Canadian-born trainer Rob Atras – with the support of his wife and assistant Brittney -went out on his own in 2019 following a tenure working as an assistant for Robertino Diodoro.

The 36-year-old native of Winnipeg, Manitoba has steadily improved his stock over the course of three seasons, enjoying his best year yet in 2021 [336-70-51-51, $3,942,669] by securing his first graded stakes victory with American Power in the Grade 3 Toboggan in January at the Big A, which was followed in March by Chateau's score in the Grade 3 Tom Fool Handicap. In July, Atras secured his first Grade 1 victory with Maracuja in the Coaching Club American Oaks at Saratoga Race Course.

How would you describe your 2021 campaign?

Atras: “It's been a breakthrough year in a sense. We upgraded our stock quite a bit and that showed in the results. We won a couple of graded stakes races earlier in the year and capped it off with a Grade 1 win with Maracuja. We have a bigger barn, but we have a lot of quality in our barn as well. Last year we were in the high 30s and now we have close to 50 horses in the barn.”

Every trainer's business model is different – describe yours.

Atras: “We go for quality over quantity and we try to be competitive every time we enter. If a horse can win a race, they're good at any level in my book. We have some good 2-year-olds this year and we've had some owners send us homebreds as well as some bought from the sales – so, we have an all-around stable.

“There's so many things that go into the success. We have really good exercise riders, grooms and hotwalkers in the barn. Our foreman, Rafael Lechuga, has been with us since Day One. It's fun to win any race, just to have everyone smile, celebrate and be happy together. They put a lot of pride into their work.”

What was your favorite win this year?

Atras: “We had a lot of winners and a lot of memorable wins this year. But it's tough to not say Maracuja in the Grade 1 Coaching Club American Oaks at Saratoga. The whole race was fun. She broke well and then I got to wondering if they were going a little quick. Then seeing her back up [down the backstretch] I was wondering, 'What's going on here, are we out of horse.' But then she starts picking up steam again. In that moment, I was thinking she could at least hit the board, so I felt relieved she wasn't stopping. Down the stretch, I was just thrilled to be in the race, and then for her to get her nose down and beat a filly like Malathaat is just out of this world.

“It was just a real heads up ride by Ricardo Santana, Jr. In a Grade 1 – under that much pressure – to make the decision to drop back like that was pretty impressive.”

What was it like being featured on America's Day At The Races?

Atras: “That was neat. It's a great program and it was cool to be featured on there. My mom and dad watch it, they don't miss a race. We came into the CCA Oaks as underdogs. We were a little disappointed that we couldn't replicate that in her next race in the Alabama, but that's alright.”

As someone who maintains a heavy division in New York all year long, what are the benefits of the New York racing and breeding program.

Atras: “If I had some land, I wish I could have a few mares out of New York. They run for great money and have great incentives for the breeders and owners. I think it's a great program. The quality is there, too. You can see it in the races with deeper fields and this year you get a 3-year-old horse like Americanrevolution to win a Grade 1 [Cigar Mile] against older horses. There's a lot of nice New York-breds here, for sure.”

What are your goals for 2022?

Atras: “Keep winning! We had a great year this year and I'd love to carry that into next year and build on it. I'm also sending a small string to Oaklawn for the winter. Maracuja will be there and hopefully her first start or two will be down there before she comes back to New York. We'll bring a few local horses to run in some of the claiming races and maybe pick up some horses to bring back up to New York in the spring.”

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Previously trained by Greg Sacco, MGISW Mind Control (Stay Thirsty) makes his first start for the Todd Pletcher barn here. He hasn't seen the winner's circle since March 2020 when he captured the GIII Tom Fool H. at Aqueduct. Runner-up in the GI Carter H. in April, he failed to fire when seventh in the GI Churchill Downs S. last time May 1.

American Power (Power Broker) enters off a third-place finish in the True North. He captured the GIII Toboggan S. earlier this term. Also exiting the True North is fourth-place finisher Wicked Trick (Hat Trick {Jpn}), who finished a solid second in the GIII Westchester S. in his prior start May 1.

