Fev Rover resumes rivalry with Moira on Sunday in Beverly D.

New Kent, Va.

Dual Hall of Fame trainer Mark Casse was rewarded quickly for putting his trust in his assistant Nick Tomlinson to look after his first string of horses last year at Colonial Downs.

Tomlinson handled Fev Rover’s successful preparation last August for the Beverly D. Stakes, which was the first of two Grade 1 races that Fev Rover won in 2023.

Click here for Colonial Downs entries and results.

A year later, Tomlinson finds himself in a familiar place, preparing the Ireland-bred daughter of Gutaifan to defend in the Beverly D., which was downgraded to a Grade 2 this year but still will be worth $500,000 when it is run on the postponed Arlington Million card Sunday.

Unlike last year, though, Fev Rover will not be favored. That distinction belongs to familiar rival Moira, who came back from an eight-month break to run a taut second last month in the Diana (G1) at Saratoga.

“Moira came back and ran an exceptional race off a layoff,” Tomlinson said Saturday as he walked from his barn to the verdant path leading to a backstretch vantage point to watch training. “Kevin and his crew have done a phenomenal job with that filly.”

That would be trainer Kevin Attard, who, like Tomlinson, is a native of Ontario, Canada. Their paths have crossed more than a few times, particularly with Fev Rover and Moira.

The 1 3/16-mile Beverly D. will mark their sixth race against one another. Fev Rover has gotten the best of their duels three times, including wins last year in the one-mile Nassau (G2) and the 1 1/4-mile E. P. Taylor (G1) at Woodbine. Moira has been better twice, finishing first in the 2023 Canadian Stakes (G2) covering 1 1/8 miles.

“In horse racing, you don’t really duck anybody,” Attard said.

Their last meeting came in the Breeders’ Cup Filly & Mare Turf at Santa Anita, where Moira finished third and Fev Rover a career-worst 11th. The Beverly D. could be a step toward redemption this fall at Del Mar since it qualifies the winner to return to the Breeders’ Cup.

As accomplished as Fev Rover is as a 6-year-old who has earned $1,305,745 in her 22 races for owner Tracy Farmer, Tomlinson could not help but express the utmost respect for Moira, a 5-year-old who has racked up $1,513,999 and the 2022 Canada horse-of-the-year award for Lanni Bloodstock, Madaket Stables and SF Racing.

“As the years go on, it seems the better she gets,” Tomlinson said. “It’ll be interesting to see, you know. Two horses that have come down from Canada makes it definitely great for Woodbine racing, for their competition.”

Coming off her own seven-month break, Fev Rover finished a weakening sixth in the 1 3/16-mile New York (G1) on June 7 at Saratoga before placing second three weeks later as the odds-on favorite in the Nassau (G2) at Woodbine.

Since that last race Fev Rover breezed three consecutive weeks at Woodbine, covering a half-mile in 48.0, 48.0 and 48.2 seconds.

Our filly is training phenomenal,” Tomlinson said.

Because Casse decided last year to have a permanent summer presence at Colonial, Fev Rover and her 3-year-old stablemate In a Jam, a long shot in Sunday’s Secretariat (G2), did not have their plans adversely affected this past week by tropical storm Debby. Where others like Moira were uncertain to travel to Virginia, Casse was unwavering in his plans, especially with his assistant of nine years running the barn.

“It’s nice to run out of the stalls,” Tomlinson said. “With Fev Rover, I think it was nice for her to come about a week before the race, especially since she could get acclimated a little bit. I’ve definitely seen a huge difference in her from the first day here to today. And in a good way.”

Fev Rover was able to get in some work at Colonial Downs before the worst of the wet weather doused the track Thursday and Friday. Meanwhile, it was the uncertainty of Debby that caused Attard to wait before declaring Moira would start in the Beverly D. over Saturday’s Canadian Stakes.

“I didn’t realize that,” Tomlinson said with a laugh. “Honestly, I didn’t even know.”

Moira did not arrive in Virginia until the end of a nearly 12-hour trailer ride Friday evening. She got her first look at the racecourse Saturday morning.

In last year’s Beverly D., Fev Rover led the whole way to finish first in a field of five with Hall of Famer Javier Castellano riding. This year, with Castellano getting the mount again, she is one of only five would-be starters after the Sunday morning scratch of Mission of Joy. Moira and Libban, a 4-year-old stakes winner for Saffie Joseph Jr., appear to be the most likely pacesetters.

“I wouldn’t be surprised if she was forwardly placed again this year with the field being so small,” Tomlinson said. “We’re going to leave it up to Javier. We usually just tell the jocks to have fun, and we don’t really give instructions. Javier knows her the best anyways, won on her a couple of times, so we’ll leave it up to him.”

Breaking from the outside post Sunday, jockey José Ortiz and Moira are most likely to work from off the pace and leave their best running until late. Attard admitted he was wary of what the pace might look like with so few starters.

“Those small fields are always worrisome in that aspect,” he said, “but I like the post we drew. I think we can kind of keep a close eye on what happens in front of us. I expect all (the) horses to probably be kind of bottled up together in a sense. Obviously in these situations you entrust the rider. We’ve got José aboard, a very capable pilot. He’s going to have to make some decisions out there on his own.”

Fev Rover won the Beverly D. on firm turf last year and the E. P. Taylor on a course rated good at Woodbine last fall, each with Castellano riding. Even after all the dousing Debby did, the Colonial lawn looked like a billiard table again Saturday with only limited activity on it. With all the recent experience Tomlinson has had at the Virginia racecourse, he was not sure whether the turf would come up good or firm Sunday.

“That’s a great question,” he said. “One thing about this turf course. It can take a lot of rain. Would I be surprised if it’s firm? Absolutely not. Do I think it could get there? It might be a bit of a task. At best it’ll probably be good. If it’s firm, then fantastic.”

After a dry Saturday, the National Weather Service predicted Sunday would be partly sunny with a high of 85 degrees.