Fire and Wine leads all the way in Breeders' Stakes upset
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ETOBICOKE, Ontario - Fire and Wine posted an 11-1 upset in Sunday’s $500,000 Breeders’ Stakes, the anchor leg of the Canadian Triple Crown at Woodbine, in which he led all the way under a shrewd ride from Jalon Samuel.
Trainer Zeljko Krcmar took the blinkers off Fire and Wine, but he had no problem securing the early advantage in the 1 1/2-mile main turf marathon.
Imyourmedicineman chased Fire and Wine most of the way while the other four Canadian-breds were far behind on the backstretch. Favored Katie’s Grace and Buium both closed in unison on the far turn before flattening out, and it was the lightly raced Bond Market who mounted the strongest rally along the inside.
Nobody got within a length of Fire and Wine in the stretch, however, and he won by four lengths over Bond Market, in a time of 2:30.57 over the firm ground. Buium checked in third and was followed by Imyourmedicineman, Katie’s Grace, and Keepmypowderdry.
“This is the biggest win of my career,” said Samuel, who has won the Barbados Gold Cup a record seven times. “I’m very excited to be here in Canada, here winning at Woodbine. I like the way things are going right now. I’m not in no rush. This is now my home - Canada, other than Barbados. I’m going to take my time and build what I need to build here.”
Fire and Wine hadn’t won since his gate-to-wire score in the 1 1/8-mile Coronation Futurity in late November. He competed in the previous two legs of the Triple Crown, finishing third in the King’s Plate on Tapeta and fifth in the Prince of Wales Stakes on the dirt at Fort Erie.
“That horse can run,” Krcmar said. “When somebody hooks (up with him), he is a chicken, but in front, he’s as brave as they make them. He never stops. As soon as they come close, looking behind - gone. I have a lot of faith in him when he’s by himself. (Today) he was free and kept on going.”
Fire and Wine ($24.70) earned $300,000 for owner Paul Ryder. The huge son of Lexitonian was bred in Ontario by James and Janeane Everatt, Arika Meeuse, and Robert Marzilli.
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