Attard Deals Strong Hand in Marine, Queenston Stakes

The CA$150,000 Marine Stakes (G3) and CA$125,000 Queenston Stakes share the spotlight July 11 at Woodbine.

A key prep on the road to the Aug. 22 Queen's Plate, the 1 1/16-mile main track Marine, for 3-year-olds, has attracted some notable Canadian-breds hoping for a shot at Plate glory.

The Marine is complemented by the Queenston, a seven-furlong race over the main track for Canadian-bred 3-year-olds.

Kevin Attard, in search of his first Marine crown, will send out Haddassah , a bay son of Air Force Blue  , who will be making his first stakes appearance.

Bred and owned by Al and Bill Ulwelling, Haddassah is listed as the 8-1 fourth choice in the Queen's Plate Winterbook. The gelding's first career start came last November at Woodbine, in a one-mile-and-70-yard race that had originally been scheduled for the turf. Second at the stretch call, Haddassah rallied to secure a half-length win as the 9-5 mutuel choice.

After a series of steady spring works, the Ontario-bred finished third in his 3-year-old debut June 13, a 1 1/16-mile allowance contest over the E. P. Taylor Turf Course. 

"With Haddassah, we had to run him against older horses," noted Attard. "The scheduling with everything doesn't leave much time or room for error. We had to get him going and it was against older horses, and on the turf. It wasn't ideal, but all things considered, I thought he ran a good race. He's come back and worked really well in the interim. We're excited to see him run against his own age group, going a mile and a sixteenth. We're looking forward to it."

Attard won't make any Queen's Plate plans quite yet.

"He's a horse that has a lot of raw talent, but I don't know if a mile and quarter is going to be in his realm. He has a lot of ability and talent. He enjoys what he does, so hopefully, everything comes together for him."

Haddassah worked six furlongs in 1:12 3/5 over the main track July 4 in his final tune-up for the Marine. Keveh Nicholls will pilot Haddassah from post 5.

Red River Rebel Seeks More Black Type

Attard will also be represented in the Queenston Stakes right after the Marine by Red River Rebel . The Queenston, which drew a field of eight, includes several Plate hopefuls.

Tabbed at 25-1 in the Queen's Plate Winterbook, Red River Rebel has already experienced stakes success having taken last year's running of the Frost King Stakes by 2 1/2 lengths.

Following a seven-month layoff, the son of Reload   tired to fourth in his sophomore debut June 20 over the Toronto oval after pressing the early pace.

"I've only had him for about three weeks," said Attard. "He's settled in well and obviously, he's an exciting horse to have. We're going to give him a shot here. He's had a race under his belt and we have him good and tight. We gave him a little blowout this morning (Wednesday) and he went a nice and easy half-mile (:50 2/5) with Rafael Hernandez, who will be riding him on Sunday. I'm excited to see him run. He's a very impressive-looking individual. Hopefully, he runs a big race."

A homebred for Denny Andrews and Northern Dawn Stables, Red River Rebel will break from post 2 under Hernandez.

The 2020 Canadian champion 2-year-old male Gretzky the Great  and 2020 Cup and Saucer Stakes winner Master Spy  should poise a formidable challenge for Red River Rebel in Sunday's race. Both are trained by Mark Casse.

Entries: Marine S. (G3)

Woodbine, Sunday, July 11, 2021, Race 7

• Grade III
• 1 1/16m
• All Weather Track
• $150,000
• 3 yo
• 4:24 PM (local)

PP	Horse	Jockey	Wgt	Trainer	M/L
1	1Tidal Forces (ON)	Emma-Jayne Wilson	120	Gail Cox	2/1
2	2Frosted Over (KY)	Kazushi Kimura	118	Mark E. Casse	4/1
3	3Easy Time (KY)	Rafael Manuel Hernandez	118	Mark E. Casse	5/2
4	4Candy Overload (ON)	Daisuke Fukumoto	118	Krista Cole-Simpson	10/1
5	5Haddassah (ON)	Keveh Nicholls	118	Kevin Attard	3/1
6	6Keep Grinding (ON)	Justin Stein	118	Tino Attard	8/1

Entries: Queenston S.

Woodbine, Sunday, July 11, 2021, Race 8

• STK
• 7f
• All Weather Track
• $125,000
• 3 yo
• 4:56 PM (local)

PP	Horse	Jockey	Wgt	Trainer	M/L
1	1Candy Overload (ON)	Daisuke Fukumoto	118	Krista Cole-Simpson	8/1
2	2Red River Rebel (ON)	Rafael Manuel Hernandez	122	Kevin Attard	7/2
3	3Artie's Storm (ON)	David Moran	118	Paul M. Buttigieg	10/1
4	4Master Spy (ON)	Patrick Husbands	122	Mark E. Casse	6/1
5	5Del Griffith (ON)	Emma-Jayne Wilson	118	Timothy E. Hamm	20/1
6	6Gretzky the Great (ON)	Kazushi Kimura	124	Mark E. Casse	2/1
7	7Download (ON)	Justin Stein	118	Michael P. De Paulo	12/1
8	8Tio Magico (ON)	Luis Contreras	118	Gail Cox	3/1