Trainer Mark Casse continued his dominance of the Selene Stakes (G3) at Woodbine, scoring a fifth consecutive victory in Saturday's $150,900 edition of the race with Souper Hoity Toity.
The Uncle Mo filly won by three-quarters of a length from 11-10 favorite Catiche after both went were hung very wide on the first turn, six- and seven-wide respectively.
Sent off at 8-1 in the field of seven 3-year-old fillies, Souper Hoity Toity moved quickly into contention and stalked pacesetter Join the Dance from second on the backstretch while reigning Canadian champion 2-year-old filly Mrs. Barbara rated in third.
With Patrick Husbands at the reins, Souper Hoity Toity overtook the leader with a furlong to run and dug in to hold back the willing rally of Catiche, who was sixth at the half-mile mark. Catiche finished 1 ¾ lengths in front of Mrs. Barbara in third.
Making her season debut, Souper Hoity Toity completed the 1 1/16 miles in 1:45.11 on the all weather track for her third win from five career starts. She returned $18.
The Selene marked Souper Hoity Toity's second graded stakes appearance following her fourth in the Mazarine Stakes (G3) last November at Woodbine to conclude her 2-year-old season.
Campaigned by Live Oak Plantation, Souper Hoity Toity earned the $90,000 winner's share Selene purse to boost her lifetime earnings to $144,835. Bred in Kentucky by Dr. Richard Holder and Coolmore, she was a $550,000 purchase from consignor Pike Racing at the 2021 OBS March Sale of Two-Year-Olds In Training.
Souper Hoity Toity, who is out of the Speightstown mare Town Tour, joins Casse-trained Our Flash Drive (2021), Two Sixty (2020), Power Gal (2019), and Miss Mo Mentum (2018) as winners of the Selene.
Jockey Emma-Jayne Wilson put it perfectly when she was interviewed in the winner's circle following Lady Speightspeare's dead-heat victory with Graham Motion-trained Crystal Cliffs in Saturday's Grade 2, $175,000 Nassau Stakes at Woodbine in Toronto, Ontario.
The win was No. 2,000 in trainer Roger Attfield distinguished career, one that includes eight Sovereign Awards as outstanding trainer in Canada, eight triumphs in Canada's biggest race, the Queen's Plate, and 14 victories in the Canadian Triple Crown's other two legs, the Prince of Wales Stakes and the Breeders' Stakes. Three of his runners swept Canada's Triple Crown. He is a member of the Canadian and U.S. Halls of Fame.
“Leave it to Mr. Roger Attfield, a dual Hall of Famer, to have his 2,000th victory have an epic story behind it,” Wilson said. “Roger is legendary.”
Canadian champion 2-year-old filly of 2020 for her owner and breeder, Charles Fipke, Lady Speightspeare came into the Nassau on a five-race losing streak dating back to last December.
Wilson put the daughter of Speightstown on the lead in the opening stages of the Nassau, but she never got much of a breather, pressured first by Dreaming of Drew through opening fractions of :23.26 and :45.85. Our Flash Drive and Patrick Husbands were next to challenge Lady Speightspeare, taking a narrow advantage after six furlongs in a quick 1:08.46. But Lady Speightspeare fought her off, too, and appeared to have the Nassau won until a late surge from Crystal Cliffs, ridden by Rafael Hernandez. The two hit the wire together and could not be separated by the photo finish camera.
Final time for the one mile on firm turf was 1:32.40. Our Flash Drive finished one length behind the top pair and two lengths ahead of Plum Ali in fourth. They were followed by Peace Seeker, La Libertee, Dreaming of Drew, Broadway Lady, Lady War Machine Perseverancia, and Saratoga Vision.
Lady Speightspeare (inside) andd Crystal Cliffs hit the wire together in the Nassau Stakes
Lady Speightspeare, sent away the 5-2 favorite, paid $3.80, Crystal Cliffs, off at 3-1, paid $4.20 to win.
“This filly is pretty special,” Wilson said. “She tried her guts out all winter and to come back home, when I saw her walk into the walking ring under the willows of Woodbine, I said to Roger, 'She looks happy to be home,' and he said, 'Yes, she does.' She ran a gangbuster of a race.
“She fought tooth and nail when Patrick went by us on the outside, fought tooth and nail to get back in front of him and fought off a challenger to the best of her ability and still secured a win,” Wilson said.
Hernandez relished almost playing the role of spoiler. “I had to make it harder,” he said of Attfield's milestone win.
“I never really thought too much about (the 2,000-win milestone) until just recently when there's been so much written about it,” said Attfield, an 82-year-old native of Newbury, England, who came to Canada in 1970 following time as a steeplechase rider and international show jumper. “I'm very proud of it.”
Attfield turned his attention to Lady Speightspeare, who was coming off a fourth-place finish in the G2 Distaff Turf Mile over the new Churchill Downs turf course May 7.
“She's an interesting filly to train,” he said. “She was unlucky this winter, having a lot of different things happen that people really didn't know about, and then Churchill was a disaster with that turf course. It's funny, really, because the jockey that rode her (Luis Saez) came back and said she wasn't handling the turf course, that it was too loose. It turned out it wasn't really ready to run on I guess.” Churchill stopped racing over the course last month and is letting it rest for the remainder of its meet.
