It has been quite a year for trainer DALE DESRUISSEAUX who, coming off a lifetime best season when his 11 winners earned over $415,000 (US), wanted to hit the $1 million mark, Canadian bucks, in 2025. He’s just passed $1 million American dollars after winning the biggest race of his career, the $250,000 Princess Elizabeth Stakes with Chiefswood Farms’ PIPER’S GIFT. The beautiful bay two-year-old filly by Chiefswood’s own homebred stallion YORKTON (who just moved to Ontario) was powerful in her victory in the 1 1/16 mile race for Canadian-breds and it was her third straight win since adding Lasix. She won the Glorious Song Stakes in her most recent start and Rafael Hernandez has ridden her in all five career races.
Piper’s Gift was an overwhelming favourite in the eight-filly field, and she was always close to front-running Bells of Paradise. As one of four winners in the field, Piper’s Gift always looked set to pounce as La Culasse made a move at Bells of Paradise late on the final turn. Once Hernandez moved his mount off the rail, she took off and opened up quickly, finally in front at the wire by 4 1/2 lengths over Katie’s Grace, who stumbled at the start and had to come from too far back.
The time was 1:46.39 for a 71 Beyer Speed Figure according to Daily Racing Form.
“I think once he (Hernandez) got her covered up, she relaxed for him, and that’s what we were looking for when we talked earlier this morning,” said Desruisseaux. “And once she got relaxed, I was pretty confident.
Piper’s Gift was composed after the race even when her bridle was accidentally pulled off her head before entering the winner’s circle.
Here are Desruisseaux’s stats from the last five seasons:
Year – Starts – 1st – 2nd – 3rd – Earnings
2025 – 114 – 21 – 17 – 13 – $1,086,573
2024 – 60 – 11 – 10 – 6 – $415,925
2023 – 66 – 6 – 10 – 10 – $225,819
2022 – 61 – 12 – 3 – 6 – $286,428
2021 – 58 – 6 – 5 – 9 – $220,133
Yorkton won five stakes races in his career including two editions of the Grade 3 Bold Venture Stakes. The son of Speightstown (a champion sprinter) is a half-brother to Gotham Stakes (G3) winner Weyburn, who is also at stud in Ontario. Both stallions are at Adena Springs.
The dam of Piper’s Gift is stakes-placed Piper’s Legacy, a daughter of one of Chiefswood’s most prized and popular mares, Lone Piper. Lone Piper produced 10 winners including Plate Trial winner Pipers Thunder.
Breathing Fire
While Piper’s Gift paid just $2.4o win, the co-featured Coronation Futurity, worth $250,000, produced a much more surprising result. Paul Ryder’s FIRE AND WINE, coming off a 13-length maiden win, albeit for maiden claiming in modest time, led eight rivals throughout the 1 1/8 miles, romped by five lengths and paid $34.60 to win.
His Beyer Figure from the front-running score was a stunning 86, coming off a 63 Beyer for his maiden win.
Coincidentally, the second favourite for the Coronation, usually a race only for the boys, was the filly DIXIE LAW, trained by the aforementioned Desruisseaux, who elected to try Garland Williamson’s Cup & Saucer-winning gal in the Coronation, citing the longer distance was key. Hammered down late to 6-to-5 odds was Gary Barber and St Elias Stables’ MILITARY TIME, a son of Gun Runner who had been so impressive winning his sprinting debut, but was well beaten in the Cup & Saucer on turf. No other horse in the field was less than 9-to-1.
Jockey Slade Jones had the right idea aboard Fire and Wine as he simply sent the big son of young sire Lexitonian (also a son of Speightstown) right to the lead and allowed him to open up a sizable lead over the speed-conducive surface. The Zeljko Krcmar trainee went in 24.08, 49.49 and 1:13.98 while Dixie Law was in pursuit. Into the stretch, Fire and Wine kept reaching out for more ground while Dixie Law tired. Military Time made up some ground to get into second with Imyourmedicineman moving wide for third, but it was all Fire and Wine in 1:51.90. The time was the fastest for the 122nd Coronation in six years.
“I am still thinking about it – it’s unreal. I didn’t think he could do it [win] again, to be honest. I thought that was a little bit of a fluke last time. When I saw him go out and take the lead and open it up to six or seven [lengths], I thought, ‘My God, he is going to do it again.’ And then he had something left in the stretch and he just opened up. He’s an amazing horse.”
This was the biggest win for Krcmar and longtime friend Ryder. Krcmar saddled his first horse in the mid 1970s according to Woodbine media – his Equibase stats go back to 2000 – a few years after he came to Canada from Yugoslavia where he rode horses. Originally, Krcmar came to work as a chemist, he has said, but his heart was into horses.
Now in his mid-80s, the horseman can celebrate a big win with friend Ryder, who had won 17 races over the past 20 years including seven with trainer Terry Rigby. Ryder came about owning Fire and Wine, who was born at James and Janeane Everatt and Arika Everatt Meeuse’s Shannondoe Farm in St. Thomas and co-bred by Robert Marzilli, when Krcmar’s daughter Mary Self bought the colt from a Florida horsewoman, Heather Lawson. Originally, Fire and Wine was sold as a short yearling at the 2024 Fasig-Tipton February Mixed Sale for $5,000 to Rachid Brothers.
DOUBLE LATTE, the dam of Fire and Wine, was bred by the Everatts in Ontario and she was placed once in four races. A daughter of The Factor, she had two foals before Fire and Wine, both non-winners. Her three-year-old of this year is Mo Latte, who was working earlier this season for owner Evan Sandhu.
Double Latte is a daughter of the placed Latte, a half-sister to Grade 1 winner ME DOMINA, earner of over $744,000.
Lexitonian, who stands at Calumet Farm for $7,500, is a Grade 1 winning sprinter and this is his first crop of runners. He has three stakes winners and seven winners from 23 starters.
Fire and Wine with Slade Jones up. Owner Paul Ryder (far left) celebrates his first stakes win with trainer Zeljko Krcmar (hand on horse’s hindquarters). (www.horse-races.net photo)
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