Overheard Tries to Stay Consistent in Canadian
It’s a huge weekend of racing at Woodbine, with four turf Breeders’ Cup Win and You’re In Stakes on the menu.
Saturday’s card is highlighted by the Natalma for two-year-old fillies and the Summer Stakes for two-year-olds, both at one mile, with berths into the Friday, October 30 Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Filly Turf and Juvenile Turf at Keeneland, respectively, on the line.
On Sunday, in addition to the $1 million Grade 1 Ricoh Woodbine Mile, which goes postward at 5:45 p.m. ET with 11 hopefuls, the race preceding it, the $300,000 Grade 2 Canadian for fillies and mares at one and one-eighth miles on the lawn, has also drawn 11 starters hoping for an all-expenses paid entry into the Breeders’ Cup Filly and Mare Turf at Keeneland on Saturday, October 31.
One of them is Pin Oak Stable’s Overheard, a hard-knocking Kentucky homebred five-year-old daughter of Macho Uno who has been nothing but incredibly consistent in her 18-race career, boasting six wins, five seconds and five thirds, including stakes victories in the Grade 2 Dance Smartly last year at Woodbine and the Grade 3 Valley View at Keeneland in 2013. She’s earned over $500,000 but is nearing the end of her racing career.
Her connections, trainer Malcolm Pierce and jockey Eurico Rosa da Silva, won the Canadian last year with Sam-Son Farm’s Deceptive Vision. But instead of proceeding to the Breeders’ Cup, the lightly-raced filly stayed home and finished third in the Grade 1 E.P. Taylor about a month later.
“She (Overheard) likes this course,” said Pierce. “I don’t think she cares if it’s soft or firm. It’s a tough race. She won her last but Lexie Lou was scratched (from that race) and it was only a five-horse field. It wasn’t the best quality of a race, but she still won. I have not worked her since just because I really want her fresh forSunday. I just hope we don’t get too much rain. That would ruin it for everybody. She’s a hard-trying filly, not very big.”
Should she win, is a Breeders’ Cup start automatic?
“Let’s cross that bridge after Sunday,” chuckled Pierce. “This filly is going to be retired at the end of the season and bred next spring. That’s in the plans. She’s a good, sound little filly but she’s five years old, turning six. She’s more valuable having foals than she is on the racetrack. If we don’t run that good, then we’ll probably look for something (else) at Keeneland in October where she’s close to home.”
The Canadian won’t be easy, though. Overheard is listed as the 5-1 third choice behind the Barb Minshall-trained 5-2 favourite Strut the Course, last year’s Sovereign Award winner as Canada’s top older filly/mare, who won the Dance Smartly in July and 4-1 Hoop of Colour, trained by Graham Motion, who invades from Santa Anita after winning both of her North American starts, including the Grade 2 Santa Ana in March at the same distance as the Canadian.
The Canadian will be part of a live telecast from 4:30 – 6:00 p.m. Sunday on both TSN2 in Canada and Fox Sports 1 in the U.S. Post time for the Canadian is 5:12 p.m., followed by the Ricoh Woodbine Mile at 5:45 p.m., with an all-expenses paid berth for the winner into the Breeders’ Cup Mile on October 31 on the line.
$300,000 Canadian Stakes, Sunday, September 13
Race 9, Post time 5:12 p.m. ET
Fillies and Mares, Three-year-olds and upward
One mile and one-eighth (E.P. Taylor Turf Course)
PP/Horse/Jockey/Trainer/
1/Personal Diary/Joe Talamo/Victoria Oliver/10-1
2/Button Down/Joel Rosario/Josie Carroll/12-1
3/Hoop of Colour/Drayden Van Dyke/Graham Motion/4-1
4/Strut the Course/Luis Contreras/Barb Minshall/5-2
5/Bear’s Pride/Patrick Husbands/Reade Baker/20-1
6/Ticking Katie/Luis Saez/Brian Lynch/15-1
7/Uchenna/Alan Garcia/Roger Attfield/6-1
8/Llanarmon/Gary Boulanger/Roger Attfield/20-1
9/Habibi/Emma-Jayne Wilson/Mark Frostad/8-1
10/Copper Kitten/Jesse Campbell/David Bell/20-1
11/Overheard/Eurico Rosa da Silva/Malcolm Pierce/5-1
FIVE LIVE STAKES MOUNTS FOR @JOCKEYJESSE
Jesse Campbell, currently in fifth place in the jockey standings with 56 wins, could make a significant increase to his purse earnings this weekend with five stakes mounts, including the call on Platinum Glory in Sunday's Grade 1 $1-million Ricoh Woodbine Mile.
