Heading into this season, Cruden Bay had established a reputation as a very honest sort while competing primarily under allowance terms.
But the 6-year-old gelding, owned by Michael Lay and trained by Don MacRae, has flipped the script this year and is heading into Saturday’s Grade 2 King Edward Stakes for 3-year-olds and up, in search of his third win in as many starts and second consecutive graded-stakes score.
The King Edward will be run over one mile on turf and is the leading local prep for the Woodbine Mile (G1) on Sept. 14.
“Toward the end of his 3-year-old and 4-year-old campaigns, I remember telling Michael Lay that he was going to get better as he got older,” MacRae said. “But to say he was going to get this good… not in a million years.”
A convincing winner under third-level allowance conditions at 22-1 on June 1, Cruden Bay doubled up seven weeks later when defeating the hard-knocking War Bomber by a neck at a well-backed 4-1 in the Connaught Cup (G2). Both races were run over seven furlongs on turf, and Cruden Bay rallied from well off the pace on each occasion.
“I never really thought he’d be the kind of horse that would get up going seven-eighths on the turf, and I kind of think the extra furlong is really going to help him,” MacRae said of Cruden Bay, who has a 22: 7-9-1 record and along with US$433,405 in career earnings. “That being said, this race is developing to be a little tougher. But he definitely warrants a shot in there.
“He seems to be happy, and we’re excited to run.”
Apprentice standout Sofia Vives, who has become a go-to rider in stakes races, joined forces for the first time with Cruden Bay, bred in Ontario by Spring Farm, this year.
“She has a lot of confidence in the horse,” said MacRae.
Cruden Bay’s six opponents include the returning War Bomber and Filo di Arianna, the last two winners of the King Edward.
Trained by Norm McKnight for owner Bruno Schickedanz, War Bomber recorded his most important victory to date in last summer’s King Edward after ending a solid second in the Connaught Cup.
Facing Cruden Bay in this year’s Connaught renewal, War Bomber had looked like a winner after surging to the lead in mid-stretch under rider Rafael Hernandez but could not contain the winner’s potent wide rally and fell just short.
“I was a little surprised; I thought he was going to win there, for a minute,” McKnight said. “I think Raffie did, too. He broke through there and he really seemed to accelerate.
“But then Raffie said he just kind of got away from the field, and he put his head up and kind of waited on them. That other horse just came so far outside of him, he didn’t really get time to engage back.”
The Connaught Cup was War Bomber’s second start of 2024 after an indifferent effort on June 1 in the Jacques Cartier over six furlongs on the all-weather surface.
“Typically, if you look at his pattern, his first race of the year is always kind of dismal,” McKnight said of the horse bred by Coolmore. “I thought he’d run well last time. So did Raffie.”
Filo Di Arianna is the senior member of the field at 8 but is lightly raced with only 16 starts and is coming into the King Edward off a sharp score for conditioner Mark Casse in the six-furlong Highlander (G2) on June 29.
“He doesn’t run often, but he makes it count when he does,” said Casse.
The Highlander was Filo di Arianna’s fourth outing in three months, and Casse elected to bypass the Connaught Cup and await the King Edward.
“I decided to give him a little more time, concentrate on this, and then hopefully have a big effort back in the Woodbine Mile.”
That Highlander score was Filo di Arianna’s fourth in as many outings over Woodbine’s E.P. Taylor turf, including the Connaught Cup and King Edward in 2022.
Owned by Gary Barber, Wachtel Stable and Peter Deutsch, Filo di Arianna, bred by Stud Principessa di Capri, took home Sovereign Awards as Canada’s champion male sprinter and champion turf horse that season.
Casse also won King Edwards with Olympic Runner in 2021, March to the Arch in 2020 and Royal Oath in 2008 and will have a second candidate on Saturday in Like the King, who was a smart allowance winner over the distance and surface last time out.
“He ran a really good race,” Casse said. “He’s going to have to step it up a little, but he’s doing well.”
| Post | Silks | Horse / Sire | Rating | Trainer / Jockey | Last Start / Next Start | ML |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 |
Cruden Bay Big Screen |
0.00 |
1st, bet365 Connaught Cup S. |
7-2 | ||
|
Last Race Next Race |
1st, bet365 Connaught Cup S. |
|||||
| 2 |
|
Ironstone Mr Speaker |
6.04 |
3rd, bet365 Connaught Cup S. |
12-1 | |
|
Last Race Next Race |
3rd, bet365 Connaught Cup S. |
|||||
| 3 |
|
Wicked Django Wicked Strong |
0.00 |
3rd, Seagram Cup S. |
15-1 | |
|
Last Race Next Race |
3rd, Seagram Cup S. |
|||||
| 4 |
|
Like the King Palace Malice |
6.45 |
1st, WO AOC (06/27/2024-R4) |
10-1 | |
|
Last Race Next Race |
1st, WO AOC (06/27/2024-R4) |
|||||
| 5 |
|
Secret Reserve Giant Gizmo |
4.45 |
5th, Pink Lloyd S. |
20-1 | |
|
Last Race Next Race |
5th, Pink Lloyd S. |
|||||
| 6 |
|
War Bomber War Front |
4.79 |
2nd, bet365 Connaught Cup S. |
5-1 | |
|
Last Race Next Race |
2nd, bet365 Connaught Cup S. |
|||||
| 7 |
|
Kaukokaipuu Mr Speaker |
3.79 |
3rd, WO AOC (07/19/2024-R8) |
20-1 | |
|
Last Race Next Race |
3rd, WO AOC (07/19/2024-R8) |
|||||
| 8 |
|
Filo Di Arianna Drosselmeyer |
6.34 | 4-5 | ||
|
Last Race Next Race |
||||||
Bold Venture: Patches O’Houlihan seeks repeat
Canadian Horse Racing Hall of Fame trainer Bob Tiller seemed to be genuinely surprised by the manner in which Patches O’Houlihan captured his seasonal bow in Woodbine’s July 28 Pink Lloyd Stakes.