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Among the lots of interest are hip 2, the 6-year-old stallion American Power (Power Broker), winner of three of his last four trips to the post, including a half-length victory in the GIII Toboggan S. at Aqueduct Jan. 30. The chestnut is being pointed to the GII True North S. at Belmont Park June 4. American Power is consigned by Sean S. Perl Bloodstock.

Three-year-old filly Frozay All Day (Frosted) sells through Taylor Made as hip 8. A daughter of SW & GSP Skipalute (Midnight Lute), the bay hails from the female family of GISW Come Dancing (Malibu Moon) and SP Delightful Quality (Elusive Quality), the dam of Eclipse Award winner and 'TDN Rising Star' Essential Quality (Tapit) from the same sire line.

To create an account in the Digital Sales Ring, visit portal.keeneland.com. Buyers have the option of direct bidding, allowing one to bid manually or by max bidding, whereby the sales software will bid on behalf of the bidder as he or she is outbid up to a maximum.

Online bidding for the May Digital Sale opens at 10 a.m. ET May 25 and will begin to close that day at 2 p.m.

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“We've had a good March, I don't want it to end,” Atras said.

Atras, 37, saddled Michael Dubb's Chateau to a win in the Grade 3 Tom Fool last out on March 6 at the Big A and will take the next step up for Saturday's Grade 1, $300,000 Carter Handicap at seven furlongs.

The 6-year-old son of Flat Out broke alertly, commanded swift fractions up front, and was never in doubt in the stretch running home a 3 ½-length winner in the Tom Fool. The win produced a career-best 100 Beyer.

Chateau is in the best form of his 33-race career having finished in the money in his last six starts while boasting a 9-5-2-2 record over the Big A main track.

Having never won past 6 ½-furlongs, Atras said there is some concern with the extra furlong.

“He deserves a shot. His last race was a big performance,” Atras said. “We know he loves Aqueduct and seems to relish that surface. Obviously, there are distance questions but only time will tell with him.”

Beach Haven Thoroughbreds' Maracuja also will step up to the plate for Atras in the Grade 3, $250,000 Gazelle, a 100-40-20-10 qualifier for the Grade 1 Kentucky Oaks on April 30 at Churchill Downs.

Third time was the charm for the daughter of third-crop sire Honor Code, who broke her maiden by 3 3/4-lengths on February 21 at Aqueduct over a good track. Trailing the compact field early on as the 4-5 favorite, Maracuja made a four-wide move approaching the top of the stretch and took command nearing the eighth-pole en route to a maiden victory.

Atras also expressed distance concerns with Maracuja, who will be running two turns for the first time in the nine-furlong Gazelle.

“She acts like two turns shouldn't be an issue but it's a big ask going from six and a half furlongs to a mile and an eighth and stepping up to a big race like this,” Atras said. “She's continued to train forwardly, and I think we're going to give it a shot. It's a really big step up. She's a nice filly and she won really professional last time. I would have liked to have had a prep going a mile or something heading into a two-turn race like the Gazelle.”

Atras said he would wait until after the Gazelle to determine the path that Maracuja would go down.

“She is really just race to race with her right now, I don't want to get too far ahead of myself. She's just learning things and putting it together,” Atras said.

Jockey Kendrick Carmouche retains the mount on both Chateau and Maracuja.

On Saturday, Atras enjoyed a victory with American Power in the seven-furlong Caixa Eletronica on New York Claiming Championship Day. The 6-year-old Power Broker chestnut battled with fellow stakes-winner Pete's Play Call but ultimately got the better of his foe, securing the win by one length.

Prior to Saturday's victory, American Power gave Atras his first graded stakes win in the Grade 3 Toboggan on January 30 at the Big A.

“He came out of his race really good. He ate everything up and jogged sound this morning, so everything is going well,” Atras said.

Atras said he would continue to space American Power's races out.

“He seems to do better with some space in between races so I'm not sure what we'll look at yet,” Atras said. “We'll mostly just go over him the next few days and then speak to [co-owner] Sandy Goldfarb and see which direction we'll go. I don't think he needs that much time, but with how everything worked out this ended up being the race that we pointed for.”

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Atras had to wait an additional month for Sadie Lady to make her 5-year-old bow after a stakes race did not fill in February at the Big A. But the New York-bred Freud mare ensured the wait was worth it for her connections, winning for the fifth time in eight starts since turning 4 in 2020.

