Wonder Gadot still favorite to win Horse of the Year

ETOBICOKE, Ontario – The Sovereign Award picture for this year’s Canadian champions got a little clearer after last weekend’s abundant action.

Queen’s Plate and Prince of Wales Stakes winner Wonder Gadot went into the Breeders’ Cup Distaff as the leading contender for Horse of the Year honors in Canada. In spite of her front-running ninth-place finish in the Distaff, she figures to be voted champion 3-year-old filly and Horse of the Year off her overall body of work.

Some in Western Canada believe that Sky Promise deserves to be Horse of the Year, but the three-time derby winner lost claiming races in the spring at Churchill, after Wonder Gadot endured a heartbreaking defeat in the prestigious Kentucky Oaks. There was no dominant male 3-year-old in Ontario, and Sky Promise will be Canada’s deserving champion 3-year-old.

Breeders’ Cup Filly and Mare sprint winner Shamrock Rose was based at Woodbine for much of the year, but she competed north of the border just once, winning the La Lorgnette Stakes. The minimum number of starts required for Sovereign Award consideration is two for 2-year-olds, and three for 3-year-olds and up.

The La Lorgnette fourth-place finisher, A.A. Azula’s Arch, was a longshot winner of last Saturday’s Grade 3 Maple Leaf. She could be a finalist in the 3-yearold filly category, along with Wonder Gadot and Woodbine Oaks winner Dixie Moon.

From post 13, My Gal Betty never challenged in the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies Turf, which left the door open for Tiz Breathtaking to stake her claim for champion 2-year-old filly in Sunday’s Princess Elizabeth Stakes. She could only manage to finish third, however, as Bold Script romped with a Beyer Speed Figure of 83, which was the highest Beyer earned by a 2-year-old in Canada this year. Those three are the obvious candidates for finalists in the category, although Summerland merits consideration after winning all five of her outings in Western Canada.

Woodbine Mile runner-up Mr Havercamp won his second Grade 2 stakes of the year in Saturday’s Autumn. In the champion older male categories, he might have the upper hand on Tiz a Slam, who was a minor player in Grade 1 company after taking the Grade 2 Nijinsky and Grade 3 Dominion Day. Both could be Horse of the Year finalists.

Ami’s Mesa retired

Trainer Josie Carroll reports that owner Ivan Dalos’s two prized 5-year-old mares Ami’s Mesa and Gamble’s Ghost have been retired to his broodmare band.

Ami’s Mesa was a two-time Canadian champion and Horse of the Year finalist in 2017, winning the Grade 2 Presque Isle Downs Masters before narrowly losing the Breeders’ Cup Filly and Mare Sprint. She won 6 of 13 starts, for earnings of $788,590.

Gamble’s Ghost’s threerace win streak in stakes was snapped in Saturday’s Maple Leaf, but she remains the leading candidate for champion older female.