Historic Win By Joshua Tree In $1M G1 Can Int'l
Oct 22, 2013 23:57:35 GMT -5
Post by Jon on Oct 22, 2013 23:57:35 GMT -5
Two Big Races at Woodbine Sunday:
Pattison Canadian International S. (Grade 1)
$1,000,000; 3 Year Olds And Up
1 1/2 Miles (Turf)
E.P. Taylor S. (Grade 1)
$500,000; 3 Year Olds And Up
1 1/4 Miles (Turf)
Canadian International field firming up
Brisnet
Trainer Roger Attfield, one of only a handful of horsemen inducted into both the Canadian and U.S. Racing Hall of Fame, will send out two hopefuls for Sunday's Grade 1, C$1 million Canadian International.
Stella Perdomo's Forte Dei Marmi and Charles Fipke's Perfect Timber will try to give the 73-year-old conditioner his first Canadian International win. He's been second on three occasions -- with Steady Power in 1989, with Alywow in 1994 and with Spice Route in 2008.
Forte Dei Marmi enters the turf classic on a three-race win streak, including the Northern Dancer Turf on September 15, when he bested his stablemate by a neck in the 1 1/2-mile event, the same distance as the Canadian International.
The British-bred seven-year-old gelded son of Selkirk-Frangy also finished third to Joshua Tree, whom he'll face again on the weekend, in last year's edition of the International.
"He's in great shape. Both horses are really, really doing well," Attfield said. "It would appear that Forte Dei Marmi has been in good form for a little while now. I just hope we can keep him there. But it's hard to keep that kind of form going."
Eurico Rosa da Silva, who has been aboard Forte Dei Marmi for his last two victories in the Sky Classic and Northern Dancer, retains the mount, his first ride in the Canadian International.
Perfect Timber, an Ontario homebred by Perfect Soul-Timber Ice, only got to the races this year as a four-year-old, winning his debut at Gulfstream Park in April. He has finished behind Forte Dei Marmi in his last three outings, but he's cutting the margin in each race, after most recently finishing a neck behind in the Northern Dancer.
"Slow-maturing -- a big, big horse," Attfield recalled. "I never even worked him as a two-year-old. He didn't even breeze. I just took my time with him because he was so big and backward. He was coming around in the fall of last year. So when he came to the races, he came the right way. He's been improving all the time."
He'll try to become just the sixth different Canadian-bred to win the Pattison. The last to do so was Thornfield in 1999 while the first, George Royal, was a consecutive winner in 1965-66. The other Canadian-breds are Chief Bearhart (1997), Sky Classic (1991) and He's a Smoothie (1967).
Fellow Hall of Famer John Velazquez rides Perfect Timber for the second consecutive time, also seeking his first Canadian International score.
Velazquez, Attfield and Fipke have combined to enjoy past success, capped by Perfect Shirl's shocking 27-1 victory in the 2011 Breeders' Cup Filly & Mare Turf at Churchill Downs.
Look all you like, but you won't find a horse with a faster clocking for the 1 1/2-mile distance than West Point Thoroughbreds' Twilight Eclipse. Sent to post at odds of 5-1 in the Pan American Stakes at Gulfstream Park on March 23, Twilight Eclipse, trained by Tom Albertrani, settled off the pace in the early running and then exploded up the rail in the stretch run, stopping the clock in a world record time of 2:22.63.
"We liked the horse leading up to the race but never would have imagined we'd break a world record that day. It was a great achievement for the horse to put in an effort like that," Albertrani said.
Although he failed to find the winner's circle in his summer campaign, Twilight Eclipse more than held his own hitting the board in a number of races while tackling top turf horses such as Point of Entry, Optimizer, Boisterous, Big Blue Kitten and Little Mike.
Albertrani believes that Twilight Eclipse should enjoy the expansive stretch of Woodbine's E.P. Taylor Turf Course.
"He probably tips about 16.2 hands. He's a nice leggy horse that likes to stretch out and relishes firm ground," Albertrani said. "I think he'll be well suited on that track and he'll appreciate the long stretch -- that's when he puts in his best running and it should be a course that suits him well. If we can get all that and have his best race in front of him, the horse looks like he could be very competitive."
Julien Leparoux, who has a Grade 1 win at Woodbine, having guided Turallure to a score in the 2011 Woodbine Mile, gets the call Sunday.
