Tracy Farmer’s Fev Rover Bests Them All in E.P. Taylor

The trip might have been unusual, but rider Javier Castellano knew what he had under him as Fev Rover (Ire) (m, 5, Gutaifan {Ire}–Laurelita {Ire}, by High Chaparral {Ire}) captured Sunday's GI E.P. Taylor S. at Woodbine. The bay showed the way early from the rail, but was quickly under pressure as 50-1 Rocky Sky (Ire) (Rock of Gibraltar {Ire}) dogged her from the outside through fractions of :25.66 and :50.29. The rest of the field was strung out and just after the half-mile mark, Fev Rover yielded to let Rocky Sky go while she dropped back to third for about three furlongs. She was far from done, however, and switched outside on the turn to come on again.

Entering the stretch, Fev Rover got the jump several paths to the inside of battling Charlie Appleby trainee With The Moonlight (Ire) (Frankel {GB}), a MGSW/MGISP Godolphin homebred, and last year's Queen's Plate winner Moira (Ghostzapper), the reigning Canadian Horse of the Year. She swapped to her wrong lead about a furlong from home, but had the race in hand, prevailing by 2 1/4 lengths while With The Moonlight outgunned Moira. The latter had beaten Fev Rover in their respective last outs, the GII Canadian S. Sept. 9.

Final time for the 1 1/4 miles over the good course was 2:04.20.

“I expected it to be my horse in the lead,” said Castellano. “I felt a lot of pressure outside. I tried to ride a smart race.”

Fev Rover was no slouch before being imported to North America last year. Under the tutelage of Richard Fahey, she had raced in England, Ireland, France, and Bahrain, with her scores including the G2 Ghadwell Prix du Calvados at two and her placings including the G1 QIPCO One Thousand Guineas at three. Fahey, under Musley Bank Stables, consigned her to the 2021 Tattersalls December Mare Sale, where Tracy Farmer picked her up for 695,000gns. Shipped to North American and Mark Casse in 2022, she made just three starts at four, all at Woodbine, defeating Moira in the GII Canadian S. and finishing third via DQ in that year's edition of the E.P. Taylor. She opened her 2023 campaign with guns blazing, starting her year with three consecutive 99 Beyer Speed Figures. With the E.P. Taylor, Fev Rover was adding her second Grade I score following a victory over Gina Romantica (Into Mischief), winner of Saturday's GI First Lady S. at Keeneland, in the GI Beverly D. S. Aug. 12 at Colonial Downs, where she had earned a fees-paid berth to the GI Breeders' Cup Filly and Mare Turf. She also has captured the GII Nassau S. and finished third in the GI Diana S. at Saratoga this summer.

Casse had indicated prior to the E.P. Taylor that Fev Rover was indeed being pointed to the Filly & Mare Turf, which will be contested Nov. 4 at Santa Anita.

 

Pedigree Notes:

Fev Rover is the first top-level winner for Gutaifan (Ire), who stands at Haras des Faunes in France. The MGSW & G1SP stallion has four black-type winners total, with Fev Rover the only one venturing to this side of the pond. The Dark Angel (Ire) sire raced solely at two.

The late Epsom Derby and Breeders' Cup winner High Chaparral (Ire), sire of Fev Rover's dam, has 69 stakes winners out of his daughters. Laurelita (Ire)'s last reported foal is a yearling colt by Gutaifan's sire, Dark Angel. From the extended family of GISW Seek Again (Speightstown), she also has a 2-year-old filly named Leveret (Ire) (Invincible Army {Ire}), who has placed in one start in England this year.

