Win City and filly are even-steven

ETOBICOKE, Ontario - There will be no Canadian Triple Crown winner again this year.

Win City made sure of that at Fort Erie Sunday, running down Queen's Plate winner Dancethruthedawn in the Prince of Wales and sending the $500,000 bonus for a Triple Crown sweep back into the vault for at least another season.

And while the connections of both Win City and Dancethruthedawn will consider going on to the Aug. 11 Breeders' Stakes, the 1 1/4-mile turf race that is the final jewel in the Canadian crown, it's just as likely the twain shall never again meet.

"We're definitely not definite for the Breeders'," said Bob Tiller, who trains Win City for Frank DiGiulio Jr. and the Estate of Frank DiGiulio.

"I feel my horse is a top horse up to a mile and an eighth. There are some races in the States for big money and on a given day, with a lot of speed in the race, watch out."

Trainer Mark Frostad has even more options with the Sam-Son Farm filly Dancethruthedawn, who may return to the company of her own sex.

"We may go to the Breeders'," allowed Frostad. "We'll sort that out in the next week or so."

In the meantime, Tiller and DiGiulio were enjoying the biggest victory of their racing careers after enduring the severe disappointment of Win City finishing second as the odds-on choice in the June 24 Plate at Woodbine.

"We turned the tables on her," said Tiller, at the barn Monday morning. "We didn't win the Plate, but there were different circumstances yesterday.

"There was more speed in there and on a different course and a different surface - the track had a little more give to it, it was kinder to come-from-behind horses.

"I believe my horse just went on and got that filly. He went after her, and chased her, and he was the better horse yesterday. But that's a great filly, and they're very equal."

Frostad, who trains Dancethruthedawn for Sam-Son Farm, felt the outcome could have been different had the front-running invader Wild Years not retreated so suddenly when challenged by the filly around the final turn. "I thought that horse would carry us on, for at least another eighth of a mile," he said. "If he'd have done that, I think we'd have won easily. It's tough to be on the lead that long, and she tends to loaf a little in the stretch."

AViva Allende!

Allende, owned by the Augustin Stable of George Strawbridge Jr. and trained by Mac Benson, won what was by far the biggest race of his career here Sunday in the $273,500 Hong Kong Jockey Club Trophy, a Grade 2 race over 1 3/8 miles of turf.

"We always had a high regard for this horse, but he never really seemed to live up to expectations," said Benson, who had sent out Allende to finish fourth in both the Queen's Plate and Breeders' here last year. "Now, he's finally getting it all together."

Benson said the key elements in Allende's rebirth have been the decisions to geld the horse last winter and to take the blinkers off for his last race, a 1 1/2-mile turf win here July 8.

"He ran awful big in his last start," said Benson. "He's just acting more mature, more settled. He was the quietest I've ever seen him but it wasn't just a quietness; it was a confident attitude."

Allende's next major target will be the Grade 2 $300,000 Niagara Breeders' Cup Handicap, a 1 1/2-mile turf race here Sept. 1.

Quiet Resolve, owned by Sam-Son and trained by Frostad, finished third as the 124-pound highweight and 3-5 choice while seeking his second straight Hong Kong Trophy score.

"He bled," said Frostad. "He just doesn't get enough Lasix here and on a hot, humid day, giving that kind of weight away, that's going to stop him."

Ontario rules allow the raceday administration of 250 milligrams (5 cc) of furosemide, which is low by industry standards.

Quiet Resolve is a possibility for the Grade 1 Arlington Million, a 1 1/4-mile turf race at Arlington Park Aug. 18.

Another Katryan star

Trainer Abraham Katryan has another top sprinter for his juggling act as Tempered Appeal, who was claimed from his last start for $80,000, upset last Saturday's 6 1/2-furlong Bold Venture here for new owner Bruno Schickedanz. A 4-year-old Florida-bred, Tempered Appeal had been owned by Mockingbird Farm and trained by Mark Casse.

Wake at Noon, also owned by Schickedanz, and One Way Love, owned by Schickedanz and John Hillier, also were candidates for the Bold Venture, but Tempered Appeal was called upon to hold up the side and came through with flying colors.

"I wasn't surprised," said Katryan. "He came to me in really good shape - all we had to do was pamper him, and take him to the races."

Tempered Appeal is to make his next start in the $50,000 Expedite Plus at Fort Erie Aug. 6 while Wake at Noon is shipping out for Saturday's $200,000 Philadelphia Park Breeders' Cup, a Grade 3, six-furlong race.