Starship Jubilee under consideration for E.P. Taylor

ETOBICOKE, Ontario – Starship Jubilee regained her best form here in last Saturday’s Grade 2 Canadian, closing from off a lively pace in the about nine-furlong turf stakes and blowing the doors off the Chad Brown-trained duo of New Money Honey and Inflexibility.

Starship Jubilee was voted Canadian champion female grass runner in 2017, and she could win the award again this year. Trainer Kevin Attard, who owns her with Soli Mehta, said he’s on the fence regarding whether to run her back at 10 furlongs in the Grade 1 E.P. Taylor here Oct. 13.

“Obviously, we’ll nominate to the E.P. Taylor, but it’s a tougher race,” Attard said. “Her style makes me [think] the mile and a quarter might be within her reach, but I’ve never been convinced that she wants to go that far, either.”

Attard said Blessed Two will run in Sunday’s $100,000 Bull Page Stakes, a six-furlong sprint for Ontario-sired juveniles, where he could meet Stolen Identity again. After running third to Stolen Identity on debut, Blessed Two graduated in the restricted Simcoe Stakes going 6 1/2 furlongs here Aug. 29. Blessed Two closed from left field with the aid an outside bias.

“I always thought he had some talent,” Attard said. “Heading into this race, we’ve been trying to put some more speed into him because of the cutback. Ideally, I would have liked to stretch him out, but this Ontario-sired race isn’t a bad spot.”

Attard said Melmich will compete in Sunday’s Grade 3 Durham Cup Stakes. The millionaire Melmich is winless five starts this year, with four seconds. Most recently, in the Elgin Stakes, Kingsport set pokey fractions and kept on going as Melmich mounted a bid to finish 1 1/2 lengths back.

“It’s hard to expect the horse to win off of those splits,” Attard said.

Attard is aiming Algoma Stakes winner Trini Brewnette to the $100,000 Classy ’n Smart here Sept. 30. The Aug. 29 Algoma was the 4-year-old’s first victory in nearly two years.

“She’s been a frustrating horse, and it was nice to see her put in that performance,” Attard said.

◗ One promising 2-year-old who won’t see action this year is Ari Gold Speedwagon, a son of leading Ontario freshman sire Souper Speedy. Ari Gold Speedwagon is a half-brother to reigning Canadian Horse of the Year Pink Lloyd, and they are trained by Robert Tiller.

Tiller said that Ari Gold Speedwagon worked three furlongs in 35 seconds.

“He’s a runner,” Tiller said. “He had a little injury, and we had to stop on him.”

◗ Trainer Roger Attfield sends out Glencairn and Bet On Mike in Friday’s nominal feature, a nonwinners-of-three route for Ontario-sired allowance horses and $40,000 claimers.