Quiet Resolve tries home turf

ETOBICOKE, Ontario - Quiet Resolve, Canada's reigning Horse of the Year, will make his first local start of the year Sunday at Woodbine in the $341,400, 1 1/8-mile King Edward Breeders' Cup Handicap.

The Grade 2 turf event has also lured New York shipper Spindrift, a Bill Mott-trained runner who is returning from an extended layoff.

Quiet Resolve won the Horse of the Year title by running a close second to Kalanasi in the Grade 1 Breeders' Cup Turf at Churchill in November. His two stakes scores last year came in the Grade 2 Dixie Handicap at Pimlico and in Woodbine's Grade 2 Hong Kong Jockey Club Trophy Stakes.

On the surface, Quiet Resolve's two efforts this season could be described as subpar. He was fourth on both occasions, in the Grade 2 Maker's Mark Mile at Keeneland and most recently in the May 19 Dixie.

Trainer Mark Frostad said Quiet Resolve encountered some trouble in the stretch of the Maker's Mark, in which he was beaten just 1 1/2 lengths.

"He got bothered a little," Frostad recalled. "He was bumped, but it was nothing serious. It was a good race for his first start back."

Quiet Resolve finished three lengths back of victorious Hap in the nine-furlong Dixie. "There was a pretty slow pace up front," Frostad noted. "He kicked on, but the others kicked on a little faster."

Frostad felt Quiet Resolve didn't enjoy the soft ground in last year's King Edward, in which he was upset by Incitatus. With very little rain in the forecast for the weekend, he should get a firm course.

Gary Boulanger rides for Sam-Son Farm.

Spindrift, a listed winner in Dubai in 1999, won the Grade 3 Fort Marcy Handicap at Aqueduct in May of 2000. He was third behind Manndar in his only other North American outing, the Grade 1 Manhattan Handicap at Belmont exactly a year ago, when he was trained by Kiaran McLaughlin.

Robbie Davis will ride Spindrift. Mott and Davis teamed up to take a division of the Connaught Cup Stakes two weeks ago with Del Mar Show, which was Mott's first local win since he ran Geri in the

1997 Woodbine Mile.

Completing the field are Cracker's Folly, Muntej, Red Sea, Kimberlite Pipe, Lodge Hill, River Boat, Divine Luck, and Silver Axe.

Trainer Roger Attfield will saddle the entry of Red Sea and Muntej. Red Sea captured the faster division of the Connaught after awaiting running room in the stretch. Muntej was beaten three lengths by Del Mar Show when fourth in the other split.