Tiller sees 'Forever' as ready

FORT ERIE, Ontario - Forever Grand, who was third in this year's Queen Plate, tops the festivities at Fort Erie on Tuesday as the track hosts four stakes that were formerly held at Woodbine.

The $60,000 events are restricted to runners who were offered for sale at one of Woodbine's open yearling sales or 2-year-olds-in-training sales.

The Harry J. Addison Jr. is for colts and geldings, 3 years old and up, and the Harry A. Hindmarsh is for fillies and mares, 3 and up. Both races will be run at 1 1/16 miles.

The other two stakes are at six furlongs for 2-year-olds. One race is for fillies, the other for colts and geldings.

Forever Grand, a Bob Tiller-trained 3-year-old who has won four of eight starts this year, starts in the Addison. He showed a new dimension when he came off the pace to capture the Elgin Stakes at Woodbine on Sept. 2.

"Earlier he was all speed," said Tiller. "Now he showed he's not speed-crazy. He's more relaxed. The win was against older horses. He's dead-fit and ready to run."

Todd Kabel will be aboard Forever Grand in the Addison, which drew just a field of four.

In the six-horse Hindmarsh, Devastating, twice a stakes winner at Woodbine this year, will square off with the fast-improving Small Promises. In her most recent start, Devastating faded to last after contesting the early pace in the Grade 1 Ballerina at Saratoga on Aug. 25.

"The fractions were too fast for her," said trainer Rob King Jr. "We brought her back and freshened her on a farm for a week." King called a Thursday workout by Devastating "awful good."

Small Promises, trained by Roger Attfield, won the Algoma Stakes at Woodbine on Sept. 2.

Frankiefourfingers, an authoritative winner of the $164,000 Clarendon in his only lifetime start, heads a field of five in the male version of the Juvenile.

Trainer Ed Freeman said that Frankiefourfingers became sick just before a planned second start last month, but that he has improved physically since his win. "He's kind of filled out and muscled out," said Freeman.

Frankiefourfingers was purchased for $17,000 with pinhooking in mind.

"We bought him back for $135,000," said Freeman. "We wanted $150,000. We looked stupid for about two weeks - then we looked like geniuses."

The Juvenile for females appears to be wide open. Patient Patty is the only runner with a stakes appearance. She finished a closing fifth in the Algoma after getting off slowly.