Woodbine: Bear's Chill may employ different style in Achievement

ETOBICOKE, Ontario – Bear’s Chill will try to regroup off his fade job in the Plate Trial Stakes this Saturday at Woodbine in the $150,000 Achievement, a six-furlong stakes for Ontario-bred 3-year-olds.

Bear’s Chill looked like a contender for last Sunday’s Queen’s Plate following his back-to-back front-running scores in a pair of seven-furlong sprints, most notably in the Queenston Stakes, where he earned a Beyer Speed Figure of 97.

Bear’s Chill was favored in the June 5 Trial. After setting a moderate pace in the nine-furlong route, he folded in the stretch to finish a distant ninth and last.

“The heat bothered him, and the distance bothered him in the Trial,” said trainer Reade Baker. “We’re shortening up here, and hoping for some cooler weather.”

Baker has changed riders for the Achievement, going from the often-aggressive Emile Ramsammy to the more patient Luis Contreras, a move that suggests that Bear’s Chill might be rated off the pace.

“Maybe he doesn’t have to be a front-runner,” Baker said.

Baker said he supplemented Bear No Joke to the Achievement because other races for him failed to fill. Bear No Joke has been idle since capturing a slow allowance May 13.

Say No More is also looking to bounce back off a subpar showing. He won his season opener in a first-level allowance convincingly, before finishing a clear second in the Queenston.

Most recently in a tough optional claimer on the grass, Say No More finished a flat fifth, an effort that trainer Mike Keogh had no explanation for.

“It looked like he had a ton of horse, and then he had nothing when he asked him,” said Keogh. “He scoped clean after the race, so it’s kind of a mystery. The reason that I ran him on the turf against older horses is because I didn’t think the prep for the Achievement would go, and it didn’t go.”

Keogh said he has no qualms with running Say No More three-quarters, a distance over which the gelding has yet compete on Polytrack.

“He ran well first time out going five and a half, and then he chased Bear’s Chill in the Queenston,” said Keogh. “He’s worked nicely, nothing flashy.”

Eternal Rule was awarded an 81 Beyer Figure in his gate-to-wire victory in a six-furlong allowance June 19. He is unbeaten in two starts for trainer Sid Attard.

Call for Silver, a recent maiden winner on the grass, was also supplemented at a cost of $3,000.