Excaper goes for third straight win in King Edwards Stakes

ETOBICOKE, Ontario – Excaper, who recently notched his first stakes win in the Grade 2 Connaught Cup, will try to remain unbeaten this year Sunday at Woodbine going a one-turn mile on grass in the Grade 2, $200,000 King Edward Stakes.

Excaper, the runner-up in the 2011 Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Turf, won his season opener in an allowance at Keeneland, then cut back to take the seven-furlong Connaught Cup here after pressing the pace under Justin Stein.

Trainer Ian Black said Excaper’s improvement probably can be attributed to the 5-year-old undergoing throat surgery to correct an entrapped epiglottis during the winter in Florida.

FORMULATOR FACT: No. 3 Excaper (2-1 morning line). Trainer Ian Black is 6 for 23 (26 percent) with a $2.61 ROI with horses making a second start of a layoff and going a route of ground on turf. Click here for more details.

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For the King Edward, Black said he changed riders to Eurico Rosa Da Silva because Stein had a commitment to Phil’s Dream, who wound up in an overnight stakes here Saturday instead.

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“He worked well last weekend,” Black said. “It was the first time Eurico ever sat on him, and he was happy. I think he’s still in good order.”

Black felt the move back out to a mile might be to Excaper’s benefit.

“I don’t think it hurts,” Black said. “He ran a good mile at Keeneland.”

Among the other seven entrants is the Maryland-based Utley, who was supplemented for $4,000 by Hall of Fame trainer Jonathan Sheppard.

Utley ran the race of his life May 17, when he took the Grade 2 Dixie Stakes at Pimlico with a 99 Beyer Speed Figure under Edgar Prado, who retains the mount.

Short field for Victoria Park

Sunday’s $125,000 Victoria Park, an open, nine-furlong stakes for 3-year-olds, is the last local stakes prep for the $1 million Queen’s Plate, but Tulio’s Brew is the only runner in the four-horse field who is nominated to the July 6 Plate.

Tulio’s Brew, a son of Milwaukee Brew, is competing beyond seven furlongs for the first time off a runner-up finish behind the short-priced shipper Good Bye Greg in a seven-furlong allowance.

“We always wanted to run him long,” trainer Bob Tiller said. “We knew this race was coming up light, so we’re taking a shot. He’s Ontario-sired, so he runs for $200,000. The horse is in good order.”

Conquest Top Gun should be favored off his front-running victory by disqualification in the 1 1/16-mile Marine Stakes here May 25.

Genuine Flare is riding a two-race win streak against maidens and first-level allowance company on the Tapeta surface at Presque Isle Downs. His last Beyer Speed Figure, 83, favorably compares with the 82 earned by Conquest Top Gun in the Marine.

Big Bazinga injured in work

Big Bazinga, one of the leading 3-year-olds on the grounds, was being pointed toward the Victoria Park Stakes until he was injured in his last work, according to trainer Katerina Vassilieva.

“He suffered a condylar fracture,” Vassilieva said. “He had to undergo surgery for that and had three pins put in. He’s on stall rest for six weeks and probably won’t be back training until the fall. The prognosis seems positive.”

Big Bazinga, who was on this year’s Kentucky Derby trail, finished fourth last time out in the Grade 1 Blue Grass Stakes at Keeneland.

Vassilieva said Humorus Dilemma, the unbeaten New York-bred she trains for Phil Kives, is slated to make her next start July 3 at Belmont in the $100,000 Dancin Renee Stakes.

Humorus Dilemma had been idle for more than a year when she won her first outing for Vassilieva in an allowance here May 3. The speedy 4-year-old subsequently captured a second-level allowance on dirt at Belmont. All three of her wins came over six furlongs, the distance of the Dancin Renee.

“She’s a nice, gritty filly,” Vassilieva said.