Art of Almost gets some class relief

ETOBICOKE, Ontario – Art of Almost drops out of stakes company and is a good fit in Saturday’s Woodbine feature, a conditioned allowance scheduled for 1 1/16 miles on the main turf.

Art of Almost was trained for most of her career by Roger Attfield, who sent the 5-year-old out to finish second in two stakes on the Tapeta last fall, including the Grade 3 Maple Leaf. She also was fourth in the Grade 2 Dance Smartly on the grass in 2020, after winning a second-level allowance under Emma-Jayne Wilson.

Art of Almost was turned over to trainer Mark Casse this year. He raced her twice at Gulfstream Park, where she missed the board in back-to-back stakes late in the winter but wasn’t beaten far when fifth in the Grade 3 Honey Fox. She has worked regularly on the Tapeta leading up to this event, in which she’s being reunited with Wilson.

Casse also entered Tappitty Tappitty and Preferred Guest, both of whom are returning from an eight-month layoff.

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Afleet Katherine also is in the 10-horse field. She closed belatedly from off slow fractions for fourth in her season opener going 7 1/2 furlongs around two turns on the inner turf. She won her first two starts last year on the main turf, including a seven-furlong allowance, before ending up second in both the Woodbine Oaks and Bison City Stakes on the Tapeta.

Justin Stein will ride Afleet Katherine again for trainer Kevin Attard.

Stephen set for season debut

Attard has an array of nominees to the Canadian Triple Crown who could go postward next Sunday in either the Grade 3 Marine or $125,000 Queenston Stakes for Canadian-breds. Nominated to both are Haddassah, Harlan Estate, Lenny K, Red River Rebel, and Stephen.

Idle since graduating in the Nov. 1 Coronation Futurity, Stephen makes his season debut against some formidable older opposition in a 1 1/16-mile allowance on Saturday. Attard said the son of Constitution had a minor setback in June but was back on the work tab last Saturday, when he breezed five-eighths in 1:00.80.

“I was looking to make a race already, but it got derailed,” Attard said.

Last year’s Breeders’ Stakes winner and Queen’s Plate runner-up Belichick will be favored over Stephen on Saturday. He got the winter off after finishing second in the Grade 3 Ontario Derby on Nov. 21, and lost an allowance route by a nose when coming off the sidelines May 13 at Churchill. Trainer Josie Carroll said she was content with his comeback race on the grass.

“I thought he ran with some pretty nice horses and just got a little tired,” Carroll said. “He’d been off a long time.”

Belichick was scratched from Thursday’s Grade 3 Dominion Day.