Woodbine: Connaught Cup, Canadian Stakes are on Sunday card

It is fitting that Cruden Bay makes his return to racing in Sunday’s Grade 2, US$127,445 Connaught Cup Stakes on the turf at Woodbine. 

The seven-furlong event for 3-year-olds and up drew 10 hopefuls including 7-year-old Cruden Bay. 

Click here for Woodbine entries and results.

Trained by Don MacRae for owner Michael Lay, hard-closing Cruden Bay recorded the biggest win of his career to date when the son of Big Screen out of the Bold Executive mare Executive Affair took the Connaught Cup last July.

“The thing about this horse is that every time he runs, he brings a tear to my eye,” MacRae said. “He is just a dude, through and through. He has always been that way. To be able to see him compete in a graded stakes race and get it done, in his typical fashion, by a neck, I have watched the replay 100 times, and I tear up and smile every time.”

After a fifth in the King Edward Stakes (G2) on Aug. 23, the bay gelding was sent to the sidelines for the rest of 2024.

“We had that hiccup midway through last year,” MacRae said. “Kudos to Michael Lay for being as patient as he was. It’s not easy. His injury required some time to heal, and we made sure that he got the rest that he needed.”

“It’s incredible,” MacRae said. “I have never seen him work like this. I have never seen him be so aggressive and so solid on the bridle. This is the best I have ever seen him come into a race. In most cases, I wouldn’t put him in a stakes race right off the bat, but he ran so well fresh last year. I expect him to fire a big one.”

Gimme a Nother switches for Canadian

Multiple Group 1 winner Gimme a Nother will test Canada turf for the first time in the US$145,651 Canadian Stakes (G2) on Sunday. 

Trained by Graham Motion, 5-year-old Gimme a Nother went undefeated in seven starts, from Oct. 7, 2023, to April 6, 2024, at Turffontein in her native South Africa for trainer Mike de Kock, headlined by Group 1 wins in the South Africa Fillies Classic and Empress Club last year.

Motion, who surpassed the 2,800-win mark this year, watched replays of the mare’s races before she arrived at his barn.

“Regardless of anything, any horse that can win seven races in a row is pretty remarkable,” said Motion, who has recorded 479 career stakes victories. “The way she did it was extraordinarily impressive, too, especially in knowing how hard it is to do that.

“She had been in France for two months, which is the new way to import the South African horses. They do a month in South Africa and then two months Europe. They can be in training and then they can come to us after 60 days. She is a kind filly to be around, very gentle and very straightforward. I was impressed with her works in Florida, and she did everything with relative ease.”

The bay daughter of champion sire Gimmethegreenlight out of the Tiger Ridge mare Nother Russia made her North American debut from a nearly one-year layoff in March at Tampa Bay Downs, closing stoutly to finish a three-quarter length second to Saffron Moon in the 1 1/8-mile Hillsborough (G2).

“I thought her performance at Tampa was extremely good – probably a little unlucky,” said Motion. “It was her first time over here and the races are run a little differently, much like when the Europeans come over here. It’s a totally different style of running. She finished up strong and was probably unlucky not to get there.”

On May 2, at Churchill Downs, she rallied from last of six to finish second behind multiple Grade 1 stakes winner She Feels Pretty in the Modesty Stakes (G3).

“That race was exceptional,” lauded Motion. “She ran against one of the best fillies in the country. Again, she didn’t have a perfect trip. She maybe got shuffled back a little further than (jockey) Jose (Ortiz) had meant to.”

Bred by Wilgerbosdrift & Mauritzfontein, Gimme a Nother heads into the 1 1/8-mile Canadian, for fillies and mares, 3-year-olds and up, off a seventh in the 1 1/16-mile New York Stakes (G1) at Saratoga on June 6.

“Last time, it (the ground) was very soft, and I don't think she cared for it at all,” said Motion.

Motion, who won the 2017 edition of the Canadian with Quidura, expects the bay to appreciate the Woodbine turf.

“I think it (the course) will help her and might suit her. It is more of what she is accustomed to.”

Gimme a Nother, 7-2-0 from 10 starts, breezed four furlongs in 52.4 seconds at Fair Hill on July 10 ahead of her date in the Canadian.

“I would really like to get her back in the winner’s circle, and I thought this race was a good opportunity for her,” said Motion.

South African-born Ryan Munger, who launched his Woodbine career in 2023, gets the call on Sunday.

“I know a fair bit about her racing style,” Munger said. “I rode against her back in South Africa, and she definitely deserved the reputation she has achieved. She’s a beautiful mare with a devastating turn of foot.

“This one is special. I’m really excited to ride her, and to showcase South African talent on the international stage,” Munger continued. “The tracks in South Africa are very similar to the E. P. Taylor course and that will be a huge plus for her. It fills me with pride to ride for the Slack family here in Canada.” 

Other starters included multiple graded-stakes placed Venencia, and Ready for Shirl, and graded stakes placed Crevalle d'Oro.

Champion trainer Kevin Attard has won four editions of the Canadian, in 2018 and 2019 with Starship Jubilee, in 2023 with Moira and last year with Full Count Felicia. King Maple won the inaugural running in 1955.