Daily Racing Form National Digital Edition
Tiz a Slam eyes Prince of Wales
ETOBICOKE, Ontario – For the second time in three years, trainer Roger Attfield had his bid for a record ninth Queen’s Plate win denied by a Stronach Stables homebred when Tiz a Slam ran second to Holy Helena on July 2 at Woodbine.
Back in 2015, Attfield sent out Danish Dynaformer to a runner-up finish behind the Stronach Stables homebred Shaman Ghost. Danish Dynaformer then proceeded to the Prince of Wales Stakes on dirt at Fort Erie. Tiz a Slam also could start in the second jewel of the Canadian Triple Crown on July 25. Nominations for the $500,000 Prince of Wales Stakes were to close Tuesday.
“We’ve nominated him,” Attfield said. “He’ll work on the training track here, and then we’ll make the assessment.”
Attfield said Tiz a Slam trained on both dirt and turf this past winter at Payson Park in Indiantown, Fla. The colt also recorded two breezes on dirt at Keeneland in April ahead of his start in the Wando Stakes on Tapeta at Woodbine on May 7.
“This winter, he trained better on the turf than he did on the dirt at Payson Park, but then he wasn’t where I wanted him anyways, so it would be hard to assess that,” Attfield said.
Tiz a Slam came with a late run to be second in the Queen’s Plate, finishing 3 1/2 lengths behind Holy Helena. Attfield said he was pleased with the way Tiz a Slam moved forward off his fourth-place finish in the Plate Trial on June 11.
“I had no excuses and no complaints,” he said. “I thought that he was going to move up from the Plate Trial, and he did. He was second best. I think that’s a good filly that beat him. Obviously, I wanted to win, but I was pleased with it.”
Danish Dynaformer gets rest
A notable absentee from the Grade 3 Singspiel Stakes on July 2 at Woodbine was Danish Dynaformer, who won the race in 2016. Trainer Roger Attfield said Danish Dynaformer is getting a break at Kinghaven Farms in King City, Ontario, after coming out of the Grade 3 Louisville Handicap at Churchill Downs on May 20 with bone bruising.
“I think I jarred him up in Florida running him on the turf down there before I left,” Attfield said. “I thought that I’d win the Elkhorn, and he didn’t produce his race there, and he didn’t produce in his next race. We found quite a bit of jarring up and bone bruising on him, so he’s having a bit of a break for the fall.”
Danish Dynaformer has made four starts in 2017, with his best finish coming in the Grade 2 Elkhorn Stakes at Keeneland on April 22, when he was fourth behind Itsinthepost. Danish Dynaformer also made two starts at Gulfstream Park over the winter in the Grade 3 W.L. McKnight Handicap and the Grade 2 Mac Diarmida Stakes.
Attfield said he was hoping Danish Dynaformer would return to Woodbine by the end of July.
“We’re going to look at him in a couple weeks,” he said. “I was looking at the end of this month to bring him back here.”
Attfield said he didn’t have any races in mind for Danish Dynaformer, but the Grade 1 Canadian International could be a possibility. Danish Dynaformer ran sixth behind Erupt in last year’s Canadian International.
“He’s going to have to come back and find his form,” Attfield said. “I know he’s a good horse, and he hasn’t been able to do anything this year. Hopefully, we’ll get that all sorted out.”
Shipping policy changed
Woodbine’s racing office has amended a controversial policy that previously limited horses stabled at the track from shipping to other tracks for races with a base purse of less than $20,000 more than once.
Under the new policy, which goes into effect Saturday, no horse may ship out from Woodbine to race more than twice at another racetrack for a base purse of less than $20,000. Horses who have already shipped out to race at another racetrack for less than $20,000 prior to Saturday will have their count reset to zero.
The initial policy, which took effect in April, was viewed as a move to limit the number of horses shipping to Fort Erie, where the highest overnight purse is $18,600. Fort Erie’s chief operating officer and chief financial officer, Tom Valiquette, said in May that 35 percent of the horses racing at Fort Erie in the past have been ship-ins, mostly from Woodbine.
Through Sunday, Fort Erie’s 2017 meet has seen an average of 6.05 starters per race, down 14 percent from the first 11 dates of the 2016 meet.
The new policy will give Woodbine-based horses the opportunity to become eligible for a series of $30,000 races at Fort Erie in August. Those races are restricted to horses who have raced at Fort Erie at least twice during the 2017 season.