Heavyweights Moira, Fev Rover renew rivalry in star-packed E.P. Taylor

ETOBICOKE, Ontario – Canadian Horses of the Year Moira and Fev Rover will renew their rivalry on the Woodbine Mile undercard Saturday in the Grade 1, $750,000 E.P. Taylor, a 1 1/4-mile turf route with a stellar six-horse field of fillies and mares.

Named after a character in the popular sitcom Schitt’s Creek, 5-year-old Moira has an impressive list of accomplishments that puts her among the leading Canadian-breds this century. She won the Princess Elizabeth Stakes on debut at 2, and took the Woodbine Oaks and Queen’s Plate during her Horse of the Year campaign at 3 in 2022. She shattered the 1 1/4-mile synthetic track record in the Plate while scoring by seven lengths with a big 97 Beyer Speed Figure.

Moira capped her 2023 campaign with a bang-up third behind Europeans Inspiral and Warm Heart in the Breeders’ Cup Filly and Mare Turf, a Grade 1 in which she finished fifth in 2022. In her July 13 season opener, off an 8 1/2-month layoff, she rallied from off a slow pace in the Grade 1 Diana at Saratoga to finish a lapped-on second to the front-running Whitebeam.

Looking for firm ground and a fees-paid berth into the Breeders’ Cup, trainer Kevin Attard sent Moira to Colonial Downs on Aug. 11 for the Grade 2 Beverly D., rather than run her at home the day before in the Grade 2 Canadian. In a five-horse field devoid of speed, Fev Rover set comfortable fractions before Moira wore her down late to prevail by a head. Third-place finisher Neecie Marie returned to win the Grade 3 Ladies Marathon at Kentucky Downs.

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“She’s doing well,” Attard said. “I’m excited to have her back home and running on this E.P. Taylor turf course. I’m hoping the weather stays nice and we get a firm course.”

Fev Rover, a world traveler trained by Mark Casse, won three of six starts during her 2023 Horse of the Year season, which included victories in the Grade 1 Beverly D. and E.P. Taylor.

Coming off the sidelines June 7 in the Grade 1 New York at Saratoga, Fev Rover wound up sixth after a wide-stalking trip. Casse said she was uncharacteristically unruly before the race.

“It was very crowded and she got very upset prior to the race,” Casse recalled. “Some horses can’t take the eighth of a mile walk over” – from the paddock to the racetrack – “where you have to go with people on both sides yelling and screaming. She got really fired up, even before we got her saddled.”

Back in action at Woodbine July 29, Fev Rover rallied for second to Implicated in the Grade 2 Nassau, which set her up nicely for the Beverly D.

“I think her last race was very good,” Casse said. “John Velazquez is coming to ride her.”

Attard also entered Full Count Felicia, who figures to lead the way.

Full Count Felicia won the All Along Stakes last September at Laurel Park and took the Grade 3 Suwannee River at Gulfstream Park on Dec. 30. She was given a break after folding in the Grade 3 Endeavour on Feb. 3 at Tampa Bay Downs, and transferred from trainer Brittany Russell to Attard’s Woodbine barn.

Full Count Felicia led until about the eighth pole before fading to fourth in her first try for Attard in the one-mile Nassau. She was sharper with Rafael Hernandez back aboard in the 1 1/8-mile Canadian, in which she went straight to the front and never looked back to prevail by 2 3/4 lengths over last year’s Canadian champion older female Millie Girl.

With Hernandez committed to ride Moira, Kazushi Kimura has picked up the mount on Full Count Felicia.

Cinderella’s Dream, a crack 3-year-old trained by Charlie Appleby for Godolphin, is meeting older rivals for the first time off back-to-back wins in the Grade 1 Belmont Oaks and the Grade 2 Saratoga Oaks, both going 1 3/16 miles under William Buick.

The two French runners in the lineup, Blue Rose Cen and Blush, are competing on Lasix for the first time, which is also the case with Cinderella’s Dream.

Blue Rose Cen was among the leading female runners in Europe last year, winning three Group 1s, the French Oaks, the French 1000 Guineas, and the Prix de l’Opera. The Irish-bred is winless this year, but she was beaten just three-quarters of a length last out when fourth in the Group 1 Prix Jean Romanet at Deauville.

Blush has won her last three outings against 3-year-old fillies, culminating in the Group 3 Prix Chloe at Chantilly.

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