Passion for Action pointing to Coronation Futurity

ETOBICOKE, Ontario – Passion for Action emerged as one of the leading 2-year-olds at Woodbine when he captured the Cup and Saucer Stakes on turf Oct. 12 and will now be pointed toward the $250,000 Coronation Futurity for Canadian-bred 2-year-olds on Nov. 29, trainer Michael De Paulo said.

De Paulo said the Display Stakes came up too soon for Passion for Action, who was supposed to run in the Grade 2 Summer Stakes in mid-September after finishing second behind Conquest Tsunami in the local prep for that event Aug. 23. A bout of mucus in between the prep and the Summer forced Passion for Action to miss several weeks of training.

“We were going to run him in the Summer, but he was full of mucus, and we had to wait,” he said. “That’s why we missed so much time.”

De Paulo said he had concerns about the 1 1/16-mile distance heading into the Cup and Saucer, given the time off, but Passion for Action delivered in style with a 3 1/4-length victory over Java’s Bourbon.

“You don’t know until you try them,” he said. “His pedigree says sprint, but obviously he can rate and run on.”

Looking ahead, De Paulo said he is hopeful that Passion for Action could emerge as a 2015 Queen’s Plate prospect, but for now, he’s only focused on training up to the Coronation Futurity.

“We certainly hope [he can become a Queen’s Plate prospect],” he said. “The main thing would be to get by the Coronation and go from there. That would probably be it for the rest of the year.”