Sunday, Woodbine Racetrack
E.P. TAYLOR S.-GI, C$766,000, Woodbine, 10-8, 3yo/up, f/m, 1 1/4mT, 2:04.20, gd.
1–FEV ROVER (IRE), 124, m, 5, by Gutaifan (Ire)
                1st Dam: Laurelita (Ire), by High Chaparral (Ire)
                2nd Dam: Chervil (GB), by Dansili (GB)
                3rd Dam: Nashmeel, by Blushing Groom (Fr)
(£20,000 Ylg '19 GOFFPR; 695,000gns 3yo '21 TATMA). O-Tracy Farmer; B-Manister House Stud (IRE); T-Mark E. Casse; J-Javier Castellano. C$450,000. Lifetime Record: GISW-U.S., SW & G1SP-Eng, GSW-Fr, GSP-Ire,19-6-4-3, $1,286,834. Click for the free Equineline.com catalogue-style pedigree.
2–With The Moonlight (Ire), 124, f, 4, by Frankel (GB)
                1st Dam: Sand Vixen (GB) (GSW-Eng, $119,931), by Dubawi (Ire)
                2nd Dam: Fur Will Fly (GB), by Petong (GB)
                3rd Dam: Bumpkin (GB), by Free State (Ire)
O/B-Godolphin (IRE); T-Charles Appleby. C$150,000.
3–Moira, 124, f, 4, by Ghostzapper
                1st Dam: Devine Aida (MSW & GSP, $273,215), by Unbridled's Song
                2nd Dam: Passion, by Came Home
                3rd Dam: Rajmata, by Known Fact
1ST G1 BLACK TYPE. ($150,000 Ylg '20 KEESEP). O-X-Men Racing, Madaket Stables LLC and SF Racing LLC; B-Adena Springs (ON); T-Kevin Attard. C$90,000.
Margins: 2 1/4, 1 3/4, 3 1/4. Odds: 4.05, 2.70, 1.55.
Also Ran: Skims (GB), Kalifornia Queen (Ger), Aspen Grove (Ire), Amazing Grace (Ger), Atomic Blonde (Ger), Consumer Spending, Rocky Sky (Ire).

Click for the Equibase.com chart and the TJCIS.com PPs. VIDEO, sponsored by FanDuel TV.

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Attard Has Solid Options In Both The Grey And Mazarine Stakes On Sunday’s Card

A pair of $150,000 rookie stakes, the Grade 3 Grey and Grade 3 Mazarine, highlight Sunday's 12-race card at Woodbine.

The 1 1/16-mile Mazarine has attracted a field of nine 2-year-old fillies, including Moira, a daughter of Ghostzapper who had a stellar debut in the Princess Elizabeth Stakes on Oct. 23 at the Toronto oval.

With jockey Justin Stein at the controls, the Adena Springs-bred miss put in a stunning rally to win going away by 4 ¼-lengths in the 1 1/16-mile tilt. The final time was 1:44.63.

Trained by Kevin Attard for owners X-Men Racing LLC, Madaket Racing LLC and SF Racing LLC, Moira managed to surpass the conditioner's lofty pre-race expectations.

“She's a very nice filly,” said Attard, who is enjoying another prosperous campaign at the Toronto oval. “I was very keen even before we ran her. Obviously, to be running in a stake and going two-turns first-time out is a bit of a risky undertaking, but I thought it was a very calculated risk. I was confident in her and it worked out really well. I thought she looked pretty impressive. This race, the Mazarine, is open company and a big step up in class but she's trained really well in the interim and I'm really excited to see her continue to develop and possibly be a very nice horse.”

High-profile bloodstock agent and owner Donato Lanni was equally impressed by Moira's curtain-raising performance.

“I was not necessarily expecting that,” admitted Lanni. “I was at the Yearling Sale [in Kentucky] and we stopped looking at the horses and went into the bar there to watch her. I was really nervous because I didn't know a whole lot about her, but Kevin mentioned that the race was coming up and he didn't want to run her short. When he told me he wanted to run her in the stake, I was initially thinking, 'Are you kidding me?' He told me not to worry. That was it.

“When I was watching the race and saw her make that move, I was stunned for a bit after that. She was really impressive. Kevin is a good friend of mine and I've known him for 20-plus years, and he's a hell of a trainer. Him knowing about Moira ahead of that race is a great example of that.”