Sadie Lady earned a career-best 84 Beyer for her first career stakes score, going gate-to-wire at 5-1 under jockey Manny Franco, who earned his third win of the day and kept his charge pressed forward as Call On Mischief linked up with her in the final furlong through a head-bob finish.

“She came out of the race really good,” Atras said. “We were sitting on her for a little while after she won her last race in December. Unfortunately, the New York-bred stakes [Broadway] didn't fill, so we pointed her towards this race and everything worked out. She trained good in the morning and is an aggressive horse and she's battled like that before in races. I was so happy to see her compete like that in the lane.”

A future spot for Sadie Lady, owned by Dennis Narlinger and bred by JMJ Racing Stables, will be determined in the next week, Atras said.

“We're not quite sure just yet. We never looked past this race,” he said. “We wanted to see how she performed and go from there. In the next few days, we'll map out a plan.”

Atras also teamed with jockey Dylan Davis to win with both Saint Selby [$8.90] in the opening race and Heavy Roller [$3.60] in Race 4. Storm Advisory, guided by meet-leading rider Kendrick Carmouche, gave Atras his third win of the day in Race 5 before Sadie Lady's victory in the feature.

“I'm just really grateful,” Atras said. “To do something like that, especially in New York, is special. We've had multi-winner days but nothing ever like that. It's hard to win one race in a day, so to win four, it's a great feeling. To cap it off with a stakes win was extra special.”

Atras, who saddled his first winner in 2009, set a personal-best in 2020 when he won 43 races, posting a 43-39-38 record with 210 starters and earnings of more than $2 million. He's already built on that success, earning his first two career graded stakes wins in 2021 with Chateau and American Power.

“I've always wanted to focus on quality, not just quantity,” Atras said. “Our stable has grown quite a bit, but I think we've upgraded our quality, too, and that's been one of my goals. That's not to say I don't like the $10,000 or $20,000 claimers, but every time I lead a horse over, I like to be a contender. That's the focal point of the operation.”

Atras had updates on those stakes winners, as American Power, the last out-winner of the seven-furlong Grade 3 Toboggan on January 30 at the Big A, breezed four furlongs in 50.44 seconds on Sunday over the Belmont training track.

American Power, owned by Sanford and Irwin Goldfarb and the Estate of Ira Davis, could target either the Grade 1, $300,000 Carter Handicap that will be featured on the Grade 2 Wood Memorial presented by Resorts World Casino card on April 3. Atras also said the starter stakes on Saturday, March 27, at Aqueduct could be a possibility for a less ambitious spot.

After defeating claiming company over a sloppy track at Belmont going one mile in October, American Power registered a 3 ¼-length win in an optional claimer in December at Aqueduct to cap his 5-year-old year. Atras moved him up to graded stakes company for his 6-year-old debut, and he responded by outkicking Pete's Play Call by a half length to win the Toboggan last out over the same one-turn distance as the Carter.

“He worked really good and his last couple of works have been pretty sharp,” Atras said. “It seems like his last few races have been better than the next. I always liked him as soon as I got him. He's always trained well. His confidence is high and he's breaking sharp and rating the race right away. All his races, he's fought all-out. He's just stepped up to the task every time.”

Chateau is another stakes-winning sprinter who found success at Aqueduct, wiring the field in a 3 1/2-length victory in the Grade 3 Tom Fool Handicap on March 6 that netted the 6-year-old his first triple-digit speed figure, garnering a clean 100 one start after earning a 96 for his front-running win against optional claimers on January 18 over the same track.

Overall, Chateau has won five of his seven career starts at Aqueduct, logging a 5-2-2 mark in nine career starts in Ozone Park. His last 18 starts have been at six furlongs or less, though Atras said his success at Aqueduct could tempt him to stretch him out in the Carter. It would be Chateau's longest race since running fifth in a one-mile maiden claimer in September 2018.

“He came out of the race really good, and I was very pleased, especially after a top effort like that,” Atras said. “We're kicking around the idea of starting in the Carter. His record is really good at Aqueduct, so he likes that track and we're considering it, even though the distance might not be to his liking. But we're considering it.”

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