Two of Canada's best meet again

ETOBICOKE, Ontario - Eccentric will look to turn the tables on Leonnatus Anteas at Woodbine in Saturday's Grade 3, $150,000 Autumn Stakes. Both runners will make a pitch for a Sovereign Award as a Canadian champion in the 1o1/16-mile race.

Eccentric is exiting a gutsy victory on turf in the Oct. 27 Chief Bearhart Stakes, which came just two weeks after his troubled run in the Durham Cup Stakes on Polytrack. In the Grade 3 Durham Cup, he awaited room at the quarter pole before rallying to finish second to Leonnatus Anteas.

Eccentric upset Grade 1 winners Sky Conqueror and Jambalaya in the Grade 2 King Edward Breeders' Cup Stakes on July 2. He didn't race again until last month's Durham Cup, much to the frustration of trainer Roger Attfield.

"He had a blind splint, and has a few other older problems," Attfield said. "I just have to look after and work around his wear and tear."

Attfield said he had some apprehension running Eccentric back on short rest in the Chief Bearhart.

"I wasn't 100 percent sure that I was going to run him," Attfield said. "That was a big race for him in the Durham Cup. He really had to do a whole lot of running the last part. It's a shame he got beat, because I think he could have won."

Eccentric could be a Sovereign finalist for champion older male and champion turf male this year.

Leonnatus Anteas is the leading contender for the Sovereign as champion 3-year-old. He bypassed the Canadian Triple Crown, and made four of his five starts this year against older opponents, the exception being a fourth-place finish in the Grade 2 Super Derby at Louisiana Downs.

Trainer Kevin Attard was content with Leonnatus Anteas's last-out score in the Durham Cup.

"It was nice to see him get back on track," said Attard. "I thought it was a pretty good performance by a horse three weeks after shipping to Louisiana and back."

The other contenders are True Metropolitan, Arch Hall, and Gouldings Green.

True Metropolitan, last year's champion older male and a top contender for the same honor this sason, won the 2006 Durham Cup when it was called the Woodbine Slots Cup. He has had another productive campaign this year, winning stakes at Hastings, Northlands, and here in the Grade 3 Dominion Day.

Arch Hall also lacked room on the far turn in the Durham Cup before closing for third.

Kentucky shipper Gouldings Green won the Grade 3 Seagram Cup Stakes here in July.