Melmich Set to Defend Seagram Cup Title

Stephen Chesney and Cory Hoffman's Melmich will return to racing at Woodbine Aug. 12 to defend his title in the $125,000 Seagram Cup Stakes (G3).

Trained by Kevin Attard, the former claimer turned multiple graded stakes winner has compiled a record of 16 wins from 37 starts while banking $951,248 in earnings. The 7-year-old will square off against a salty field of six Sunday that includes the Roger Attfield-trained duo of Are You Kidding Me and Shakhimat, as well as 2015 Seagram Cup victor, Florida Won.

Melmich will be looking for his first win of 2018. The consistent gelded son of Wilko finished second in all three starts this campaign. Last time out the deep closer landed in the runner-up spot in the Dominion Day Stakes (G3).

"The pace scenario in his last couple races have hurt him. Hopefully this weekend we'll have a bit more of an honest pace to run at," Attard said.

The closing style preferred by the multiple graded stakes winner isn't likely to change in the 1 1/16-mile test.

"He seems to run well that way. We haven't tried to change things up with him, but there may come a time to devise a different game plan if things continue to set up the way it has been," Attard said.

Shakhimat, a multiple graded stakes winner in his own right, is the likely pacesetter in the compact Seagram Cup field and both Melmich and Are You Kidding Me will have to be careful not to let the dark bay get away.

"With a small field everyone is focusing on one or two horses in the race, and those one or two horses are usually focusing on each other, while someone else is stealing it," Attard said. "It's getting harder to catch these horses."

Are You Kidding Me, Canada's champion older horse of 2015 and 2016, has banked more than $1.2 million in his career, but has yet to add a Seagram Cup victory to his list of accomplishments, with runner-up finishes in 2016 and 2017.

"If you look at Melmich and Are You Kidding Me, they're two horses that have danced a few dances and still continue to compete at the highest level, and that's a big testament to those two horses," Attard said.

A pair of sharp five-furlong breezes, including a recent main-track effort in 1:00 4/5, signal that Melmich may be ready to run a big one.

"His last two works have gone really well. He's coming into this race as good as can be. We're just hoping he puts in one his good performances," said Attard.

Graded stakes winner Gigantic Breeze will look to pick up his first win of the meet Sunday with jockey Mario Pino in the irons. Pino was aboard the Giant's Causeway  gelding in September for a score in the Presque Isle Mile Stakes.

Sunday's card also features Dixie Moon, who defeated Wonder Gadot in the June 9 Woodbine Oaks Presented by Budweiser, as she attempts to pick up a second Canadian classic victory in the $225,000 Wonder Where Stakes.

Trained by Catherine Day Phillips and piloted by Eurico Rosa da Silva, Dixie Moon used a prominent approach to win the Woodbine Oaks, the first leg of the Canadian Triple Tiara, and dug in gamely down the lane to repel the advancing Wonder Gadot.

DAUGHERTY: Dixie Moon Eclipses Competition in Woodbine Oaks

The two fillies renewed their rivalry in The Queen's Plate, but it wasn't Dixie Moon's day, as the daughter of Curlin  was eased while Wonder Gadot romped.

"She was very determined and tried hard. That's normally how she is," Day Phillips said of the Oaks coup. "Obviously things did not go her way at all in the Queen's Plate. We've had a bit of time to regroup and reorganize, and hopefully we'll be back at it again and see the old Dixie back on Sunday."

Entries: Seagram Cup S. (G3)

Woodbine, Sunday, August 12, 2018, Race 6

• Grade III
• 1 1/16m
• All Weather Track
• $125,000
• 3 yo's & up
• 3:40 PM (local)

PP	Horse	Jockey	Wgt	Trainer	M/L
1	1Melmich (ON)	Eurico Rosa Da Silva	119	Kevin Attard	9/5
2	2Gigantic Breeze (ON)	Mario G. Pino	119	Alexander F. McPherson	4/1
3	3Are You Kidding Me (KY)	Rafael Manuel Hernandez	121	Roger L. Attfield	8/5
4	4Florida Won (KY)	Luis Contreras	119	Norman McKnight	8/1
5	5Decorated Soldier (KY)	Gary Boulanger	119	Norman McKnight	12/1
6	6Shakhimat (ON)	Steven Ronald Bahen	119	Roger L. Attfield	6/1

Entries: Wonder Where S.

Woodbine, Sunday, August 12, 2018, Race 9

• STK
• 1 1/4m
• Turf
• $225,000
• 3 yo Fillies
• 5:25 PM (local)

PP	Horse	Jockey	Wgt	Trainer	M/L
1	1Safe to Say (ON)	Jerome Lermyte	121	Mark E. Casse	8/1
2	2Avie's Mineshaft (ON)	Gary Boulanger	121	Josie Carroll	5/1
3	3Double Latte (ON)	Chantal Sutherland	121	Michael P. De Paulo	20/1
4	4Dixie Moon (ON)	Eurico Rosa Da Silva	121	Catherine Day Phillips	1/5
5	5Glamanation (ON)	Rafael Manuel Hernandez	121	Norman McKnight	12/1