“I'm very proud of her and she trained well into this race,” said Attfield.
Lady Speightspeare was winning for the fifth time in 10 career races. Crystal Cliffs, a French-bred daughter of Canford Cliffs recorded her first graded/group stakes win and fourth overall from nine starts. The 5-year-old mare, coming off a second to Technical Analysis in the Galorette at Pimlico May 21, races for Michael Dubb, Madaket Stables LLC and Wonder Stables.
The streaking Olympiad (Speightstown) punched his ticket to the GI Breeders' Cup Classic in style with an ultra-impressive fifth consecutive victory in Saturday's 'Win and You're In' GII Stephen Foster S. at Churchill Downs.
The 3-2 favorite raced in between rivals as five of them stacked up passing the grandstand the first time. Olympiad found a perfect spot rounding the clubhouse turn and raced in a tracking second behind Caddo River (Hard Spun) through sharp fractions of :23.05 and :46.45. He turned up the heat on the pacesetter on the far turn as last year's promoted GI Kentucky Derby winner Mandaloun (Into Mischief) wound up with a three-wide move of his own.
Olympiad hit the front at the quarter pole, drew clear with authority in the stretch and was never seriously threatened by the late rally of GI Cigar Mile H. winner Americanrevolution (Constitution) to score by 2 1/4 lengths. Proxy (Tapit) flew from the clouds for a well-beaten third; Mandaloun, making his first start since a well-beaten ninth in the Saudi Cup, was a tiring fourth.
Olympiad has been perfect in five subsequent starts since finishing fourth with trouble while making his stakes debut in the Cigar Mile last December. His current winning streak also includes victories in the GIII Mineshaft S. Feb. 19, GII New Orleans Classic S. Mar. 26 and GII Alysheba S. last time May 6.
“I thought it was a very game win this afternoon,” winning Hall of Fame trainer Bill Mott said. “There were some nice horses in this field and I thought he did things rather easily. It was really nice to see him win like that. We've always thought about running him in the [Aug. 6 GI] Whitney [at Saratoga], so I think that would be the next possible target.”
Winning jockey Junior Alvarado added, “This horse has such a big stride on him and really extends it late in races. I think as he's gotten older, he's gotten faster in each start. Today, we sat in a good position just off of the early pace and he showed how powerful his stride can be. I asked him just a little bit in the final furlong and he continued to get faster. He's a great horse and has shown his talent all year long. It will be a fun rest of the year.”
Saturday, Churchill Downs STEPHEN FOSTER S.-GII, $740,000, Churchill Downs, 7-2, 4yo/up, 1 1/8m, 1:47.66, ft.
1–OLYMPIAD, 124, c, 4, by Speightstown 1st Dam: Tokyo Time (GSP, $249,177), by Medaglia d'Oro 2nd Dam: Flying Passage, by A.P. Indy 3rd Dam: Chic Shirine, by Mr. Prospector
($700,000 Ylg '19 KEESEP). O-Grandview Equine, Cheyenne
Stable, LLC & LNJ Foxwoods; B-Emory A. Hamilton (KY);
T-William I. Mott; J-Junior Alvarado. $455,320. Lifetime
Record: 10-7-1-1, $1,407,560. Werk Nick Rating: A+++ *Triple Plus*. Click for the eNicks report & 5-cross pedigree.
2–Americanrevolution, 119, c, 4, Constitution–Polly Freeze, by
Super Saver. ($275,000 Ylg '19 SARAUG). O-CHC Inc. & WinStar
Farm LLC; B-Fred W. Hertrich III & John D. Fielding (NY);
T-Todd A. Pletcher. $137,200.
3–Proxy, 119, c, 4, Tapit–Panty Raid, by Include.
O/B-Godolphin (KY); T-Michael Stidham. $73,600.
Margins: 2 1/4, 2 3/4, 4. Odds: 1.50, 3.70, 11.20.
Also Ran: Mandaloun, Title Ready, Caddo River, Last Samurai. Click for the Equibase.com chart, the TJCIS.com PPs or the free Equineline.com catalogue-style pedigree. VIDEO, sponsored by TVG.
Pedigree Notes:
Hailing from one of the best Emory Hamilton families, Olympiad is out of a Grade III-placed half-sister to GII Churchill Distaff Turf Mile heroine Hungry Island (More Than Ready), whose three winners from three to the races includes the stakes-placed Hamilton homebred mare Hungry Kitten (Kitten's Joy). Tokyo Time is also a half-sister to GSW Soaring Empire (Empire Maker) and to Flying Dixie (Dixieland Band), the dam of GISW and current Airdrie Stud sire Preservationist (Arch). Third dam Chic Shirine, winner of the 1987 GI Ashland S. and fifth in that year's GI Kentucky Oaks for Wayne Lukas, was a full-sister to champion older mare Queena and bred the graded-winning full-sibs Waldoboro (Lyphard) and Tara Roma as well as the dam of GISW Somali Lemonade (Lemon Drop Kid) and SW Rasta Farian (Holy Bull). Dual Grade I winner Verrazano (More Than Ready) also appears under the third dam.
