Full Count Felicia grabbed the early lead in Saturday’s $572,076 E.P. Taylor (G1) at Woodbine, went full throttle and forgot to stop.
The 7-1 fourth choice in the field of five fillies and mares, Full Count Felicia opened a huge lead through the first six furlongs of the 10-furlong grass test for fillies and mares. She led by seven lengths after the first quarter, 14 lengths at the half-mile mark, and was 19 lengths clear after three-quarters of a mile.
The internal fractions were :25.12, :48.19, and 1:11.81.
“She set an honest pace, I thought,” trainer Kevin Attard said. And you know, I looked around at the three-eighths, and she had an insurmountable lead, and I’m thinking, ‘Is she gonna stop?’ Like, she’d have to come to a dead walk at this point.”
She did not. Full Count Felicia passed the mile mark in 1:35.19 still on top of by seven lengths, and had sufficient reserves to remain 3 1/2 lengths ahead at the finish. Her final time on the firm ground was a snappy 1:59.29.
Owned by Gold Square LLC and ridden in the Taylor by Kazushi Kimura, Full Count Felicia paid $17.60.
2022 Canadian Horse of the Year Moira, the 9-10 favorite in her third attempt at the E.P. Taylor, rallied for second, 2 1/2 lengths ahead of last year’s Canadian Horse of the Year and Taylor heroine Fev Rover. The order of finish was rounded out by the French raiders Blush and Blue Rose Cen.
This was Full Count Felicia’s first win at the top level. She has been feast or famine in her previous stakes appearances, taking the All Along S. at Laurel, the Suwannee River (G3) at Gulfstream, and the Canadian (G2) at Woodbine last out, but finishing unplaced in four other stakes tries.
Full Count Felicia is now 2-for-3 since joining Attard’s stable at Woodbine, having been trained in the U.S. by Brittany Russell.
Whether connections take a shot at the Breeders’ Cup Filly and Mare Turf (G1) is to be determined, Attard said.
“I’m going to leave that to the guys that sign the check,” Attard said. “They sent her here for me to do a job. And, we’re going to enjoy this Grade 1. Obviously, it’s very important for her value as a broodmare.”
Bred in Kentucky by Joe Allen, Full Count Felicia is a five-year-old daughter of War Front and the stakes-placed Claire de Lune, by Galileo. She last sold for $200,000 as a Fasig-Tipton Midlantic juvenile.
Full Count Felicia has now bankrolled more than $756,000 having won seven of 18 starts.
