Woodbine Mile goal for Mr Havercamp

ETOBICOKE, Ontario – Mr Havercamp, the fourth-place finisher in the Forbidden Apple Stakes at Belmont Park on July 14, will be pointed toward the Grade 1, $800,000 Woodbine Mile on Sept. 15, trainer Catherine Day Phillips said.

The Woodbine Mile has been a target for Mr Havercamp since his win in the Steady Growth Stakes to kick off his 2018 campaign on June 16, Day Phillips said. Mr Havercamp ran in the Forbidden Apple because he couldn’t make the Grade 2 King Edward Stakes at Woodbine on June 30.

“We were going to aim for the Mile after his first race and then we worked backwards from there,” Day Phillips said. “We went to New York because we wanted a race around that time. He wasn’t ready for the King Edward.”

Day Phillips said Mr Havercamp has a few options available to him for his next start. He could run in an Ontario-sired allowance over one mile on turf on Aug. 6, or wait for the Grade 2, $175,000 Play the King Stakes over seven furlongs on the Woodbine turf on Aug. 25. A stakes winner on synthetic, Mr Havercamp could also be pointed to the Grade 3, $125,000 Seagram Cup Stakes on the Tapeta Aug. 12.

Day Phillips said she was pleased with Mr Havercamp’s race in the Forbidden Apple. He settled off the pace along the inside under jockey Junior Alvarado and made up a length on front-running winner Voodoo Song in the stretch.

“I thought he ran a great race,” Day Phillips said. “He was a little green. He was looking around a little bit. Junior said after the race it was hard to ride him because he was looking around. I don’t know if it was because it was a different track.”

A return to the familiarity of Woodbine could suit Mr Havercamp in the Woodbine Mile. Mr Havercamp is undefeated in three starts on the Woodbine turf course, and earned a career-best 101 Beyer Speed Figure in the Bunty Lawless Stakes as a 3-year-old last October.

Cooler Mike to chill out

After back-to-back thirdplace finishes in the Queen’s Plate and Prince of Wales Stakes, Cooler Mike will skip the third and final leg of the Canadian Triple Crown, the $400,000 Breeders’ Stakes over 1 1/2 miles on turf back at Woodbine on Aug. 18, trainer Nick Nosowenko said.

Nosowenko said Cooler Mike has already been turned out on the farm for a break from training.

“He came out [of the Prince of Wales] good, so I figured now’s the time to get him some green grass,” he said. “We’ll get him back in a couple weeks and we’ll start all over again.”

Nosowenko said he felt Cooler Mike was set up well to challenge Wonder Gadot in the Prince of Wales, but he didn’t appear to handle the sloppy track after heavy rain hit midway through the card.

“I think the track hurt him,” he said. “He struggled a bit. We were hoping for a fast track to take a nice run at the filly. The way he trained and the way he worked in 46, I thought we had a real shot at winning, but she’s too much. She’s the real deal. He got third money, so we’re quite happy with that.”

Nosowenko said Cooler Mike could make his return for Canadian Millions Sales Stakes Day on Aug. 29. Cooler Mike would have to face older horses on Tapeta, but he could return in either the $100,00 Kenora Stakes over six furlongs or the $100,000 Elgin Stakes over 1 1/16-miles.

Win the War targets Duchess

Win the War made a strong impression in two starts as a 2-year-old last season at Woodbine, winning a maiden race on turf and the Glorious Song Stakes by 11 1/4 lengths on Tapeta. She hasn’t raced since finishing third in the Grade 2 Santa Ynez Stakes at Santa Anita in January, but is on track to make her return to the races Aug. 11 in the $100,000 Duchess Stakes over seven furlongs on Tapeta, trainer Mark Casse said.

“She’s been training really well,” he said. “We’re really excited to get her started.”

Casse said Win the War emerged from the Santa Ynez with an ankle injury.

“I kind of wondered late in the race,” he said. “She kind of had her head up in the air and didn’t finish as well as I thought she would. She hurt her ankle and it required surgery, so she’s been off for some time.”

Casse said returning at Woodbine made a lot of sense following Win the War’s success here, especially in the Glorious Song.

“When I was looking for where I wanted to bring her back, I thought why not bring her back at Woodbine?” he said. “That’s where we started her career and she’s done well. Hopefully, she’ll run good and then we’ll look for other places, but I just thought it was a good spot.”