Mythical Mission set for stakes debut in Princess Elizabeth

ETOBICOKE, Ontario – The undefeated Mythical Mission is on track to make her stakes debut in Saturday’s $250,000 Princess Elizabeth Stakes, trainer Malcolm Pierce said.

Mythical Mission followed up on her debut win on turf Sept. 23 with an allowance victory over 1 1/16 miles on Tapeta in her most recent start Oct. 21. While that race was originally scheduled for turf, Pierce said having a race over the Tapeta worked out for the best.

“It made our decision easier to run [in the Princess Elizabeth], seeing how she handled the Tapeta fine the other day,” he said.

Another strong performance Saturday could make Mythical Mission one of the early favorites for next year’s Woodbine Oaks. Pierce said the Woodbine Oaks would be a goal for Mythical Mission if she continued to progress.

“You always have to dream about that stuff,” he said. “As long as you have a nice 2-year-old, you sure hope that everything goes well over the wintertime and that she could make a race like that.”

Pierce to winter in Tampa

With less than a month to go in the Woodbine meet, a number of trainers will be heading south for the winter. Pierce is one of them, but this winter, he will have a new home base.

Pierce said he has decided to take out stalls at Tampa Bay Downs for the first time. Pierce said a combination of factors, including prior injuries to some of his horses and the track’s proximity to Sam-Son Farm’s Florida farm in Ocala, played a part in the decision to move from Palm Meadows and Gulfstream Park to Tampa Bay Downs.

“That’s one of our reasons to go to Tampa is because the farm is only an hour and a half away,” he said. “As horses run, they can go home and have a little bit of a break. We’ll likely have more young horses there that need to get some racetrack experience. Between Palm Meadows and Gulfstream, we had more than our fair share of injuries.”

Pierce’s horses will run for smaller purses at Tampa Bay Downs than they would at Gulfstream Park, but Pierce said the move would be worth it in the long run.

“If they’re good horses, they’ll make their money down the road,” he said. “Obviously, we’re going to be running for a lot less money than we would be with Canadian-breds at Woodbine, but we’ll be able to make that sacrifice to get some experience into some of the horses.”