Tyson comes into Seagram Cup off breakthrough victory

ETOBICOKE, Ontario – Tyson won’t have to deal with his archrival and stablemate Treason in Saturday’s $175,000 Seagram Cup at Woodbine, since Treason wasn’t entered in the Grade 2 stakes.

Tyson should be odds-on under Rafael Hernandez, who was aboard when the flashy Tapit colt came from midpack to finish third behind Treason in his stakes debut in the Grade 2 Eclipse here June 4.

When moving out from 1 1/16 miles to 1 1/8 miles most recently in the Grade 3 Dominion Day, Tyson turned the tables on Treason in a breakout performance. Tyson was stuck in traffic on the backstretch before making up ground quickly on his left lead in the stretch to win by 1 1/2 lengths over Treason with a big 101 Beyer Speed Figure.

“It was a tough trip for a great big, long-striding horse,” trainer Josie Carroll said. “He was getting shuffled around and [Hernandez] was sitting and sitting until he could get him out of there. Everything that could go wrong for him went wrong, but when he got out, he just fired.

“He was closing strongly in [the Eclipse] and I was expecting a big race from him. Once he gets a chance to use that big stride, he just takes off.”

Co-owner John Sikura is hoping Tyson blossoms into a runner who can compete in the United States.

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“We’ll see if he can establish himself as the best synthetic older horse in Canada,” Sikura said. “We’ll take one race at a time and see if he’s a horse that can travel and try to win a major graded stakes race outside of Canada. We’ll focus on this one first. If he runs his race, I think he’ll give a good account of himself.”

Tyson is the 124-pound highweight in the 1 1/16-mile Seagram Cup.

Artie’s Storm is adding bar shoes off a non-threatening fifth in the Dominion Day, a race in which the 5-year-old wound up second last year. Artie’s Storm is winless in eight starts since taking the 2022 Eclipse over Canadian champions Frosted Over and Mighty Heart.

David Moran will ride Artie’s Storm for trainer Paul Buttigieg after breezing him five-eighths in a quick 59.40 seconds last Saturday. He has been aboard for all 19 of the gelding’s races and the majority of his works.

Carrothers was in solid form prior to the Dominion Day, during which he folded in the stretch after getting softened up in a speed duel. The 5-year-old took a three-race win streak at Gulfstream Park into the Eclipse, in which he finished a clear second.

Sahin Civaci has been trainer Marty Drexler’s go-to rider and will pilot Carrothers for the first time Saturday.

The lone shipper in the lineup is the Jorge Delgado-trained Kingmax, who cleared the first two allowance conditions in his last two outings, both on the Monmouth Park turf.

Rounding out the field are Clear Destination and Seventyseven Stone.

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