Sam-Son sends three in turf stakes

ETOBICOKE, Ontario - No owner has dominated the Cup and Saucer Stakes like Sam-Son Farm, which has won the 1 1/16-mile turf race for Canadian-bred 2-year-olds an astounding 13 times.

Mark Frostad trained three of those winners, including first-time starter Atlantic Fury in 2001. Shoal Water made his debut in last year's running and finished a close second for Frostad, who entered a trio of Sam-Son runners in this year's edition Saturday at Woodbine: Silver Ticket, Rainbows for Luck, and Moonlight Duel.

Silver Ticket, who won at first crack in a mile and 70-yard maiden special on the main track, was seventh as the favorite last Sunday in the Grey Breeders' Cup Stakes.

In the Grade 2 Grey, Silver Ticket found himself in the middle of a pack of horses on the clubhouse turn, where jockey Todd Kabel had to take hold of him, according to Frostad.

"He's such a big horse," Frostad said, "and he lost his momentum and never picked it back up. He just galloped around.

"He's a lovely horse who's trained very well. Hopefully, he'll run a little better this time. He's from a turf family."

Rainbows for Luck, one of two horses on the also-eligible list, is a first-timer by recently deceased Epsom Derby winner Benny the Dip.

"He's only just recently come around," Frostad said. "He's a big, gangly horse. He's worked well over the turf. I'm afraid he's not very useful over the dirt."

Moonlight Duel was fourth in a two-turn maiden special on the dirt in his lone outing. "He ran a pretty creditable race," Frostad said. "At least he has a start under his belt."

Moonlight Duel is a full brother to Hard Edge, a stakes-placed turf runner. His half-brother Think Red won the 2000 Toronto Cup Stakes on turf.

Among the other 13 entrants in the $250,000 race are Winter Whiskey and Not Again Dan, who were each supplemented to the race at a cost of $5,000.

Winter Whiskey pulled off a 10-1 upset three weeks ago in the seven-furlong Swynford Stakes. Trainer Catherine Day-Phillips said Winter Whiskey, a son of Whiskey Wisdom, has a license to handle the grass, a surface he has yet to compete over.

"His mother broke her maiden on the turf," Day-Phillips said. "When we breezed him a quarter-mile on the turf, he seemed really comfortable on it."

Not Again Dan, in his only start, rallied for third in a seven-furlong maiden special on the grass in August.