Merryman, Flay's Caravel Stirs Excitement in Highlander

For his first race training the quick Caravel , Graham Motion looks to hit a home run of the grade 1 variety.

The Bobby Flay and Elizabeth Merryman-owned filly, coming off a romp in the July 24 Caress Stakes (G3T) at Saratoga Race Course, her third straight victory, faces seven male rivals in the CA$350,000 Highlander Stakes (G1T) on the Queen's Plate undercard Aug. 22 at Woodbine.

Her placement in facing males for the first time, while bold, appears warranted. The gray daughter of Mizzen Mast   is favored at even money on the morning line.

Irad Ortiz Jr. is in town from his customary Saratoga base to ride her in the six-furlong race and other lucrative events on the Sunday card. 

A 4-year-old filly, Caravel makes her second start since Flay, a celebrity chef, purchased a majority interest. Merryman bred the filly and previously trained her to a 7-for-9 record while based at Fair Hill Training Center in Maryland. 

"I've tried not to change too much, since I've had her," said Motion. "I kept her at Saratoga. We kind of kept her on the same schedule she would have at Fair Hill with Lizzie." 

The Highlander is the next step for Caravel on the path which her connections hope will lead to the Breeders' Cup Turf Sprint (G1T), which will be run at five furlongs at Del Mar Nov. 6. 

"This is kind of the race we'd planned on, if she ran well at Saratoga," Motion said. "The six furlongs is a really good distance for her." 

Caravel, whose speed figures rank her as one of the fastest turf sprinters in North America, gets in light at 118 pounds under the allowance conditions and with a sex allowance. Her opponents carry weights ranging from 121-124 pounds.

Two of her adversaries are Silent Poet  and City Boy , 1-2 in last year's Nearctic Stakes (G2T) over six furlongs of the E.P. Taylor Turf Course. Silent Boy is unplaced in two starts this year, while City Boy, winner of the 2019 Nearctic, was second in his 2021 debut Aug. 1.

City Boy "came out of his first start really well," said trainer Mike Keogh, who trains him for Donald Howard and the estate of Gustav Schickedanz. "He ran well enough, and I think he needed the race. He missed a bit of time going into it. He always has little foot issues."

Hall of Fame trainer Mark Casse, seeking his first Highlander, will send out a trio in Turned Aside , Chuck Willis , and Old Chestnut . 

Turned Aside is the richest of his three, having won the Quick Call Stakes (G3T) and Aqueduct Turf Sprint Championship Stakes earlier in his career when trained by Linda Rice. A $725,000 purchase this year from the Lane's End consignment to the January Horses of All Ages Sale at Keeneland by current owners D. J. Stable and West Point Thoroughbreds, he has since gone 0-for-2. He was freshened after running ninth following a troubled start in the Shakertown Stakes (G2T) at Keeneland in April.

Completing the field are Admiralty Pier  and Honey Won't .

Entries: Highlander S. (G1T)

Woodbine, Sunday, August 22, 2021, Race 11

• Grade IT
• 6f
• Turf
• $350,000
• 3 yo's & up
• 6:25 PM (local)

PP	Horse	Jockey	Wgt	Trainer	M/L
1	1Old Chestnut (FL)	Patrick Husbands	121	Mark E. Casse	10/1
2	2Admiralty Pier (KY)	Antonio A. Gallardo	123	Barbara J. Minshall	15/1
3	3Turned Aside (KY)	Emma-Jayne Wilson	123	Mark E. Casse	7/2
4	4Chuck Willis (IRE)	Kazushi Kimura	121	Mark E. Casse	8/1
5	5Honey Won't (KY)	Jeffrey Ian Alderson	121	Angus Buntain	30/1
6	6City Boy (ON)	David Moran	121	Michael Keogh	9/2
7	7Caravel (PA)	Irad Ortiz, Jr.	118	H. Graham Motion	1/1
8	8Silent Poet (ON)	Justin Stein	124	Nicholas Gonzalez	12/1