Two-time stakes winner Philip My Dear switches surfaces for Coronation Futurity

ETOBICOKE, Ontario – Philip My Dear takes his talents to the Tapeta on Sunday at Woodbine in the $250,000 Coronation Futurity for Canadian-bred 2-year-olds. It’s one of two terrific route stakes on the 10-race card, along with the $175,000 Autumn for 3-year-olds and up.

Philip My Dear has won three of his four starts, all on turf under Kazushi Kimura, including the Soaring Free and Cup and Saucer Stakes here. The lone blemish on his record is a third in the Grade 1 Summer.

Trainer Kevin Attard doesn’t expect Philip My Dear to have trouble making the switch to Tapeta.

“I liked him before we ran him and that was exclusively from him breezing over the Tapeta,” Attard said. “He’s always worked really well on it. The turf racing is just the way things aligned. If you want a horse to run a little further, the first opportunity you get here is turf. You’re almost forced in that direction, because you’re looking for more ground. That’s why we elected to run him on the turf to start. His dam won going long on the turf, but it was the distance more than anything.”

Attard is confident that Philip My Dear will stay the 1 1/8-mile distance of the Coronation. He has come from near the back of the field in all of his starts, including the 1 1/16-mile Cup and Saucer. Kimura rides him again in the Coronation.

“In the morning, he’s a very aggressive horse, but when he runs, he settles and turns off,” Attard said. “I guess Kimura has a knack for getting him to shut down, especially in his last race, the Cup and Saucer. He broke good and wanted to tuck in and save ground from the outside post, and the next thing you know, I was wondering how we got so far back. He seems to be a horse who’s very smart and lets the rider do what he wants. If he can give him a good trip, the distance shouldn’t be a problem.”

Twin City should be prominent with his tactical speed in the 14-horse field. Trained by Stuart Simon, Twin City ran second in his first three races, including the Simcoe Stakes, before graduating in a two-turn maiden special on Oct. 13.

“He’s been a really nice, consistent horse,” Simon said. “We’ve been very happy with all his starts. Last time, it was nice to see him get rewarded.”

Autumn Stakes

Treason makes his much-anticipated second Woodbine start in a field of 11 in the Grade 2 Autumn over 1 1/16 miles.

Treason, trained at the time by Bill Mott, struggled in three starts after winning his debut in June 2021 at Belmont. He returned from an 11-month layoff for trainer Josie Carroll here Sept. 4. The 4-year-old won a 1 1/16-mile allowance/optional claimer by 16 1/2 lengths in a synthetic-track record of 1:41.51 and got a 101 Beyer Speed Figure.

Jamie Roth of owner LNJ Foxwoods said Treason was gelded and freshened before shipping to Carroll . Roth thought the son of Constitution would relish the Tapeta.

“We liked him,” Roth said. “He had been training well and we felt he would take to synthetic, being a Constitution. But no one could ever imagine that kind of performance. I was a little nervous when he broke, because it seemed like he might be running off a little bit, but when he got into that beautiful stride, it was great to see.”