Trainer Kevin Attard entered three fillies and mares in the CA$210,400 Canadian Stakes (G2T) Aug. 10 at Woodbine, but scratched Moira , the 2022 Canadian Horse of the Year, to race in the $500,000 Beverly D. Stakes (G2T) Aug. 11 at Colonial Downs.
Even without Moira, Attard would finish first and fourth in the Canadian Stakes with Full Count Felicia and Fashionably Fab , respectively.
Gold Square’s Full Count Felicia was never challenged in the 1 1/8-mile race over a “good” E. P. Taylor Turf Course softened a bit from rain earlier in the week. She busted out in front with splits of :24.51, :48.44, and 1:12.07, and opened leaving the turn. In front by five lengths with an eighth of a mile to go, she remained clear for a 2 3/4-length victory under Rafael Hernandez. She was clocked in 1:48.69 and returned $7.80 to win.
“I knew we got a couple horses come from behind. They’re going to kick good. So I tried to get the jump before them,” Hernandez said.
With Attard not on-site at Woodbine due to traveling to Colonial Downs in Virginia, the trainer’s 20-year-old son and stable foreman, Josh, did the honors of a winner’s circle interview with Woodbine’s television department.
“She ran a good race last time, coming off the layoff, and we were expecting a big performance today,” Josh said, referencing her close fourth-place finish in the June 29 Nassau Stakes (G2T).
Millie Girl rallied to grab second, outfinishing Five Towns , who showed.
Full Count Felicia, a 5-year-old daughter of War Front out of the Galileo mare Claire de Lune , notched her third stakes victory and second at the graded level in the Canadian. Last year as a 4-year-old, she won the All Along Stakes and the Suwannee River Stakes (G3T) for trainer Brittany Russell.
One of the top turf sires in North America, War Front stood this past breeding season for $100,000 at Claiborne Farm in Kentucky.
Video: Canadian S. Presented by the Japan Racing Association (G2T)
Stormcast Pounds The Opposition in Bison City
K E M Racing Stable’s Stormcast was reluctant to load into the starting gate before the CA$250,500 Bison City Stakes, but the speedster was all business once in the gate and breaking from it. She led early under Patrick Husbands and drew off to a 7 3/4-length front-running victory in the race for Canadian-bred 3-year-old fillies.
More relaxed on the lead than she had been in her first start of 2024 at Woodbine, the Mark Casse trainee raced 1 1/16 miles on Tapeta in 1:43.25. She paid $15.50 to win.
Stormcast leaves her rivals behind in the Bison City Stakes
“She showed today that she’s all class,” said recently inducted Canadian Hall of Fame jockey Patrick Husbands.
Hurricane Clair finished second, and Stormcast’s stablemate Dancing Duchess was third. Woodbine Oaks winner Kin’s Concerto ran seventh.
A daughter of Mitole out of the Quiet American mare Scolara , Stormcast picked up her first stakes victory after two earlier stakes placings.
