Mondialiste Finds Enough in Woodbine Mile

Sitting eighth at the three-sixteenths pole, Mondialiste unleashed a furious stretch run and found just enough to win the $1 million Ricoh Woodbine Mile (Can-IT) Sept. 13 in Toronto.



The 5-year-old son of Galileo entered the race off back-to-back wins in England for trainer David O'Meara, including his first group score in the Betfred Mobile Strensall Stakes (Eng-III) Aug. 22. It was the first international grade I score not only for the horse, but for O'Meara and jockey Feargal Lynch.

After multiple grade I winner Obviously sprinted to the front on a yielding Woodbine course, setting fractions of :23.21, :46.63, and 1:11.52, Mondialiste found himself near the back of the pack.

"The game plan was always to take our time, come with a late challenge, and just hope they would come back on the soft ground, and that's exactly what happened," Lynch said. "He'd plenty left but it was the way the race developed today, really, that made him shine through—and he's got an electric turn of foot."

The duo came flying and split horses between Obviously and a hard-closing Lea in the final furlong to hit the wire first in a final time of 1:36.66. There was a brief stewards inquiry after the race involving the winner and the third-place finisher, but there was no change in the official order.



Lea, in his first turf start since 2013, got second, while Obviously held for third. Kaigun, Reporting Star, Mr. Owen, Tower of Texas, Turncoat, and Platinum Glory completed the order of finish. Grand Arch and Za Approval scratched.

Off at odds of 3-1, Mondialiste returned $9.60, $4.50, and $3.20. Favored Lea brought $3.50 and $2.70, while Obviously paid $2.90. The mutuel handle was a record $7,187,062 for the Ricoh Woodbine Mile card, edging the 2014 mark of $7,004,235.

Bred in Ireland by Gerard and Alain Wertheimer from the Kaldoun mare Occupandiste, Mondialiste became the first Irish-bred to win the to win the Mile in its 19 editions while improving his record to 4-3-5 from 15 starts for earnings of $718,196. 

The Woodbine Mile is a Breeders' Cup Challenge "Win and You're In" event for the Oct. 31 Breeders' Cup Mile (gr. IT) at Keeneland, and at least one of the top three finishers is headed to that event for sure—Obviously, who was making his first start since finishing fifth in the Breeders' Cup Mile last year for the second consecutive season.

"He had everything going against him here with the soft turf, but he gutted it out," trainer Phil D' Amato said. "He gave it his all, and I think this sets him up really nice for the Breeders' Cup Mile."

Hall of Fame trainer Bill Mott believes Lea, who came off a disappointing sixth in the Aug. 8 Whitney (gr. I) on dirt, will most likely carry on toward the Breeders' Cup as well.

"We'll take a vote, but I think there's a good chance," he said.

Mondialiste, meanwhile, will return to O'Meara's yard in England while his connections evaluate a potential Breeders' Cup run. 

"We'll have to consider it now," O'Meara said. "Today was the big race that we had in mind, stepping up to group I level. ... The Breeders' Cup will be under consideration, but we'll just take the horse home and see how he is. We thought we'd come here with the long straight and the big track. I'm not quite sure whether Keeneland would suit him as well."