Twilight Eclipse was also pre-entered in the November 2 Breeders' Cup Turf at Santa Anita, West Point announced via Twitter Monday. But plans call for him to arrive at Woodbine on Thursday ahead of the International.
Likewise set for Thursday arrivals are the Bill Mott-trained Slumber and Stormy Len from the barn of David Donk. Slumber, most recently a close fourth in the Joe Hirsch Turf Classic Invitational, will be ridden by Mike Smith. Multiple Grade 1-placed sophomore Stormy Len was third to Forte Dei Marmi and Perfect Timber in the Northern Dancer Turf two back.
German shipper Seismos was scheduled to reach Woodbine Monday. Andrea Atzeni has the call for trainer Andreas Wohler.
On Tuesday, two-time Canadian International hero Joshua Tree comes in from Ed Dunlop's yard in England. Having won for Aidan O'Brien in 2010, and regained his title in 2012 for Marco Botti, the globetrotter seeks the hat trick for a third trainer. Ryan Moore has the mount.
Also expected to arrive Tuesday are Now We Can and Lucayan. Now We Can, based in France with Nicolas Clement, will be ridden by Thierry Thulliez. French transplant Lucayan, who has been with Neil Drysdale all year, will renew his old partnership with Stephane Pasquier.
Wednesday should see the arrivals of Hyper, representing Chad Brown, and Temeraine from the Tom Proctor barn. Hyper will team up with Joel Rosario, while Temeraine picks up Luis Contreras
In addition to the Woodbine-based Forte Dei Marmi and Perfect Timber, dual Sovereign Award-winning filly Irish Mission is also expected to line up for the home team.
The field for Sunday's other Grade 1, the C$500,000 E.P. Taylor at 1 1/4 miles for turf distaffers, is likewise coming together.
According to Woodbine, the E.P. Taylor is likely to attract internationals Moment in Time, Fitful Skies and Samba Brazil. Moment in Time is trained by David Simcock in England, while the continentals Fitful Skies and Samba Brazil are conditioned by Henri-Alex Pantall and Jens Hirschberger, respectively.
The North American-based contenders are Tannery; Graham Motion's duo of Qushchi and Strathnaver; Minakshi, Colonial Flag and Moment of Majesty, the respective top three from the Canadian; Nancy O; and No Explaining
Pattison Canadian International S. (Grade 1)
$1,000,000; 3 Year Olds And Up
1 1/2 Miles (Turf)
E.P. Taylor S. (Grade 1)
$500,000; 3 Year Olds And Up
1 1/4 Miles (Turf)
Canadian International field firming up
Brisnet
Trainer Roger Attfield, one of only a handful of horsemen inducted into both the Canadian and U.S. Racing Hall of Fame, will send out two hopefuls for Sunday's Grade 1, C$1 million Canadian International.
Stella Perdomo's Forte Dei Marmi and Charles Fipke's Perfect Timber will try to give the 73-year-old conditioner his first Canadian International win. He's been second on three occasions -- with Steady Power in 1989, with Alywow in 1994 and with Spice Route in 2008.
Forte Dei Marmi enters the turf classic on a three-race win streak, including the Northern Dancer Turf on September 15, when he bested his stablemate by a neck in the 1 1/2-mile event, the same distance as the Canadian International.
The British-bred seven-year-old gelded son of Selkirk-Frangy also finished third to Joshua Tree, whom he'll face again on the weekend, in last year's edition of the International.
"He's in great shape. Both horses are really, really doing well," Attfield said. "It would appear that Forte Dei Marmi has been in good form for a little while now. I just hope we can keep him there. But it's hard to keep that kind of form going."
Eurico Rosa da Silva, who has been aboard Forte Dei Marmi for his last two victories in the Sky Classic and Northern Dancer, retains the mount, his first ride in the Canadian International.
Perfect Timber, an Ontario homebred by Perfect Soul-Timber Ice, only got to the races this year as a four-year-old, winning his debut at Gulfstream Park in April. He has finished behind Forte Dei Marmi in his last three outings, but he's cutting the margin in each race, after most recently finishing a neck behind in the Northern Dancer.
"Slow-maturing -- a big, big horse," Attfield recalled. "I never even worked him as a two-year-old. He didn't even breeze. I just took my time with him because he was so big and backward. He was coming around in the fall of last year. So when he came to the races, he came the right way. He's been improving all the time."
