Abeliefinthislivin in 1st race up north wins Canadian Derby

Abeliefinthislivin was a maiden winner in the U.S. who seemed to be going the wrong direction as he entered longer and longer races. That was before he went north of the border.

In his first race for trainer Barbara Heads and his first time stretching to 1 1/4 miles, Abeliefinthislivin (8-5) made a strong, closing move in the stretch on his way to a 2 1/2-length win Saturday night to win the 94th running of the Grade 3, US$146,945 Canadian Derby at Century Mile in Edmonton.

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Owned by Peter Redekop and formerly trained by Peter Miller, the 3-year-old Arrogate colt raced in fourth through the first six furlongs before jockey Amadeo Pérez asked for more going into the second turn. He responded with a move that drew him even with about 175 yards to go and then passing pacesetter Heroic Move (4-1) as he drew clear at the finish.

American Blaze (12-1) finished second, three-quarters of a length ahead of third-place Accidental Hero (19-1). Heroic Move faded to finish another 1 1/2 lengths up the track to come in fourth in the field of 12.

Abeliefinthislivin’s winning time was 2:03.00 on the fast, main track after Heroic Move’s early fractions of 22.60, 47.05, 1:10.89 and 1:36.33. Abeliefinthislivin paid $5.40, $3.70 and $3.20; American Blaze $11.20 and $6.10; and Accidental Hero $9.00.

A fourth-place finisher last out for Miller on July 8 in the Los Alamitos Derby, Abeliefinthislivin was allowed back on Lasix for this race. His only previous win came with the medication March 27 at Santa Anita in his fourth attempt to break his maiden. Abeliefinthislivin has two wins and a second in four races on Lasix.

The Canadian Derby was the second jewel in the Western Canadian Triple Crown, which began Aug. 7 with Mano Dura winning the Manitoba Derby. The British Columbia Derby (G3) on Sept. 16 at Hastings in Vancouver will finish the series.