Kevin Attard saddles contenders in Bison City Stakes and Canadian Stakes
ETOBICOKE, Ontario – Trainer Kevin Attard will be well represented on Saturday’s Queen’s Plate undercard, when he runs Woodbine Oaks runner-up Afleet Katherine in the $250,000 Bison City Stakes and Amalfi Coast in the Grade 2 Canadian.
Unraced at 2, Afleet Katherine won a maiden race and an allowance race in July in her first two starts, both going seven-eighths on the grass. She assumed a stalking position along the inside in the fast-paced Oaks before going on to finish second to Curlin’s Voyage, a prime contender in the Queen’s Plate.
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Attard is encouraged by the way Afleet Katherine has trained since the 1 1/8-mile Oaks, run Aug. 15.
“I think her last two works were arguably better than her work going into the Oaks,” Attard said. “She’s in good order. She had a little bit of jammed schedule, and she’s handled everything pretty good. She’s shown a lot of grit. I’m excited to see her run. I don’t think the pace will be anything like it was in the Oaks.”
Infinite Patience set a blazing pace in the Oaks before fading to finish seventh. She returns in the Bison City, and should be better suited to the 1 1/16-mile distance. Unbeaten in five starts at 2, all at Hastings, she was third behind Curlin’s Voyage in her local debut in the July 5 Fury Stakes. Trainer Lorne Richards has tabbed Patrick Husbands to be her new rider.
New York shipper Truth Hurts, who won her first two starts, both on the dirt at Aqueduct, was fourth when returning from a layoff in the Aug. 9 Audubon Oaks at Ellis Park. She’s been training at Belmont, where trainer Chad Summers has made use of the jogging barn, which is equipped with a Tapeta surface, to prepare her for her first synthetic start.
“The jogging barn is open at Belmont, so we’ve been taking her there twice a week to get her used to the synthetic surface at Woodbine,” Summers said. “In a perfect world, I’d go to Woodbine early and get a breeze over the track there, but with this year we’re not getting that opportunity.”
Pseudonym, a turf expert from Gulfstream Park trained by Saffie Joseph Jr., is another wild card in the eight-horse event, which is the middle leg of the Canadian Triple Tiara, a series for Canadian-bred 3-year-old fillies.
Canadian Stakes
Due to the absence of 2019 Canadian Horse of the Year Starship Jubilee, the $250,000 Canadian is a wide open 10-horse affair for fillies and mares. Amalfi Coast could be peaking for the nine-furlong turf route, which stablemate Starship Jubilee won each of the past two years.
After a slow start to her season, the versatile Amalfi Coast is coming off a wide third behind divisional leader Souper Escape and Painting in the Grade 3 Seaway on the Tapeta.
“She finally ran a good race,” Attard said. “She did have a throat issue that we rectified after her previous start. She came back with a performance like we were hoping for earlier in the year. It seems like she’s back to her old self. This will be another tall task, but I think she’s up to the challenge.”
Cambier Parc has been out of action since notching her second straight Grade 1 win for 3-year-old fillies Oct. 12, the Queen Elizabeth II Challenge Cup at Keeneland. She has been working at Saratoga for accomplished layoff trainer Chad Brown.
Maryland-based Theodora B. sprang an 11-1 upset on Aug. 15 in the Grade 2 Dance Smartly, leading all the way under Justin Stein.
Trainer Roger Attfield entered Elizabeth Way and Art of Almost, who finished third and fourth in the 1 1/4-mile Dance Smartly. Elizabeth Way won her local bow in the Grade 2 Nassau going a mile June 27. She also won the Grade 3 The Very One at Gulfstream in February.
Overnight stakes draw 7 each
Saturday's two $100,000 overnight stakes, the Ruling Angel and King Corrie, each drew seven entrants.
The Josie Carroll trainee Boardroom will put her unbeaten record on the line in the Ruling Angel, a 6 1/2-furlong Tapeta sprint for 3-year-old fillies.
Trainer Mark Casse entered Duke of Carthania and Lontano in the King Corrie, a five-furlong inner-turf dash for 3-year-olds.