Special Forces turns tables in Autumn Stakes

ETOBICOKE, Ontario – Special Forces gave jockey Eurico Da Silva his sixth winner on the card when notching his first stakes in Sunday’s Grade 2 Autumn at Woodbine.

Special Forces had finished second to front-runner Mr Ritz in the Sept. 9 Presque Isle Mile, but the tables were turned in the 1 1/16-mile Autumn. The favored Mr Ritz stalked pacesetter Salute With Honor through moderate splits, while the Candy Ride gelding Special Forces bided his time near the rear of the eight-horse field.

Special Forces ($5.30) began to make up ground midway on the backstretch, and went three wide on the far turn into contention. Mr Ritz assumed command in the stretch, but Special Forces rallied to prevail by three-quarters of a length without switching leads. His final time of 1:42.57 was just .41 off the synthetic track record.

Cooler Mike finished a distant third, and was followed by Salute With Honor, Isotherm, Sir Anthony, Say the Word, and Admiralty Pier.

“This horse was in great shape today,” Da Silva said. “He was very focused, very relaxed. When I was sitting behind there, it was just a matter of time for me to get going.”

Special Forces, who was coming off a nose loss in the Grade 3 Durham Cup, earned $105,000 of the $178,850 purse for the partnership of trainer Kevin Attard and Soli Mehta.

“We were real high on the horse from last year,” Attard said. “Each time he’s run, he’s run a great race. A lot of the time, he’s just been hindered by pace. It’s hard to close against good horses when you’re too far out of it, with his running style. Today, things worked out on paper and transpired in the race.”