Europeans get first outings on track

ETOBICOKE, Ontario - A gray and rainy Tuesday morning greeted the European shippers who trained for the first time since arriving here at Woodbine early Sunday evening.

Doctor Dino, Lucarno, and Mourilyan all jogged on the main track as they continued their preparations for the Grade 1, $2 million Canadian International, the 1 1/2-mile race for 3-year-olds and upward that is the showpiece of Saturday's Woodbine program.

Joining the Canadian International will be the Grade 1, $1 million E.P. Taylor, a 1 1/4-mile race for fillies and mares; the Grade 2, $500,000 Nearctic, a six-furlong race for 3-year-olds and upward; and the Grade 3, $300,000 Summer, a one-mile race for 2-year-olds.

All four races will be run over the turf and will grant automatic Breeders' Cup berths under the Win and You're In program. ESPN will include the Woodbine features in a two-hour telecast, which will be simulcast locally on The Score.

Folk Opera and Toque de Queda, the European shippers for the E.P. Taylor, also took some light exercise over the main track Tuesday morning.

The German contingent, consisting of Quijano and Lauro for the Canadian International and Santiago Atitlan for the Nearctic, had a quiet morning.

First-time Lasix for some foreigners

Lucarno, who is based in England with trainer John Gosden but made his last start in Germany, and Mourilyan, who was with the Dubai division of trainer Herman Brown but made his last start in England for trainer Gary Moore, both will race with Lasix for the first time in the Canadian International.

John Egan, who was aboard for Thursday's exercise, will ride Mourilyan for the first time in the Canadian International, while regular Jimmy Fortune will be flying in for the mount on Lucarno.

Folk Opera, owned by Godolphin and trained by Saeed bin Suroor, will be first-time Lasix for the E.P. Taylor.

Her regular rider, Frankie Dettori, also will be jetting in from Europe.

As of Tuesday morning, 10 horses were expected for the Canadian International and 10 for the E.P. Taylor.

w Starticus, one of the leading local candidates for the Nearctic, galloped over the turf course on Tuesday morning, at which time there were 14 possible Nearctic entrants. The Summer, on the other hand, was struggling, with only the locally based Utterly Cool, Grand Adventure, and Skipadate being confirmed participants.