Mr Havercamp Bests Woodbine's Autumn Stakes Field

Mr Havercamp provided his connections with another thrill at the 2018 Woodbine meet, winning the $175,000 Autumn Stakes (G2) Nov. 3.

With Mr Havercamp's stablemate, the Woodbine Oaks Presented by Budweiser champion Dixie Moon also recently a winner two weeks ago in the Carotene Stakes, owner/breeder Fitzhenry is riding a high. 

"We dream of this stuff, and you just have to ride it out and enjoy it while it lasts because it won't last forever," said Fitzhenry, who owns both stakes stars with his wife, Dorothy. 

Settling just off the pace while Shakhimat dueled past Decorated Soldier through fractions of :24.59, :47.44, and 1:10.96, Woodbine's leading jockey Eurico Rosa da Silva was brimming with confidence in his chances aboard the popular Mr Havercamp.

"Sometimes the race just falls everything your way," said da Silva after his 24th stakes win of the meet. "This fell with two speed horses on the front end putting up fair fractions, and my horse was running relaxed. He's a very focused horse. He's a super nice horse. I'm just grateful to be part of this team. (Trainer) Catherine (Day Phillips) is awesome to work with, and Sean (Fitzhenry) is great. I'm just so grateful."

Da Silva made his move in the final turn, and Mr Havercamp struck the front at the top of the stretch before drawing off by 1 3/4 lengths to win the 1 1/16-mile affair in an impressive time of 1:42.36 over the all-weather course. The Roger Attfield-trained millionaire Are You Kidding Me, a two-time winner of the Autumn Stakes, finished second, and defending champion Gigantic Breeze was third.

"I was just really confident in him," Day Phillips said. "He's been training so well. He's happy, he's focused. I was just really confident in him."

Mr Havercamp was a 4-5 favorite following a runner-up finish in the Ricoh Woodbine Mile (G1T) in mid-September and returned $3.80 to win.

"He's a tough, resilient horse," Day Phillips added. "We gave him a break after the Woodbine Mile. He just jogged for a couple weeks and he came back to hand very fairly quickly, to be honest, for this race." 

Mr Havercamp has won three of five starts during his 4-year-old campaign, including the Play the King Stakes (G2T) on yielding turf and his season debut in the Steady Growth on Tapeta. The Court Vision gelding is now 7-for-11 lifetime with earnings of $589,386.

"He's a versatile horse, he runs great on both surfaces, and he gives everything he's got every time, and that's all you can ask for in a horse," Fitzhenry said.

"I think we have two choices to make," said Day Phillip of future plans for Mr Havercamp. "We'll either give him a break and look to race south, or maybe we'll give him just a break and see him next summer."

Two races prior, fillies and mares had their turn in the $125,000 Maple Leaf Stakes (G3) going 1 1/4 miles on the all-weather track. A. A. Azula's Arch earned the biggest win of her career defeating older mares, including graded stakes winner Gamble's Ghost.

The 3-year-old daughter of Arch trained by Kevin Attard had come close to a graded win this summer when she finished runner-up in the July 21 Ontario Colleen Stakes (G3T) over the Woodbine turf. Owned by A & A Farms, A. A. Azula's Arch was bred in Kentucky by Fox Hill Farms and is the first graded stakes winner for her dam, Song of Solomon (by Unbridled's Song).