Sir Winston points to Durham Cup
ETOBICOKE, Ontario – Sir Winston, the 2019 Belmont Stakes winner, made a triumphant return to Woodbine when he won a conditioned allowance route on the main track off a one-year layoff with a 93 Beyer Speed Figure on Aug. 19.
Sir Winston is slated to make his next start here Oct. 10 in the Grade 3 Durham Cup, according to trainer Mark Casse, who bypassed the Grade 3 Seagram Cup here Sept. 11 with the son of Awesome Again.
“He’s good,” Casse said. “Coming off a year layoff, I didn’t want to rush him back.”
Sir Winston adores Woodbine’s Tapeta, over which he breezed a half-mile in 50.20 seconds last Saturday. He won his maiden and the Display Stakes over the synthetic surface in 2018, races that sandwiched a third-place finish in the Grade 3 Grey.
Casse said he has two prospects for the Grade 3, $150,000 Ontario Derby here Oct. 31 – Dolder Grand and Frosted Over.
Dolder Grand, an $800,000 2-year-old purchase by D. J. Stable, graduated in his ninth start here July 4, doing so by 10 1/2 lengths in his first Tapeta excursion. He promptly doubled up in a first-level allowance before ending up fourth against older opposition in the Seagram Cup.
“Given the slow pace, I thought Dolder Grand ran pretty good against older horses,” Casse said. “He’ll come back in the Ontario Derby.”
Frosted Over earned the highest Beyer (92) by a 3-year-old at Woodbine this year, taking a seven-furlong maiden-special easily June 20. He got a freshening after ending up fourth in the Grade 3 Marine on July 11 and won an allowance route most recently in a blanket finish.
“He was much the best,” Casse said regarding Frosted Over’s Sept. 11 score.
13 nominated to Breeders’
Thirteen Canadian-bred 3-year-olds are nominated to the $400,000 Breeders’ Stakes, the anchor leg of the Canadian Triple Crown here Oct. 3.
Queen’s Plate winner Safe Conduct is a proven grass runner who should be favored in the 1 1/2-mile turf marathon.
The top four finishers in the 1 3/16-mile Prince of Wales Stakes on dirt at Fort Erie are all nominated, including the Kevin Attard trainees Haddassah, Harlan Estate, and H C Holiday.
“We’re going to see how they are in the next little bit,” Attard said. “They all seem to have come out of the race in good shape – so far, so good.”
Keep Grinding finished third in the Prince of Wales, 2 1/4 lengths behind victorious Haddassah and four lengths ahead of a troubled H C Holiday.
“We’re considering it, but we’re not 100 percent sure,” said owner Joshua Attard, Kevin’s teenage son and the grandson of Keep Grinding’s trainer, Tino Attard.
Among the other nominees is Queen’s Plate runner-up Riptide Rock, who skipped the Prince of Wales and is coming off a third in the Toronto Cup Stakes on the grass.