Autumn Stakes brings top older horses together

ETOBICOKE, Ontario – Most of the top older male routers at Woodbine will clash in Sunday’s Grade 2, $175,000 Autumn Stakes, headed by Special Forces, Sir Winston, and Mighty Heart.

Special Forces, the 2019 Autumn winner, missed all of 2020 before running second to Sir Winston in his Aug. 19 season opener in a conditioned allowance route. After ending up third in the Grade 3 Seagram Cup three weeks later, he won the Grade 3 Durham Cup over Sir Winston and Mighty Heart, earning a 97 Beyer Speed Figure in the 1 1/16-mile event.

“He’s doing well, training great,” said trainer Kevin Attard, who owns Special Forces in partnership with Soli Mehta. “I was a little disappointed with his second start. I expected more out of him that day. He bounced back in his last start. That’s the kind of horse I know he’s capable of being.”

Sir Winston, the 2019 Belmont Stakes winner, returned from a layoff of nearly a year in the aforementioned allowance, prevailing by two lengths with a 93 Beyer. Trainer Mark Casse opted to bypass the Sept. 11 Seagram with the Tracy Farmer homebred to have him primed for the Oct. 10 Durham.

“He was in Dubai last year and was ready to run in the [Dubai World Cup] before they canceled it,” Casse said. “We brought him back and he trained okay, but he wasn’t himself. We ran him a couple of times and he wouldn’t even try. We sent him home to the Farmers' farm and gave him time off.”

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Sent off as the 3-2 favorite in the Durham, Sir Winston was boxed in on the far turn and got squeezed between rivals at the eighth pole before kicking in late to finish a half-length back in second.

Reigning Canadian Horse of the Year Mighty Heart, the 2020 Queen’s Plate and Prince of Wales winner, won the Blame Stakes on May 29 at Churchill and the Grade 3 Dominion Day here July 1. In the Seagram, he stalked in second throughout behind front-runner Tap It to Win. The one-eyed 4-year-old is coming off a flat fourth in the Durham.

Among the others in the 1 1/16-mile Autumn is 2020 Queenston Stakes victor Halo Again, who exited a 13-month layoff to finish a good third in the Durham after bumping with Sir Winston in the drive. He has since worked nicely here on the Tapeta.

Vanzzy ships in from Parx Racing off a wide third in the Peach Street Stakes on the Tapeta at Presque Isle Downs. He won a conditioned allowance three back on the turf at Delaware.

Rounding out the field are Embolden, Faraway Kitten, and Primo Touch, who was supplemented for $3,500.