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2010 Sovereign Awards: Impossible Time

Roger Attfield had a good feeling about Charles Fipke's homebred Impossible Time from the first few months the Hall of Fame trainer had her

Dave Landry photo

By: Zach Nicodemous | April 20, 2011

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you're listening to an article from canadian thoroughbred.com. 2010 sovereign awards: impossible time by: zach nicodemous. a rugged bay, foaled in 2005, impossible time gave her owner and trainer some trying times early on, however, and didn’t even make it to the races as a two-year-old. “i always thought she was special,” attfield said. “when she was two, she chipped a knee, but other than that it’s just been silly stuff that’s stopped her.”. attfield was proven correct in his early praise for the daughter of the late sire not impossible (ire). despite almost an impossible trip on april 30, 2008 when she came out of the gate last in a 12-horse field at six furlongs, she roared around rivals and won her career debut by 1 1/2 lengths at odds of 10 to 1. the nagging physical bumps in the road started right away and the filly did not race again until almost en entire year later when she re-surfaced at keeneland and finished fifth in an allowance race. she won two modest events in 2009 and spent the winter in florida at attfield’s payson park training barn. advertisement scroll to continue with content after two sub-par runs on gulfsteam park’s dirt track in the winter of 2010, (attfield blames himself for not having her “well prepapred”). imposible time returned to woodbine’s polytrack and took over the older mare ranks. the first matter at hand was to build up the ontario-bred’s confidence and a first-level allowance race on apr. 25 was just what attfield needed for the mare. with jono jones aboard, impossible time galloped away to an eight-length win from five rivals and was all set for her initial stakes venture. the first of these was the ballade, an ontario sired event at six-furlongs for $126,000 and impossible time came ready to roll. from off the pace, the mare went around seven competitors and won by more than two lengths in a rapid time of 1:08 3/5. attfield was relieved, as his hopes for the mare had finally been realized. “it’s nice to see this happen. we’ve always known it was (talent) there. it’s encouraging,” attfield said after the ballade. she made her grass debut in the next ontario-sired event, the zadracarta stakes at seven furlongs but could not catch up to a front running moonlit beauty in time and settled for second. she took an allowance race on the grass at 1 1/16 miles which set her up for a second stakes score, this time in the $126,000 victoriana stakes. under virtually no encourgament from jones, impossible time swept to a 4 1/2 length score as the 2 to 5 favourite. “she’s just a lovely horse to ride,” said jones, who won the queen’s plate in 2008 on fipke’s not bourbon, also by not impossible (ire). the pair weren’t done yet. they took the classy ‘n smart stakes, also an ontario-sired race when back on the polytrack before completing the year in the maple leaf stakes, her first stakes try against open company. she finished second, this time behind a tough, front running american invader named pachattack, but attfield was pleased that the mare handled herself well against her toughest set of rivals yet. “i don’t think she has to stay with ontario sired runners,” said attfield, who wintered the mare at payson park again and started her up training in february. impossible time’s dam is classiest carat, a daughter of pleasant colony who also produced the tough claiming runner seeking the carat, who earned over $326,000. classiest carat is now owned by harvey tennebaum and resides at stonebriar stables in fenwick, ontario. she is in foal to multiple champion judiths wild rush. &&>

A rugged bay, foaled in 2005, Impossible Time gave her owner and trainer some trying times early on, however, and didn’t even make it to the races as a two-year-old. “I always thought she was special,” Attfield said. “When she was two, she chipped a knee, but other than that it’s just been silly stuff that’s stopped her.”

Attfield was proven correct in his early praise for the daughter of the late sire Not Impossible (Ire). Despite almost an impossible trip on April 30, 2008 when she came out of the gate last in a 12-horse field at six furlongs, she roared around rivals and won her career debut by 1 1/2 lengths at odds of 10 to 1.

The nagging physical bumps in the road started right away and the filly did not race again until almost en entire year later when she re-surfaced at Keeneland and finished fifth in an allowance race. She won two modest events in 2009 and spent the winter in Florida at Attfield’s Payson Park training barn.

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After two sub-par runs on Gulfsteam Park’s dirt track in the winter of 2010, (Attfield blames himself for not having her “well prepapred”).

Imposible Time returned to Woodbine’s Polytrack and took over the older mare ranks. The first matter at hand was to build up the Ontario-bred’s confidence and a first-level allowance race on Apr. 25 was just what Attfield needed for the mare.

With Jono Jones aboard, Impossible Time galloped away to an eight-length win from five rivals and was all set for her initial stakes venture. The first of these was the Ballade, an Ontario sired event at six-furlongs for $126,000 and Impossible Time came ready to roll. From off the pace, the mare went around seven competitors and won by more than two lengths in a rapid time of 1:08 3/5.

Attfield was relieved, as his hopes for the mare had finally been realized. “It’s nice to see this happen. We’ve always known it was (talent) there. It’s encouraging,” Attfield said after the Ballade. She made her grass debut in the next Ontario-sired event, the Zadracarta Stakes at seven furlongs but could not catch up to a front running Moonlit Beauty in time and settled for second. She took an allowance race on the grass at 1 1/16 miles which set her up for a second stakes score, this time in the $126,000 Victoriana Stakes. Under virtually no encourgament from Jones, Impossible Time swept to a 4 1/2 length score as the 2 to 5 favourite. “She’s just a lovely horse to ride,” said Jones, who won the Queen’s Plate in 2008 on Fipke’s Not Bourbon, also by Not Impossible (Ire).

The pair weren’t done yet. They took the Classy ‘N Smart Stakes, also an Ontario-sired race when back on the Polytrack before completing the year in the Maple Leaf Stakes, her first stakes try against open company. She finished second, this time behind a tough, front running American invader named Pachattack, but Attfield was pleased that the mare handled herself well against her toughest set of rivals yet. “I don’t think she has to stay with Ontario sired runners,” said Attfield, who wintered the mare at Payson Park again and started her up training in February.

Impossible Time’s dam is Classiest Carat, a daughter of Pleasant Colony who also produced the tough claiming runner Seeking the Carat, who earned over $326,000. Classiest Carat is now owned by Harvey Tennebaum and resides at Stonebriar Stables in Fenwick, Ontario. She is in foal to multiple champion Judiths Wild Rush.