Melmich Victorious in Dominion Day

Stephen Chesney and Cory Hoffman's Melmich returned to the familiar Woodbine winner's circle July 1 in the $150,000 Dominion Day Stakes (Can-III).  

With his 1 1/2-length score in the 1 1/4-mile test, the 5-year-old Wilko   gelding trained by Kevin Attard now has 10 wins and all of them have been at Woodbine, including last year's Valedictory Stakes (Can-III) and Elgin Stakes. He ran third in his 2016 debut May 28 in the Eclipse Stakes (Can-III).

In the Dominion Day Friday, Melmich raced last in the five-horse field behind slow fractions, made a sweeping four-wide move in the final turn, and drew clear. Breaking Lucky came in second, 1 3/4 lengths ahead of Scuba.

War Dancer set the early pace with fractions of :25.30, :49.52, and 1:13.65 through six furlongs under pressure from defending Dominion Day winner Red Rifle. The mile went 1:38.46 as Melmich made his move under Eurico Rosa da Silva and the frontrunners faded late.

"The wind is blowing very hard so it's very difficult to say if this is the real time. For me, they were going good," da Silva said. "My horse was relaxed and he was there for me any time I needed him. The longer he goes, the better he is."

Acquired by Chesney and Hoffman via a $20,000 claim in September 2014, Melmich finished off the 1 1/4 miles in 2:04.06 and paid $6, $3.40, and $2.40 across the board. Breaking Lucky brought $4.40 and $3.50, and Scuba delivered $3.40.

Bred in Ontario by Andrew Stronach, out of the You and I mare Little Swoon, Melmich now has a 10-5-2 record from 22 starts and earnings of $426,818.