Canada’s champion sprinter last year at age 3, Patches O’Houlihan simply ran his rivals off their feet that day while scoring by six lengths and appearing to be well within himself in that six-furlong Ontario-sired stakes named for the multiple champion sprinter and Canadian Horse Racing Hall of Famer who was a mainstay of the Tiller stable before his retirement at age 9 in 2021.
“It was the best Beyer (103) of his career, and to go out and do that in your first start, I was very impressed,” Tiller said. “But it was an Ontario-sired race, and we go into the wide-open tough company now.”
Patches O’Houlihan indeed will be moving into Grade 3 territory for Saturday’s Bold Venture, a 6 1/2-furlong, synthetic-track race that attracted seven older horses.
But a similar step up was handled in stride last year by the Frank Di Giulio Jr. homebred, who scored convincingly when leading throughout the Bold Venture in his graded-stakes debut and doubled up at the same level when holding on by a nose in the six-furlong Vigil four weeks later.
Patches O’Houlihan drew the No. 3 post for Saturday’s tilt with apprentice Sofia Vives, who did the honors for the first time in the Pink Lloyd, retaining the mount.
“I wish he’d have drawn a little more to the outside, that he had a more comfortable clear post,” said Tiller. “But it is what it is.”
Patches O’Houlihan was undefeated in his first six starts last year, losing only when fifth in the Kennedy Road (G2) in his finale.
“He just didn’t seem to get hold of the track that day,” Tiller said. “The only other time he lost he chipped a knee, and we had to operate on him.”
That setback had come in the Bull Page, a seven-furlong Ontario-sired turf race in which Patches O’Houlihan ended a well-beaten sixth in what was his second appearance off a winning debut as a 2-year-old.
“He seems to be in really good order and we’re really looking forward to racing him,” Tiller said. “I think this is going to be his biggest challenge, and that horse of Josie’s really scares me.”
Tiller’s reference is to Playmea Tune, the 4-year-old Chiefswood Stables Limited homebred, trained by Josie Carroll, who has been very impressive in reeling off back-to-back victories since getting a belated start to career on May 24.
Playmea Tune had been with Carroll in Florida in the winter of 2023 when he suffered an injury which put a premature end to his season.
“We were very disappointed,” said Carroll. “We knew he was very talented and were hoping he would be our King’s Plate horse.”
Fast-forward to this spring and Playmea Tune justified the opinion of his connections with an 11-length maiden romp which was followed by a similar jaunt through his non-winners of two condition.
Now comes the acid test and the conditioner believes that the time is ripe.
“It’s a step up but at some point, he’s going to have to take it, and he seems ready,” Carroll said. “He’s doing really well.”
Rounding out the Bold Venture lineup will be the Mark Casse-trained pair of Capture the Lion and First Empire, I’m A Gambler, Ironstone, and Border Town.
Capture the Lion and First Empire, respective fourth and fifth-place finishers in the Connaught Cup over seven furlongs of turf last time out, also were nominated to Saturday’s King Edward at one mile on the turf.
“When you have horses like those two, there’s very few options,” Casse said. “When races come available, you’ve got to run. Both horses have good synthetic form.”
I’m A Gambler, a recent addition to the barn of trainer Kevin Attard, was a sharp winner in his first try over a synthetic surface in his second local appearance on July 25. The 5-year-old Irish-bred had been competitive in graded turf stakes when based in California.
Ironstone, versatile and talented, also was entered in the King Edward after finishing third in both the Connaught Cup and the Grade 3 Jacques Cartier over six furlongs on the all-weather surface.
Border Town, another genuine sort who is the Bold Venture elder at age 8, was supplemented to the race at a cost of $2,250.
| Post | Silks | Horse / Sire | Rating | Trainer / Jockey | Last Start / Next Start | ML |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 |
|
Capture the Lion Uncaptured |
0.00 |
4th, bet365 Connaught Cup S. |
15-1 | |
|
Last Race Next Race |
4th, bet365 Connaught Cup S. |
|||||
| 2 |
|
Ironstone Mr Speaker |
6.04 |
3rd, bet365 Connaught Cup S. |
8-1 | |
|
Last Race Next Race |
3rd, bet365 Connaught Cup S. |
|||||
| 3 |
|
Patches O’houlihan Reload |
4.45 |
1st, Pink Lloyd S. |
7-5 | |
|
Last Race Next Race |
1st, Pink Lloyd S. |
|||||
| 4 |
|
Border Town War Front |
5.12 |
1st, WO AOC (07/06/2024-R9) |
3-1 | |
|
Last Race Next Race |
1st, WO AOC (07/06/2024-R9) |
|||||
| 5 |
|
I’m A Gambler No Nay Never |
0.00 | 6-1 | ||
|
Last Race Next Race |
||||||
| 6 |
|
Playmea Tune Maclean’s Music |
0.00 |
1st, WO AOC (07/07/2024-R8) |
4-1 | |
|
Last Race Next Race |
1st, WO AOC (07/07/2024-R8) |
|||||
| 7 |
|
First Empire Classic Empire |
4.87 |
5th, bet365 Connaught Cup S. |
12-1 | |
|
Last Race Next Race |
5th, bet365 Connaught Cup S. |
|||||
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