Three of those mounts, Platinum Glory, Caren and Gigantic Breeze come on horses trained by Mike DePaulo.
Although Platinum Glory is a 30-1 longshot on the Mile morning line, Campbell believes the four-year-old Dunkirk grey, who finished second in the Grade 2 King Edward Stakes on debut, has a chance to take home a big piece of the prize.
"He ran a bang up race in the King Edward," said Campbell. "I'd love to break and just sit on him as long as he's doing it easy enough, just tuck in and save some ground. With the right circumstances and the right trip, he could make some money in there."
With the portable rail taken down for Sunday's turf events, Campbell hopes to be scraping the hedge in the early running of the Mile.
"It's easy to move too soon and go too wide on that turf. I'll save all the ground I can and the way I look at it, I'll get through somewhere," said Campbell. "It's a long lane and with the rail down there's a lot of space out there. I just want to give the horse the best shot he can get."
Campbell kicks off his stakes weekend in Saturday's $200,000 Grade 2 Natalma Stakes, a one-turn mile on the turf for juvenile fillies with Breeders' Cup Win & You're In status, where he will take the undefeated Caren through her first turf tilt.
A 2 3/4-length winner on debut in a maiden allowance sprint, Caren came right back to win the 5 1/2-furlong Shady Well Stakes and the six furlong Nandi Stakes in prominent fashion. She stretches out to a mile on the turfon Saturday and Campbell may take a new approach with the 9-2 shot who leaves from the inside post.
"In her last race, we didn't expect to be on the lead but if you watch the replay a couple horses on the inside got left (at the gate)," said Campbell. "We went a slow :23 first quarter and she was just up there by default. There's nothing rank about her. We're really going to find out what she's made of on Saturday."
Campbell will pilot Gigantic Breeze in Saturday's $200,000 Grade 2 Summer Stakes, a grassy mile on the turf for juveniles which also offers Breeders' Cup Win & You're in status.
The chestnut son of Giant's Causeway more than lives up to his name. Standing nearly 17 hands, he's known as 'Giant' around the barn. Gigantic Breeze rallied impressively to win on debut in a seven furlong allowance tilt and he will leave from the outside post in a field of 10.
"This colt is a real big, heavy horse with a long stride," said Campbell. "I like the fact that he's on the outside where he can find his stride and get his momentum going. He's a momentum horse. He's not one you can easily stop and then reboot again. He needs to get his wheels going."
Moving from the 'Poly' to the turf could also benefit Gigantic Breeze.
"I worked him once on the turf and he really worked well. He strikes me as a horse with better days ahead of him," said Campbell.
A busy weekend for Campbell also includes calls on Puntrooskie in the $150,000 Grade 3 Bold Venture Stakes and on Copper Kitten in the $300,000 Grade 2 Canadian Stakes, both on Sunday.
The Bold Venture, a 6 1/2-furlong 'Poly' sprint, features the top two finishers of the Ontario Jockey Club Stakes led by reigning champion sprinter Calgary Cat who scored a 2 3/4-length win over the returning Essence Hit Man. Puntrooskie, trained by Nick Gonzalez, finished an even fifth in the Ontario Jockey Club.
"He's a horse that with the right trip and a little luck could do some damage," said Campbell. "Not much separates this group of horses so a good trip helps. His last race was not a good trip, at all. He's a better horse than what he showed that day, nothing went our way."
Copper Kitten faces a tough group of turf fillies and mares, including locally based Strut the Course and Overheard in the 1 1/8-miles Canadian. Trained by David Bell, Copper Kitten comes into the Canadian with a record of 1-1-1 from six starts this meet, including an allowance score going nine furlongs on the green in June.
"She's been doing well since the spring," said Campbell. "She's proven she can handle the course and the distance. I want to ride her and Platinum Glory the same way. Just tuck in, save some ground, and take your best stab at it that way."
If all goes well, Campbell could be in line for another busy weekend in late October at Keeneland.
"They're all contentious races with big fields, but that's why they line 'em up," said Campbell. "These horses are here, they're healthy and they don't have to ship. We just have to get lucky."
SUNDAY'S PICK 4 POOLS BOOSTED
On Ricoh Woodbine Mile day, the early Pick 4 (races 4-7) wager will now be guaranteed at $300,000 and the late Pick 4 (races 9-12) wager will be guaranteed for $500,000. A combined total of $800,000 in guaranteed Pick 4 pools.
Source: Woodbine Communications Office