Red Hierarchy puts up big Beyer, will stay sprinting for now

ETOBICOKE, Ontario – Marine Stakes winner Shirl’s Speight wasn’t the only unbeaten 3-year-old to impress last Saturday at Woodbine.

Fresh off a six-length debut score July 12, the flashy chestnut Red Hierarchy looked like a young Pink Lloyd when he doubled up with another dominating six-length tally, in another 6 1/2-furlong event for Ontario-sired runners. After earning an 83 Beyer Speed Figure at first asking, he got an 89 Beyer, the second-highest by a male 3-year-old at Woodbine this year after Shirl’s Speight’s 91 from the Marine.

Trainer Jamie Attard said he and owner Howie Walton have resisted the temptation to put Red Hierarchy on the road to the Sept. 12 Queen’s Plate, and they will keep him sprinting for the immediate future. That decision was easier to make after Walton’s Dotted Line, trained by Jamie’s father, Sid, finished third in the Grade 3 Marine in what figures to be his penultimate start before the $1 million Plate.

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“We felt it was best to keep him going 6 1/2 or seven furlongs,” Attard said. “It’s too close to try and rush him to the Plate. There’s just not enough time to do it the right way. Horses like him don’t come along very often. Down the line, we’ll stretch him out. He’s very laid back. He’s such a nice horse to deal with. He does everything you ask of him.”

Walton’s Norseman Racing Stable also campaigned Red Hierarchy’s sire, Signature Red, a Grade 2-winning turf sprinter. Attard felt it was prudent not to run the gelding at 2.

“He was just too big last year,” Attard recalled. “He was coming along okay, and just had a couple of little baby things. I told Howie that he’s a nice horse and it would be best to put him away for the year. We gave him some time off, and he went down to Florida over the winter.”

Attard said Red Hierarchy’s next start has yet to be determined.

“He ran two races in 13 days,” Attard said. “It was quicker back than we would have liked. He came out of the first race so well, so we just went with it. He’ll have a little break, and we’ll find an Ontario-sired nonwinners of three.”

Clayton makes case as Plate favorite

Jamie’s cousin, Kevin Attard, trains Clayton, who could be construed as the early Queen’s Plate favorite off a dominating allowance win going 1 1/16 miles in his first start around two turns July 18. Clayton is now 2 for 3 with a pair of 88 Beyers on his record.

Kevin Attard said Clayton will run back in the $150,000 Plate Trial over nine furlongs on Aug. 15.

“We think he’s got a lot of talent,” Attard said.

* Friday’s eight-race card is headed by the $50,000 Midsummer Handicap, which is a starter for fillies and mares scheduled for a mile on the inner turf.