Caitlinhergrtness back to Tapeta, two turns in Trillium Stakes
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ETOBICOKE, Ontario – Caitlinhergrtness will try to rebound off a disappointing effort on the grass when she negotiates 1 1/16 miles on the Tapeta in Saturday’s $150,000 Trillium, one of two Grade 3 stakes on the card, along with the $150,000 Ontario Colleen.
Caitlinhergrtness is best known for capturing last year’s King's Plate and winning the 2024 Sovereign Award for champion 3-year-old filly. She easily won her May 31 season opener in the Grade 3 Belle Mahone on the Tapeta with a career-high 95 Beyer Speed Figure, after which she came up empty in the Grade 2 Nassau.
Trainer Kevin Attard bypassed last Sunday’s Grade 2 Canadian on the grass with her and said he didn’t have an obvious reason for her Nassau performance.
“I’ve waited for the Trillium to get her back on the synthetic,” Attard said. “The only thing I can think of regarding her performance last time was it was a one-turn race. I want to get her back around two turns and see where we’re at with her.”
Trainer Marty Drexler sends out Literate and Veery in the six-horse field of fillies and mares.
Literate went four wide on the far turn before ending up fourth in the 1 1/16-mile Belle Mahone. She sprang a 16-1 upset in a March 13 conditioned allowance on the dirt at Gulfstream Park where she defeated Just F Y I and Gun Song.
“She’s doing very, very well,” Drexler said. “She has had the opportunity to run on different surfaces, and we have tried a few different things, but at the end of the day, this is what she is best at, two turns on the synthetic.”
The speedy Veery, a bargain $10,000 claim, won her second race off the sidelines in a June 21 conditioned allowance/optional claimer with an 86 Beyer.
“She’s a real Cinderella horse,” Drexler said. “It took some time to get her to where we wanted her to be, and there have been some ups and downs along the way, but she is just a fighter.”
Drexler said Veery eventually found her calling around two turns.
“She is just an incredible front-end horse,” Drexler pointed out. “Once she gets the lead, she will go a long way.”
Ontario Colleen
Attard saddles the good-looking debut winner Boca Queen in the Ontario Colleen, a one-mile main turf route for 3-year-old fillies.
An Irish-bred owned by Repole Stable, Boca Queen rallied outside from seventh to win a seven-furlong maiden special on the main turf going away with an 80 Beyer on July 5.
“She had a little hop at the break, but she recovered quickly,” Attard recalled. “I thought that was a good sign. She found her stride and looked comfortable the rest of the way.
“We were hoping she would run to her works, and she showed up in a big way. She showed a lot of maturity and class that day.”
There are a host of shippers in the eight-horse lineup, including the first-Lasix users Pretty Lavish and Candy Quest.
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