A day after his trainee Moira ran a huge race in the Grade 1 E.P. Taylor Stakes only to be disqualified from second to eighth, Kevin Attard had a blockbuster Sunday, October 9 at Woodbine.
Attard sent out four winners on the 11 race card including the impressive 2-year-old colt PHILIP MY DEAR, who came from out of the clouds to land in the winner’s circle in 85th running of the $251,600 Cup & Saucer Stakes.
Contested over the E.P. Taylor Turf Course, the 1 1/16-mile feature showcasing Canadian-bred two-year-olds drew 12 hopefuls (Mo Tourist was scratched), including 9-5 choice Philip My Dear, who broke from the outside post.
Settling far off a hectic pace battle between Sooner Lunar and British Artillery, Philip My Dear (Silent Name (Jpn) – Involuntary by City Zip) and jockey Kazushi Kimura, was still in ninth spot on the turn but then powered down the centre of the course on his way to a three-quarter win over the Mark Casse-trained pair of Stayhonor Goodside, who was another three-quarters ahead of Battle Strike. Sooner Lunar stayed on for fourth.
The final time, over firm ground, was 1:41.61.
“After the first two races, we told Kimura today to just break and pull him back, and make one run,” said owner Rajendra Maharajh (Raroma Stable Inc.) “It seems like he loves to go through traffic, so you got a lot of traffic today. But he ran a great race today, and I’m really proud of him and Kimura.”
It was the third win, to go along with a third, in four starts for the Adena Springs-bred colt. Maharaj bought the colt for $100,000 at the 2021 Keeneland September yearling sale.
Trained by Kevin Attard, Philip My Dear won his first two engagements, including the turf Soaring Free on August 20. Philip My Dear arrived at the Cup & Saucer off a third in the Grade 1 turf Pattison Summer Stakes on September 17.
“The idea was to get him back and save ground,” noted Attard. “He broke so sharp and when I saw him suck back that much, I said, ‘Whoa.’ It was a little more than I was anticipating, but he’s just got such a great, explosive turn of foot. He seems to thrive in traffic. He’s just been a nice colt and a nice horse to have in the barn. Obviously, he seems to be the leader in his division right now, which is something we try to achieve every year.”
The dark bay could make his first start on the Tapeta in the $250,000 Coronation Futurity on November 6 at Woodbine.
“I don’t see why not,” said Attard, of his rookie being able to handle the surface. “He’s training really well on it. Obviously, he has to be in good order and come out of this race in good shape. Raj and I will discuss that. He’s breezed exclusively on synthetic and we kind of thought highly of him just breezing off the synthetic before we ever ran him on the turf.”
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Also on Sunday there were a pair of 7 ½-furlong Inner Turf Races, one for Ontario-sired 3-year-olds and up, the other for Ontario-sired fillies, 3-year-olds and up.
In the $100,000 Eternal Search, a race named after the Mel Lawson standout, Golden Vision took all the spoils.
Ridden by Rafael Hernandez, the 6-year-old daughter of Court Vision-Good as Gold was patiently handled in the early going but came running with an impressive late burst to best hard-charging Lorena by a neck in a time of 1:31.44 over firm ground.
Bred and owned by Elizabeth and Gordon Lickrish, Golden Vision is now 7-4-4 from 24 starts. Trained by Tino Attard, the dark bay mare is now 2-1-1 from six engagements on the season.
A first-time out winner on December 1, 2018, Golden Vision, who paid $10.30 for the Eternal Search Triumph, took last year’s running of the Ballade Stakes.
Dun Drum, a 6-year-old son of Bold n’ Flashy-Lea’s Moon, got up in the final strides to take the $100,000 Overskate Stakes, confirming his love for the inner turf course.
With Emma-Jayne Wilson in the irons, the Ian Black trainee was able to find a seam in the stretch to net the victory over a game Mason’s Gamble, besting that rival by a nose in a time of 1:30.37 over firm going.
The dark bay, co-bred (along with John Carey) by Joan Addison, who co-owns with Janet Black and Barbara Brown, is now 6-2-4 from 30 starts. It was third career stakes win for the gelding, who won the 2018 Kingarvie and 2019 Vice Regent.
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