian International telecast.
FIELD FOR THE PATTISON CANADIAN INTERNATIONAL (11)
Post / Horse / Jockey / Trainer / Owner
1 / POWER PED / Florent Geroux / Neil Drysdale / Stepaside Farms Inc.
2 / CANNOCK CHASE / Ryan Moore / Sir Michael Stoute / Rabbah Bloodstock
3 / SHEIKHZAYEDROAD (GB) / Martin Lane / David Simcock / Rabbah Bloodstock
4 / SECOND STEP (IRE) / Andrea Atzeni / Luca Cumani / Merry Fox Stud Limited
5 / UP WITH THE BIRDS / John Velazquez / Graham Motion / Sam-Son Farm
6 / DANISH DYNAFORMER / Eurico Rosa da Silva / Roger Attfield / Charles Fipke
7 / TRIPLE THREAT (FR) / Joel Rosario / Bill Mott / Team Valor International & G. Barber
8 / REPORTING STAR / Luis Contreras / P. Parente / Copper Water Thoroughbred Company
9 / INTERPOL / Emma-Jayne Wilson / Sid Attard / JMJ Racing Stables LLC
10 / KAIGUN / P. Husbands / M. Casse / Quintessential Racing, Horse n’ Around & G.
Barber
11 / HABIBI (NZ) / Robby Albarado / Mark Frostad / Augustin Stable
$500,000 Grade 1 E.P. Taylor Stakes
Sunday, October 18
One mile and one-quarter, E.P. Taylor Turf Course
PP/Horse/Jockey/Trainer/Morning Line
1/Yaazy/Antoine Hamelin/10-1
2/Rosalind/Alan Garcia/Chad Brown/20-1
3/Button Down/Joel Rosario/Josie Carroll/20-1
4/Devonshire/Patrick Husbands/Willie McCreery/6-1
5/Lacy/Martin Lane/Waldemar Hickst/20-1
6/Strut the Course/Luis Contreras/Barb Minshall/4-1
7/Nakuti/Andrea Atzeni/Sylvester Kirk/8-1
8/White Rose/Shaun Bridgmohan/Bill Mott/12-1
9/Curvy/Ryan Moore/David Wachman/3-1
10/Eastern Belle/John Velazquez/Graham Motion/5-1
11/Uchenna/Rafael Hernandez/Roger Attfield/20-1
12/Talmada/William Buick/Roger Varian/15-1
Meanwhile, the Nearctic, a six furlong contest, has drawn 11 turf speedsters, headed by the David Simcock-trained Terror at 3-1, with Andrea Atzeni, followed by the George Weaver-trained Cyclogenisis, with John Velazquez named to ride, at 4-1. It’s scheduled for a 2:42 p.m. post.
WOODBINE MILLION DOLLAR MEGAPICK CONTEST COULD MAKE ONE FAN $1-MILLION RICHER!
There are a million extra reasons to pay attention to Woodbine’s stakes events on October 18. A free-to-enter contest called the Woodbine Million Dollar Megapick asks Canadian racing fans (except the province of Quebec) to predict the exact order of finish for the entire field of the $500,000 E.P. Taylor Stakes and the $1 million Pattison Canadian International, both Grade 1 events, set for Sunday, October 18.
If someone predicts the correct first-to-last finish for any one of the two contest races, they’ll be looking at a million dollar payday. If no one predicts the exact order of finish of either race, a consolation prize of $10,000 will be shared among the individuals who get closest to the exact winning order.
Visit Woodbineracetrack.com for contest details.
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