Arod Among Europeans for Woodbine Mile Card

The European contingent for the Sept. 17 Ricoh Woodbine Mile (Can-IT) program, which features three graded turf stakes, arrived late evening Sept. 12 following a flight from Amsterdam.

The transatlantic travelers are England's Mutakayyef and Arod, and France's Mr. Owen for the $1 million Woodbine Mile; Majeed, also from England, for the Northern Dancer (Can-IT); and Steip Amach, from France, for the Canadian (Can-IIT).

Mutakayyef has taken his game to a new level this year for trainer William Haggas and owner Sheikh Hamdan bin Rashid Al Maktoum. The 5-year-old Sea The Stars gelding won the Summer Mile (Eng-II) at Ascot in July and a minor stakes at York in June before stretching out to 1 5/16 miles for York's Juddmonte International (Eng-I) and finishing a troubled third, beaten 2 1/4 lengths.

Multiple group winner Arod, a seasoned traveller owned by Qatar Racing, is coming off a creditable third-place finish in the Celebration Mile (Eng-II) Aug. 27 at Goodwood. The 5-year-old son of Teofilo has 4-3-4 record from 17 starts and is twice placed in 2015 at the group I level: a second in the Qatar Sussex at Goodwood and a third in the Al Shaqab Lockinge at Newbury.

"He went to Australia last year, and it never took anything out of him," said Gary Hindmarch, traveling head lad and rider for the Peter Chapple-Hyam trainee. "He likes his traveling; he enjoys himself."

Mr. Owen, also owned by Qatar Racing and sixth in last year's Woodbine Mile as a 3-year-old, was a second when making his previous start in the Prix Messidor (Fr-III) at Maisons-Laffitte.

Mr. Owen's rider will be Jamie Spencer, winner of the Woodbine Mile with Trade Storm and E. P. Taylor (Can-IT) with Just The Judge in 2014. The jockey also guided Wigmore Hall to back-to-back scores in the Northern Dancer beginning in 2011.

Majeed, owned by Khalifa Desmal and trained by David Simcock, will be making his first start in a graded stakes in the Northern Dancer. But the 6-year-old gelding was beaten just a nose last time out in Windsor's 1 7/16 mile August Stakes and the winner, Berkshire, has group II and group III scores on his resume.

Steip Amach, conditioned by David Smaga, is heading into the Canadian off a third-place finish in the Prix Jean Romanet (Fr-I) at Deauville.

Traveling head lad Cedric Marquette and work rider Robert Malczuk are at Woodbine with the 4-year-old filly, whose two career wins have come in group III stakes.