By some measures, Kevin Attard is having a good year. He certainly had a good weekend.
Moira, Canada’s horse of the year and top 3-year-old filly in 2002, won the Grade 2 Beverly D. on Sunday at Colonial Downs by a head over rival Fev Rover, giving them each two wins against each other in six meetings.
And Full Count Felicia won the Canadian (G2) on Saturday at Woodbine, Attard’s home base, leading at every call en route to a 2 3/4-length victory as the favorite.
That brought Attard’s graded-stakes wins for the year to three compared with one in each of the last two years. But those last two years were Attard’s best from an earnings standpoint, at $5.3 million in 2023 and $4.8 million last year. With just under $2 million in earnings this year, he’s a bit behind in that regard.
“It’s been an up-and-down season,” Attard told Horse Racing Nation on Monday. “Some disappointments, some horses we were hoping to be a little stronger in certain categories. But we typically, with our younger stock, they typically don’t get going until the races stretch out a little further. So we’re hoping, obviously, the back end of it gets to be rolling a little bit smoother and maybe sets us up for next season.”
Attard, who has 75 horses in training at Woodbine and four entered in Saturday’s King’s Plate, discussed his top runners for HRN’s Barn Tour feature.
Moira. The Beverly D. was a win-and-you’re-in for the Breeders’ Cup Filly & Mare Turf, and Attard said the 5-year-old Ghostzapper mare had a “good stretch run there, and it was a good horse race.” She’s a bit of a challenge for the trainer. “Day to day, she’s actually pretty simple, really. She kind of has her little routine, and it’s pretty casual, nothing too out of the ordinary. But on race day, she can be very temperamental, even just putting the bridle on her. She just seems to know she’s going to run, and she just kind of turns into a different personality. … You’re always worried, you don’t want her to hurt herself, especially on game day. But we try to trick her along, and it seems to be working and she’s cooperating, I guess. Keeps you on your toes, that’s for sure.” The E.P. Taylor (G1) at Woodbine on Sept. 14 “is a strong possibility” for her next start. “It’s at home, there’s no shipping needed, obviously. It’s a mile and a quarter. So I think it leads into the Breeders’ Cup pretty good.”
Full Count Felicia. Formerly trained by Brittany Russell, the 5-year-old War Front mare’s first start for Attard was a fourth-place finish in the Nassau (G2). Then she came back with to score in the Canadian. “Pretty cool little filly, very easy to work with. We ran her in the Nassau first time. I thought she ran really well. Made a bit of a strong little move, got tired coming off the layoff. So she really trained exceptionally while heading into this race this weekend, the Canadian. She just was working lights out and just doing everything so effortlessly. In the morning, she just looked like a winner on the racetrack every day. It was nice to see her put it all together and win like she did on Saturday.” The E.P. Taylor is a possibility for her too. “You’ve got a Grade 1 in your backyard. It just would probably make the most sense for her.”
Live Lucky. This 3-year-old son of Perfect Timber didn’t race as a 2-year-old and is undefeated this year. “He’s been a pretty cool little horse, 3-for-3, won a couple Ontario sire stakes now. He’s all on turf. So we’ve got this heritage series, it’s for Ontario-sire 3-year-olds. The next leg is at Fort Erie on Prince of Wales day (the Lake Erie). It’s going six and a half on the dirt, and that’s where we’re looking to run him next.” Last year, “he was at the track training with me, and just came up with 2-year-old issues. He was a big boy, so we just decided to give him the rest of the season off and bring him back as a 3-year-old, let him kind of mature into himself. And he definitely grew and did all that. He was working well before we ran him, and he’s been perfect since.”
Caitlinhergrtness. The 3-year-old daughter of Omaha Beach, formerly trained by Todd Pletcher, won an optional-claiming allowance at Woodbine in her first start for Attard and two weeks later was second by a neck as the favorite in the Woodbine Oaks. “Her being a Canadian-bred, we’re were trying to get her ready for the Oaks and kind of just ran out of time. We entered her in an allowance race, two turns on the turf, and she won and she came out of the race well. So we elected to give her a go in the Oaks, and she just got caught late, really. So unfortunately, I think if we had a little bit more timing, maybe drew a little bit better post position-wise too, it might have been a different outcome for her. But she came out of the race well, and we’re going to give her a crack now at the King’s Plate on Saturday.”
Fashionably Fab. The 4-year-old Silent Name filly won the Belle Mahone (G3) in June in her first start of the year then was third in the Trillium (G3) and fourth in the Canadian (G2) on Saturday. “She’s been a pretty consistent filly, reeled off, I think it was five consecutive wins from last year to her first start this year. She was in restricted company last year and started this year off with a win in Grade 3 against open fillies and mares, so that was really nice. She came back and ran, I thought, a good third, in her second start. And then on Saturday, we gave her a shot at the turf. And she ran decent, it was a credible enough race, but I don’t think the turf moves her up. Some horses, obviously, they get to the turf and it’s what they want, and you can see a big difference in them. For her, I don’t think that’s particularly the case. I think she doesn’t mind it, but I don’t think, at the same time, it moves her forward. … We’ll probably get back to synthetic racing with her. Her next engagement will probably be the Ontario Matron.”
Pierre. After finishing third in his December debut, the now 3-year-old Tapiture colt returned in May and broke his maiden, followed by second- and third-place efforts in optional-claiming allowance races at Woodbine. “He’s one that I really liked from before he ran and made his first start. Had a troubled trip the very first start he ran, came a good closing third, and that was at the very end of the season. So we gave him the winter off and brought him back. He broke his maiden in his first start, in kind of workmanlike shape. And he’s still kind of, I think, green and figuring things out. Last time he ran, we had to run him on the turf because he didn’t have any more options. And he made this big move like he was going on by and seemed to kind of hang a little green down the lane. He’s also running Saturday in the King’s Plate. And I think he’s a horse that as soon as that light bulb finally clicks in on him, I think we’re going to see a different Pierre.”
Skylight Caper. The 2-year-old daughter of Souper Speedy broke her maiden this month in her second try. “Pretty nice filly, actually. … The first time I ran her, I expected a big race out of her, and she was very green, kind of got lost and confused early in the race, and then figured things out late, came closing to run a bang-up third, I thought. Ran her back, and it was a different horse. She showed speed, she was in the race early, drew away pretty easily, I thought, in the last sixteenth. So that was kind of what we were expecting the first time with her. She’s being pointed now towards the Muskoka. It’s a stake for horses that have gone through the yearling sales in Canada. So she’s going in that direction for her next start.”
Salt. The 2-year-old Tapit filly was second in his June 29 debut and then broke her maiden last month at Woodbine in her first turf start. “She’s doing really well. She’s going to be entered this weekend in the Catch a Glimpse. It’s kind of our local prep race for the Natalma here. So we’re hoping, obviously, that that leads us into that direction with her. We’ve always liked her from the beginning. I think she’s a filly that as the distances of the races get a little further, I think we’re going to see more of the horse that she’s capable of.”