Woodbine: Forte Dei Marmi to Defend Singspiel Title

While the $1 million Queen's Plate will take centre stage Sunday at Woodbine, there are also three other stakes races, all of the grass, which will be contested before Canada's best known horse race goes postward at 5:38 p.m.

One of them is the Grade 3 Singspiel, a mile and one-half marathon which has attracted  a field of six, two of whom are trained by Hall of Famer Roger Attfield – defending champion Forte Dei Marmi and stablemate Perfect Timber.

Attfield actually 'owns' this race, having taken six of the nine editions, including five in a row. Musketier won in 2009, 2011 and 2012.  Spice Route took the 2010 renewal and last year it was another veteran, Forte Dei Marmi, who galloped away to win by more than six lengths on a yielding turf.

Although he's now eight and despite the fact he'll lug 125 pounds, giving up to seven pounds to his rivals, Forte Dei Marmi will likely still go postward the favourite in this year's renewal.

The Stella Perdomo silk bearer has run three times this year, most recently finishing fourth in the Grade 3 Louisville Handicap at Churchill Downs on May 24.

"It usually takes Forte Dei Marmi a couple of races or so to get into form," explained Attfield, who later in the card will try for a record ninth Queen's Plate win with longshot Tower of Texas.

"Forte Dei Marmi runs really well when there's just a nice cut in the ground, but he will handle the firmer turf better than the other one (Perfect Timber). He would have run at Gulfstream had the turf been better but it was hard and nasty."

Forte Dei Marmi won three stakes in a row last year, beginning with the Singspiel.  He then took the Sky Classic and the Grade 1 Northern Dancer before finishing seventh to Joshua Tree in the Pattison Canadian International. Overall, he's won 10 of 36 and boasts career earnings of $1,052,602, dwarfing his rivals.

Eurico Rosa da Silva, who was aboard for two of those wins last year (Sky Classic and Northern Dancer) will ride the gelded British-bred son of Selkirk-Frangy.

Attfield's other hopeful is Charles Fipke's five-year-old homebred Perfect Timber, who has been battling with Forte Dei Marmi for a year now but has yet to beat his stablemate in five outings, coming closest in the Northern Dancer, just a neck behind.

"I thought that he was close (in ability) to him (Forte Dei Marmi) last year," continued Attfield. "Timber, I ran him too short (first time out this year, over one and one-eighth miles). They just sprinted away from him. He's doing well. He likes more give in the ground than we're probably going to have this weekend."

'Timber' will be in receipt of seven pounds from Forte Dei Marmi and will be ridden by Chantal Sutherland-Kruse.

Lining up to challenge the Attfield duo are Quaesitor, winner of last year's Valedictory on Polytrack; Dynamic Sky, who finished third in last year's Queen's Plate after winning the Plate Trial and is making his turf debut; Aldous Snow, a three-time winner on the lawn who finished second to Irish Mission in the 2012 Breeders Stakes and Hampstead  Heath, also a three-time turf winner.

$150,000 Grade 3  Singspiel Stakes, Sunday, July 6, Post time: 4:18 p.m.