Woodbine: Attard sends 2 Sovereign winners in Belle Mahone
Multiple graded stakes winning trainer Kevin Attard sends out the Canadian champion duo of Caitlinhergrtness and Fashionably Fab in Saturday’s Grade 3, Belle Mahone Stakes at Woodbine.
Attard, who earned his first Sovereign Award as Canada’s champion trainer of 2024, will be represented in the 1 1/16-mile main track Belle Mahone, for fillies and mares, 4-year-olds and up, by last year’s King’s Plate winner and 3-year-old female champion Caitlinhergrtness and older main track female winner Fashionably Fab, who took last year’s running of the Belle Mahone.
“We’re very blessed to have these two in the barn,” Attard said. “Great owners for both make it that much more special.”
Named for WNBA superstar Caitlin Clark, 4-year-old Caitlinhergrtness has lived up to her namesake.
Owned by WinStar Farm, the daughter of Omaha Beach out of the Giant’s Causeway mare Belatrix launched her career in the U.S., where she made four starts. After a third at Saratoga in her debut, she broke her maiden next time out at Belmont. She closed out her 2-year-old campaign with a fourth in the Tempted Stakes at Aqueduct and opened her 3-year-old season with a fourth at Gulfstream before bringing her talents north to Woodbine.
Bred by Jesse Korona, Caitlinhergrtness was second in last year’s Woodbine Oaks before going to beat the boys in the 165th running of The King’s Plate. She closed out her 3-year-old season with a third in the Queen Elizabeth II Challenge Cup Stakes (G1) at Keeneland in October, and a fourth in the Valedictory Stakes, at Woodbine, on Nov. 9.
The Belle Mahone marks her 4-year-old debut.
“Obviously, it was a great year for Caitlin,” Attard said of the filly, whose lifetime purse earnings stand at US$693,812. “She’s as genuine as they come and full of heart.”
That was on full display in the King’s Plate.
Rafael Hernandez, who will be aboard in the Belle Mahone, guided the chestnut filly to a three-quarter length score in the $1 million classic.
“She was relentless on Plate day,” Attard said. “You could see it in her demeanor before the race, that she was ready for the challenge. Lots of great memories from that day. Those are the moments that truly define what a team effort is.”
Caitlinhergrtness has had a steady work tab heading into her latest test, including a four-furlong breeze over the Woodbine main track in 47.0 seconds, the fastest of 105 works at the distance Saturday.
“She’s doing amazing,” Attard said. “She had a good winter after a demanding year. She deserved every minute of that rest. She came back looking great. The only thing that didn’t change was that competitive fire in her eyes.”
Attard has an equally spirited and accomplished contender in Fashionably Fab.
The now 5-year-old dark bay capped off her 2024 season with a gutsy nose score in the La Prevoyante Stakes on Dec. 14.
It was the 10th win, to go along with three thirds, from 17 lifetime starts, for Fashionably Fab, whose success also includes a victory in last year’s Ontario Matron Stakes (G3). She won five straight races, all stakes, from Sept. 12, 2023, to June 1, 2024.
“Fashionably Fab, what can you say?” Attard said of the Terra Racing homebred. “She is the definition of a racehorse. Her record speaks for itself, but beyond those stats, she is as gritty and tough as they come.”
A daughter of Silent Name out of the Curlin mare Flashy’s Legacy, Fashionably Fab debuted with a third in September 2022 and then won her next three starts, including the Shady Well Stakes that December.
“She has given us unlimited highlights over her career,” Attard said. “She’s always been a horse you never count out but that you can always count on.”
The lifetime earner of US$537,572 also will make her seasonal debut in the Belle Mahone.
Fashionably Fab has had four breezes in May, the most recent at four furlongs in 48.6 seconds over the Woodbine main track on Saturday.
“She had a good winter too,” Attard said. “Like Caitlin, we’re very happy with how she is working heading into the race. She has that game face on already.”
Pietro Moran, Woodbine’s leading jockey in 2025, will ride.
Other starters include multiple stakes winner Dana’s Beauty, For Flying, who won the 2023 Barao de Piracicaba (G1) in her native Brazil, and Kin’s Concerto, last year’s Woodbine Oaks winner.
On May 19, 1917, Belle Mahone, ridden by Frank Robinson, won the 59th running of the King's Plate by a length. The daughter of Ypsilanti, who was coupled with Galley Head in the Plate, paid $2.80 for the win.