Melmich goes for hat trick

ETOBICOKE, Ontario – Melmich will look to improve to 3 for 3 on the year in Sunday’s Grade 3, $125,000 Seagram Cup at Woodbine. He has six opponents in the race for 3-year-olds and up over 1 1/16 miles on Tapeta.

Melmich, 6, enters off his second consecutive win in the Grade 3 Dominion Day Stakes on July 1. He won the 1 1/4-mile Tapeta race by 1 1/2 lengths over Gigantic Breeze. Trainer Kevin Attard said the series of quick workouts since that race has been by design.

“We just want to keep him on his toes, no doubt about it,” he said. “Cutting back to a mile and a sixteenth is going to be a little more challenging. At a mile and a quarter, he’s probably the best local horse on the grounds. At a mile and a sixteenth, you’ve got horses like Are You Kidding Me that have beat him in the past. We’re trying to turn the tables on him now, but we definitely need to be at the top of our game to do that.”

Are You Kidding Me finished third in the Dominion Day but finished ahead of Melmich last year in the Seagram Cup and the Eclipse, both at 1 1/16 miles.

Attard said he expects Melmich to employ his usual off-the-pace running style in the Seagram Cup.

“I like the way he’s running right now,” he said. “Off the pace will be the game plan.”

KEY CONTENDERS

Melmich, by Wilko Last 3 Beyers: 98-95-85

◗ Melmich has eight wins from 17 starts at 1 1/16 miles, including a three-length win in an allowance in his first race of the year May 31.

◗ He ran third in this race last year behind Breaking Lucky and Are You Kidding Me following his win in the Dominion Day.

Are You Kidding Me, by Run Away and Hide Last 3 Beyers: 95-96-95

◗ The two-time Canadian champion older male will be looking for his first stakes win of the season following a runnerup finish in the Grade 2 Eclipse Stakes and his third-place finish in the Dominion Day.

◗ Rafael Hernandez will take over in the irons for Alan Garcia, who had been aboard for Are You Kidding Me’s last eight starts. Unbridled Juan, by Unbridled’s Song Last 3 Beyers: 95-88-90

◗ He returns to Tapeta and adds blinkers for the first time in his career following a troubled fourth-place finish on turf in the Grade 2 King Edward Stakes over a mile July 2. He lost by only three-quarters of a length.

◗ In his previous two starts, he finished third going 1 1/16 miles on Tapeta in an allowance race and in the Eclipse Stakes.

Gigantic Breeze, by Giant’s Causeway Last 3 Beyers: 97-90-89

◗ He’s in the best form of his career, recording three wins and a runner-up finish from four starts this year. The lone defeat came at the hands of Melmich in the Dominion Day last time out. Gigantic Breeze recorded a career-best 97 Beyer Speed Figure in that start.