Attard confident Natalma winner Last Call will handle Tapeta in season debut
?q=100)
ETOBICOKE, Ontario – Grade 1 Natalma winner Last Call makes her first start on Tapeta in the $100,000 Ruling Angel Stakes on Saturday at Woodbine, and she should have clear sailing from post 7 in an eight-horse field of 3-year-old fillies.
Trained by Kevin Attard, Last Call has made all four of her starts on turf. She graduated in style in September in the $508,000 Natalma, a Breeders’ Cup Win and You’re in qualifier. She finished a belated sixth in the BC Juvenile Fillies Turf on Nov. 4 at Keeneland, beaten 5 1/2 lengths by victorious Meditate.
“She didn’t break the sharpest that day and got a little further behind,” Attard recalled. “It wasn’t the ideal trip that you could envision. She was going into it really well, and I really thought she prepared for the race of her life. She closed some ground and wasn’t disgraced by any means, wasn’t beaten that far.”
Last Call got the winter off in Kentucky along with stablemate Moira, the 2022 Canadian Horse of the Year.
“She had some time off after the Breeder’s Cup, just like Moira,” Attard said. “They were actually field buddies together at Margaux Farm. She started gearing back up in the new year and got some foundation before coming back up to Woodbine.”
Last Call has worked encouragingly with stakes winner Fashionably Fab on the Tapeta. They breezed five-eighths in 1:01 in a solid move last Saturday.
“The way she’s worked, I’m confident that she likes the Tapeta and should run well,” Attard said. “She matured over the winter. This should be a good spot to start off her campaign.”
Rafael Hernandez was aboard for the Natalma and will ride Last Call, who’s rejoining the Lasix program.
Trainer Mark Casse entered Renegade Rebel, Ryder Ryder Ryder, and Ticker Tape Home in the seven-furlong event.
Renegade Rebel took the Grade 3 Mazarine here in November by a neck over Ryder Ryder Ryder. She has worked quickly since coming up empty in her March 25 season opener in the Bourbonette Oaks at Turfway.
After wintering in Florida, Ryder Ryder Ryder is making her first start since the 1 1/16-mile Mazarine. She won her debut in a seven-furlong maiden special here in October.
Ticker Tape Home was freshened after ending up seventh in the Grade 3 Florida Oaks over the Tampa turf on March 11. She was a close second when favored against the boys here in the Nov. 5 Display Stakes, her first outing since a blowout maiden score on the grass in October.
Emma-Jayne Wilson will ride Renegade Rebel. Patrick Husbands was named on both Ryder Ryder Ryder and Ticker Tape Home, who was supplemented.
Rounding out the field are Collecting Flatter, Dolce Sopresa, Bulsara, and Attabe.
:: Want to learn more about handicapping and wagering? Check out DRF's Handicapping 101 and Wagering 101 pages.