Fev Rover surges in stretch to take E.P. Taylor

ETOBICOKE, Ontario - Fev Rover outran favorites With The Moonlight and Moira in the stretch to win Sunday’s Grade 1, $750,000 E.P. Taylor comfortably under a red-hot Javier Castellano at Woodbine.

Over a coursed labeled good and with light rain falling, Fev Rover was hounded by longshot Rocky Sky through moderate early fractions in the 1 1/4-mile race for fillies and mares.

Castellano took Fev Rover back to third on the far turn as Rocky Sky and Skims went by her. With The Moonlight and the favored Moira both rallied outside while Fev Rover re-broke to hit the front inside the quarter pole.

Fev Rover ran on strongly through the final furlong to prevail by 2 1/4 lengths, in a time of 2:04.20. With The Moonlight outran Moira by 1 3/4 lengths for second and Skims faded to fourth in the 10-horse field.

:: Bet with the Best! Get Free DRF PPs and Cashback when you wager. Join DRF Bets.

Trained by Mark Casse, Fev Rover ($10.10) gave Castellano his third straight winner on the card.

“My horse handled (the course) very well,” Castellano said. ‘I liked the way she did it today. The turf is still in really good shape. It just started to rain a little bit. She put in a good effort. The way the race developed, I didn’t expect it to be that way. I expected to be on the lead, galloping along. I felt a lot of pressure outside. I tried to ride a smart race and let (Rocky Sky) go to the lead.”

An Irish-bred 5-year-old by Gutaifan, Fev Rover earned $450,000 of the $766,000 purse for owner Tracy Farmer. She is expected to make her next start in the Nov. 4 Breeders’ Cup Filly and Mare Turf at Santa Anita.

*** Earlier on the card, Casse and Castellano combined to take the $224,400 Algonquin Stakes for 2-year-olds with Dancing Duchess.

Dancing Duchess ($7.20) scored by a half-length over the Casse-trained Golden Canary and Pipit, who dead-heated for second in the five-furlong inner turf dash. The final time over the good ground was 58.38.

:: Want to learn more about handicapping and wagering? Check out DRF's Handicapping 101 and Wagering 101 pages.