He'll try to become just the sixth different Canadian-bred to win the Pattison. The last to do so was Thornfield in 1999 while the first, George Royal, was a consecutive winner in 1965-66. The other Canadian-breds are Chief Bearhart (1997), Sky Classic (1991) and He's a Smoothie (1967).
Fellow Hall of Famer John Velazquez rides Perfect Timber for the second consecutive time, also seeking his first Canadian International score.
Velazquez, Attfield and Fipke have combined to enjoy past success, capped by Perfect Shirl's shocking 27-1 victory in the 2011 Breeders' Cup Filly & Mare Turf at Churchill Downs.
Look all you like, but you won't find a horse with a faster clocking for the 1 1/2-mile distance than West Point Thoroughbreds' Twilight Eclipse. Sent to post at odds of 5-1 in the Pan American Stakes at Gulfstream Park on March 23, Twilight Eclipse, trained by Tom Albertrani, settled off the pace in the early running and then exploded up the rail in the stretch run, stopping the clock in a world record time of 2:22.63.
"We liked the horse leading up to the race but never would have imagined we'd break a world record that day. It was a great achievement for the horse to put in an effort like that," Albertrani said.
Although he failed to find the winner's circle in his summer campaign, Twilight Eclipse more than held his own hitting the board in a number of races while tackling top turf horses such as Point of Entry, Optimizer, Boisterous, Big Blue Kitten and Little Mike.
Albertrani believes that Twilight Eclipse should enjoy the expansive stretch of Woodbine's E.P. Taylor Turf Course.
"He probably tips about 16.2 hands. He's a nice leggy horse that likes to stretch out and relishes firm ground," Albertrani said. "I think he'll be well suited on that track and he'll appreciate the long stretch -- that's when he puts in his best running and it should be a course that suits him well. If we can get all that and have his best race in front of him, the horse looks like he could be very competitive."
Julien Leparoux, who has a Grade 1 win at Woodbine, having guided Turallure to a score in the 2011 Woodbine Mile, gets the call Sunday.
Twilight Eclipse was also pre-entered in the November 2 Breeders' Cup Turf at Santa Anita, West Point announced via Twitter Monday. But plans call for him to arrive at Woodbine on Thursday ahead of the International.
Likewise set for Thursday arrivals are the Bill Mott-trained Slumber and Stormy Len from the barn of David Donk. Slumber, most recently a close fourth in the Joe Hirsch Turf Classic Invitational, will be ridden by Mike Smith. Multiple Grade 1-placed sophomore Stormy Len was third to Forte Dei Marmi and Perfect Timber in the Northern Dancer Turf two back.
German shipper Seismos was scheduled to reach Woodbine Monday. Andrea Atzeni has the call for trainer Andreas Wohler.
On Tuesday, two-time Canadian International hero Joshua Tree comes in from Ed Dunlop's yard in England. Having won for Aidan O'Brien in 2010, and regained his title in 2012 for Marco Botti, the globetrotter seeks the hat trick for a third trainer. Ryan Moore has the mount.
Also expected to arrive Tuesday are Now We Can and Lucayan. Now We Can, based in France with Nicolas Clement, will be ridden by Thierry Thulliez. French transplant Lucayan, who has been with Neil Drysdale all year, will renew his old partnership with Stephane Pasquier.
Wednesday should see the arrivals of Hyper, representing Chad Brown, and Temeraine from the Tom Proctor barn. Hyper will team up with Joel Rosario, while Temeraine picks up Luis Contreras
In addition to the Woodbine-based Forte Dei Marmi and Perfect Timber, dual Sovereign Award-winning filly Irish Mission is also expected to line up for the home team.
The field for Sunday's other Grade 1, the C$500,000 E.P. Taylor at 1 1/4 miles for turf distaffers, is likewise coming together.
According to Woodbine, the E.P. Taylor is likely to attract internationals Moment in Time, Fitful Skies and Samba Brazil. Moment in Time is trained by David Simcock in England, while the continentals Fitful Skies and Samba Brazil are conditioned by Henri-Alex Pantall and Jens Hirschberger, respectively.
The North American-based contenders are Tannery; Graham Motion's duo of Qushchi and Strathnaver; Minakshi, Colonial Flag and Moment of Majesty, the respective top three from the Canadian; Nancy O; and No Explaining
