Canadian classic heros Coltimus Prime, Ami's Holiday square off in Ontario Derby
Canadian classic heroes Coltimus Prime, Ami's Holiday
square off in Ontario Derby
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Prince of Wales champ Coltimus Prime will take on Breeders' Stakes winner Ami's Holiday in Sunday's co-featured Grade 3, $150,000 Derby at The Justin Nixon-trained dark bay, who is named in honor of the leader of the Autobots from the Transformers series, will look to add graded status to his improving credentials in the 1 1/8-mile Polytrack stake. Coltimus Prime rose to prominence in November, breaking his maiden by a widening eight lengths before completing his juvenile campaign with a strong second-place finish, defeated just a neck, to Ontario Derby rival Jose Sea View in the Display Stakes. Nixon targeted the Triple Crown with Coltimus Prime, saddling the colt to a lackluster run in the Tampa Bay Derby in his sophomore debut before shipping him to Keeneland for a fifth-place finish in the Blue Grass Stakes. Off the Kentucky Derby trail and re-focused on the Canadian classics, Coltimus Prime thrived in his return to Woodbine, finishing second and then first in a pair of allowance events before setting a quick tempo en route to a ninth-place effort in the Queen's Plate.
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On July 29, making just his second career start on dirt,
the dark bay colt put together the biggest performance of his career to capture the
Prince of Wales Stakes, second leg of the Canadian Triple Crown, at
Fort Erie. Sent to post at odds of 5-1, Coltimus Prime, with Eurico
Rosa da Silva in the irons for the first time, made every pole a winning one,
covering 1 3/16-miles in 1:54 2/5.
"It was the biggest moment of my career," Nixon stated.
"Coming into the stretch, and looking at the fractions, I thought we had a
pretty good chance to win it and when he kicked on it was awful special. He was
just dynamite."
Following the Prince of Wales coup, Nixon shipped Coltimus
Prime to Saratoga with big aspirations.
"We were thinking of running in the Travers," the horseman clarified. "We brought him
down there and worked him over the track and he just didn't work as sharp as we
would like him to, so we backed away from that plan and came home."
Since his return to Woodbine, Coltimus Prime has breezed
twice over the Woodbine Polytrack, including a swift five-panel effort in 1:00
2/5 on
September 14 with da Silva aboard. That sharp work matches nicely with a bullet
work recorded by Coltimus Prime on July 22, just before his big effort in the
Prince of Wales.
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"He hadn't worked on Poly since before the Prince of Wales so I asked Eurico, who worked him last time, to give him a little squeeze at the top of the lane and make sure he gets something out of it," Nixon explained. "I don't need him going in :59 every week. Prior to the Prince of Wales, he worked between races so we knew he'd be a little geared up and put in a pretty fast work. Does he need to work that fast? I 'm not convinced of that. I'm happy with how he completed the most recent work and he's been training very well coming into this race." Although Coltimus Prime's best efforts have come when more forwardly placed, Nixon isn't convinced his colt needs the lead. "Arguably, his best races are on the front. But, if the fractions are too quick, he doesn't need to be there," the trainer said. "His best efforts have come when he's comfortable on the front and the fractions are reasonable. I still think he's tactical."
A graded win for Coltimus Prime, bred in Ontario by co-owner Jayson Horner, would be a feather in the cap of the Cabernet Racing group.
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"It's a graded stake and one of the better races remaining
for straight three-year-olds across North America," Nixon remarked. "It would mean a lot for Mr.
Horner to get a big piece of it given that he still owns the mare (Certainly
Special) and it would also help his half-sister Crysta's Court in the breeding
shed as well."
To earn that special victory, Coltimus Prime will have to
fend off the closing kick of Ami's Holiday, who made a breakthrough of his own
when taking Woodbine's Breeders' Stakes, the third leg of the Canadian Triple
Crown, in his first attempt on turf.
The Ivan Dalos homebred became a graded winner in October
with a last-to-first rally to win the Grey Stakes and opened his sophomore
campaign with a fourth-place run in the Lexington Stakes at Keeneland on April
19. The bay son of Harlan's Holiday then returned to Woodbine, where he narrowly
missed in the Marine Stakes when a neck third after lacking racing room in the
final strides.
Trained by Josie Carroll, Ami's Holiday put in a
peak performance in the Queen's Plate, rallying from 13th position out of the
difficult 15 post, to be second behind filly Lexie Lou. He continued
his good form in the Prince of Wales, once again rallying while wide for show money as the favorite, before
putting forth a sharp turn of foot down the lane to his turf coup in the Breeders'.
Ami's Holiday has posted a trio of quick works following
the Breeders', including a September 14 move of 1:00 3/5 for five furlongs. Luis Contreras retains the mount.
Also featured on Sunday's card is the $125,000
La Lorgnette, a 1 1/16-mile Polytrack stakes for three-year-old fillies.
The strong
eight-horse field is led by Bison City heroine Unspurned and Grade 2 vixen Llanarmon.
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