Excaper at top of his game

ETOBICOKE, Ontario – Excaper, with Justin Stein aboard, and Something Extra, with Eurico Rosa Da Silva up, battled all the way around the turf course in Saturday’s Grade 2, $200,800 Connaught Cup, and it was Excaper who prevailed in the stretch, crossing the line just 0.15 seconds off the course record.

Excaper is 2 for 2 this season, having defeated graded stakes winner Winning Cause in an allowance race at Keeneland in April to begin his 2014 campaign. After that effort, trainer Ian Black was confident coming into the Connaught Cup.

“I thought he was going to run big,” he said. “He ran a very good race at Keeneland. The only thing I thought about the race [Saturday] is there seemed to be an abundance of speed in there. It looked like Eurico wanted the lead on that horse, and Justin did the smart thing and got outside of him.”

Excaper appears to be in the best form of his career. He recorded a career-best 99 Beyer Speed Figure in that victory at Keeneland and topped that with a 101 Beyer in the Connaught Cup.

Black said a surgical procedure on Excaper’s throat to repair an entrapped epiglottis over the winter has helped the 5-year-old in his recent races.

“I did do surgery on his throat in February,” he said. “It certainly is making him finish his races better. Before, late in his races, he might have been getting a little short of air. Every time we scoped him, we were never able to diagnose that until this winter.”

Black said the Grade 2, $200,000 King Edward Stakes on June 22 is under consideration for Excaper’s next start.