Olympiad is bred on the exact same cross as ill-fated Grade I winner Rock Fall and GISW Competitionofideas and additional graded winners Souper Stonehenge and Strike Power.
Tokyo Time is the dam of the maiden 3-year-old colt Friendship Road (Quality Road), a 2-year-old filly by War Front and a yearling colt by American Pharoah. She was most recently served by Quality Road.
Shedaresthedevil (Daredevil) returned to the scene of her greatest triumph for Saturday's GII Fleur de Lis S. and came home a winner for the first time since taking this venue's GIII Locust Grove S. in September. It was her sixth win from seven starts at Churchill Downs with one second.
The slight second choice behind Pauline's Pearl (Tapit), who defeated her in the GI La Troienne S. May 6, Shedaresthedevil glided up to stalk from second as Super Quick (Super Saver) carved out early splits of :24.13 and :47.83. Turning up the heat at the top of the stretch, the bay pounced on the pacesetter at the eighth-pole and bounded clear to score. Super Quick held second over Pauline's Pearl.
“We're really proud of the race she ran today,” trainer Brad Cox said. “We've targeted this race for a long time. She loves it here at Churchill Downs and Florent [Geroux] gave her a perfect ride. It was a tough field but I had confidence in her when I saw her position going around the turn that she'd have enough left to chase down [Super Quick].”
“We sat in a perfect position the entire way around the track,” Geroux said. “Inside the eighth pole she started to find her best stride and drew away late. She's back.”
A $100,000 KEENOV weanling, Shedaresthedevil was purchased by Flurry Racing for $280,000 at the end of her juvenile season at the 2019 KEENOV sale. Qatar Racing stayed in as a partner and they were joined by Big Aut Farm. She captured a pair of Grade IIIs in 2020 before upending eventual champion Swiss Skydiver (Daredevil) at 15-1 in the GI Kentucky Oaks. Winner of the GII Azeri S. and GI La Troienne to start 2021, the bay was third to champion Letruska (Super Saver) in the GI Ogden Phipps S. at Belmont that summer and returned to winning ways when making the trip to Del Mar for the GI Clement Hirsch S. She followed suit with her Locust Grove win, but could only manage sixth back in SoCal for the GI Breeders' Cup Distaff in November.
Sent through the Fasig November sale yet again, Shedaresthedevil was the second highest-priced offering, bringing $5-million from Mandy Pope's Whisper Hill with Flurry and Qatar staying in as partners. Third to Saturday's GII Princess Rooney S. winner and champion sprinter Ce Ce (Elusive Quality) in this year's Azeri Mar. 12, Shedaresthedevil was run down late by Pauline's Pearl when last seen in the La Troienne.
Pedigree Notes:
Shedaresthedevil is a half to GSP Mojovation (Quality Road). Her dam Starship Warpspeed is also responsible for the unraced 3-year-old filly Blackheartedgypsy (Speightster), an unraced juvenile filly named Jupiter Mooon (Exaggerator), a yearling colt by Uncle Mo and a 2022 filly by that Coolmore stallion. This is also the family of GSW & MGISP Crafty C. T.
Saturday, Churchill Downs FLEUR DE LIS S.-GII, $345,000, Churchill Downs, 7-2, 4yo/up, f/m, 1 1/8m, 1:49.17, ft.
1–SHEDARESTHEDEVIL, 121, m, 5, by Daredevil 1st Dam: Starship Warpspeed, by Congrats 2nd Dam: Andria's Forest, by Forestry 3rd Dam: Andriana B., by Far North
($100,000 Wlg '17 KEENOV; $20,000 RNA Ylg '18 KEESEP;
$280,000 2yo '19 KEENOV; $5,000,000 4yo '21 FTKNOV).
O-Flurry Racing Stables LLC, Qatar Racing Limited & Whisper
Hill Farm, LLC; B-WinStar Farm, LLC (KY); T-Brad H. Cox;
J-Florent Geroux. $216,000. Lifetime Record: MGISW,
20-10-3-5, $2,729,458. *1/2 to Mojovation (Quality Road),
GSP, $335,378. Click for the eNicks report & 5-cross pedigree. Werk Nick Rating: A++.
2–Super Quick, 121, f, 4, Super Saver–Quick Town, by Cape
Town. O/B-Marylou Whitney Stables LLC (KY); T-Norm W.
Casse. $70,000.
3–Pauline's Pearl, 124, f, 4, Tapit–Hot Dixie Chick, by Dixie
Union. O-Stonestreet Stables LLC; B-Stonestreet Thoroughbred
Holdings LLC (KY); T-Steven M. Asmussen. $35,000.
Margins: 1 3/4, 3HF, 1 3/4. Odds: 1.40, 2.40, 1.40.
Also Ran: She's All Wolfe, Ava's Grace. Click for the Equibase.com chart, the TJCIS.com PPs or the free Equineline.com catalogue-style pedigree. VIDEO, sponsored by TVG
