Are You Kidding Me tunes up for Eclipse Stakes

Two-time Canadian champion older male Are You Kidding Me will make his first start since finishing eighth in the Grade 1 Clark Handicap last November in Saturday’s Woodbine feature, an allowance over 1 1/16 miles on Tapeta that serves as the local prep for the Grade 2, $175,000 Eclipse Stakes on May 20.

Trainer Roger Attfield said a troubled trip and a quarter crack were to blame for Are You Kidding Me’s disappointing result in the Clark.

“He had a quarter crack bothering him late in the season at Woodbine, but I was managing to work my way through it,” he said. “After his last race, it wasn’t very good at all. He didn’t get a good trip in the Clark, and he also opened up that quarter crack.”

Are You Kidding Me has been working steadily at Attfield’s winter base at Payson Park Training Center and, more recently, at Keeneland in preparation for this start.

Are You Kidding Me will face five rivals in the Eclipse prep, including Unbridled Juan, who returns to Woodbine under the care of new trainer Josie Carroll. Unbridled Juan, an Ontario-bred, has made just one start on the synthetic at Woodbine, finishing third as the heavy favorite in an allowance during his 3-year-old campaign in 2015.

U S Marshal, Johnny Bear, Secret Passage, and Tonedaddy round out Saturday’s field.