Lanni, a Montreal native who moved to Kentucky 25 years ago, will be at Woodbine along with other owners of the bay filly to watch her run in the Mazarine.

“I'm excited about going to Woodbine,” said Lanni. “I'm bringing some of the owners from Kentucky with me. It's going to be a good crowd of people and it's going to be a lot of fun to attend the races at Woodbine this late in the year. Some of these guys have never been to Woodbine, so they're pretty excited about going up there and seeing what it's all about and watching her race.”

Although the 2022 edition of the Woodbine Oaks Presented by Budweiser is far down the road, Stein thought of the country's pre-eminent race for Canadian-foaled 3-year-old fillies just after the finish line in the Princess Elizabeth.

Those thoughts haven't changed.

“She was really impressive,” praised Stein. “Kevin thought she belonged in there and I rode her like she belonged in there. She ran better than I expected. It was pretty amazing for a first lifetime start. She looks the part, she behaves like it, and she ran like it. There's a lot of talent there.”

Among the past Princess Elizabeth winners who have gone on to take the Woodbine Oaks are Nipissing (2012), Roan Inish (2009), Ginger Gold (2001) and Dancethruthedawn (2000).

Attard and Lanni will also be represented in the 1 1/16-mile Grey, sending out Be Like Clint and Hicksy.

Bred in Kentucky by Woods Edge Farm and owned by the same connections as Moira, Be Like Clint is 1-1-1 from four starts and will contest his first career stakes race on Saturday.

The son of Point of Entry arrives at the Grey off a second-place finish in a 1/16-mile Tapeta race on November 6.

“I was a little disappointed in his last start,” said Attard. “He lost a little bit of ground around the turn and then regained some momentum and ran on to be second. He's a colt that still seems to be figuring things out, so we're hoping he takes another step in the right direction and shows a little bit more improvement.”

Hicksy, owned by Lanni through the Lanni Bloodstock LLC banner, heads into the Grey on a two-race win streak, including a three-quarter length score in the seven-furlong Display Stakes on October 30.

The son of Hootenanny, bred by Richard Forbush, debuted on Sept. 12 at Woodbine, finishing fourth in a 5 ½-furlong main track race.

“He's a very nice colt,” praised Attard. “He's won his last two races and is a stakes winner now. He's stretching out in distance for the first time. I don't think it's going to be an issue for him. He seems to be rateable. He has some early foot, and he can be positioned anywhere you need him to be. Hopefully, he's just good enough.”

$150,000 MAZARINE STAKES 

Post – Horse – Jockey – Trainer

1 – Queen Judith – Emma-Jayne Wilson – Mark Casse
2 – Chocolateaddiction – Luis Contreras – Josie Carroll
3 – Mrs. Barbara – Rafael Hernandez – Mark Casse
4 – Kanta – Kazushi Kimura – Jonathan Thomas
5 – Guileful – Simon Husbands – Nathan Squires
6 – Moira – Justin Stein – Kevin Attard
7 – Aubrieta – Patrick Husbands – Mark Casse
8 – Souper Hoity Toity – Gary Boulanger – Mark Casse
9 – Sake (FR) – Shaun Bridgmohan – Jean-Claude Rouget

 

$150,000 GREY STAKES 

Post – Horse – Jockey – Trainer

1 – Heat Merchant – Gary Boulanger – Ralph Biamonte
2 – Speak Unity – Sahin Civaci – Norman McKnight
3 – Ironstone – Ademar Santos – Willie Armata
4 – Stowaway – Kazushi Kimura – Mark Casse
5 – Shamateur – Steven Bahen – Michael Doyle
6 – Be Like Clint – Justin Stein – Kevin Attard
7 – On Thin Ice – Kazushi Kimura – Mark Casse
8 – Churchtown – Emma-Jayne Wilson – Roger Attfield
9 – International – Shaun Bridgmohan – Jean-Claude Rouget
10 – God of Love – Rafael Hernandez – Mark Casse
11 – Hicksy – Antonio Gallardo – Kevin Attard
12 – The Minkster – David Moran – Daniel Vella

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