Forte Dei Marmi looms large in Northern Dancer; Ladys First invades for Canadian

Forte Dei Marmi looms large in Northern Dancer; Ladys First
invades for Canadian

Forte Dei Marmi is stronger now than when third in the 2012 running (WEG/Michael Burns Photography) Sunday’s Woodbine Mile is supported by three undercard stakes. The Grade 1, C$300,000 Northern Dancer Turf shapes up as a replay of the August 18 Sky Classic, with impressive winner Forte Dei Marmi the one to beat. The Grade 2, C$300,000 Canadian offers an automatic berth to the Breeders’ Cup Filly & Mare Turf, and English invader Ladys First will clash with Beverly D. also-rans Solid Appeal and La Tia. The Grade 3, C$150,000 Ontario Derby has attracted the likes of Lexington hero Winning Cause and Canadian classic participants His Race to Win and Pyrite Mountain. The Northern Dancer Turf is missing two-time champion Wigmore Hall, who instead ran in Kempton’s September Stakes and trailed home last of 10. In the absence of that globetrotter, the 1 1/2-mile contest is lacking international flavor. British-bred Forte Dei Marmi, third to Wigmore Hall here a year ago, is now very much a local, and the seven-year-old gelding enters in tip-top form for fellow expat Roger Attfield. A smashing, 6 1/4-length winner of the July 7 Singspiel at this course and distance, Forte Dei Marmi came right back to defend his title in the 1 1/4-mile Sky Classic in a course-record time of 2:00.12. Third in both the Northern Dancer Turf and Canadian International last year, the son of Selkirk appears poised for a Grade 1 breakthrough with Eurico Rosa da Silva. Four of his rivals are coming out of the Sky Classic — runner-up Hampstead Heath, fourth Hotep, fifth Irish Mission and sixth Perfect Timber, Forte Dei Marmi’s stablemate who had previously been runner-up to him in the Singspiel.

Irish Mission, last year’s Canadian champion three-year-old filly and turf
female, has yet to perform up to that level this campaign. But she did rout a 1
3/8-mile allowance by 9 1/4 lengths two starts back, and trainer Mark Frostad
has decided to take the blinkers off the daughter of Giant’s Causeway. Irish
Mission defeated males in the 2012 Breeders’ Stakes at this course and distance
before fading to fifth when taking on her elders in the Northern Dancer, and it
would be no surprise if she does better this time.

The David Donk-trained sophomore Stormy Len steps up to this trip for the
first time. Runner-up in the August 17 Secretariat last out, the Harlan’s
Holiday colt previously missed by a neck when third in the July 13 American
Derby, and he gets a rider switch to Garrett Gomez here. Stormy Len has no
shortage of stamina, being out of a half-sister to turf star Cetewayo. His dam
is also a full sister to Dynaforce, heroine of the 2008 Flower Bowl and 2009
Beverly D.

Rounding out the field is Turkish, a recent allowance winner who gets Gary
Stevens aboard for his stakes debut.

The 1 1/8-mile Canadian has a more competitive look on paper. Trainer Richard
Fahey sent out Barefoot Lady to spring a mild upset a year ago, and dispatches
the admirable Ladys First this time.

A tough and scrappy type, Ladys First has formlines that run right through
the Beverly D. She was a stubborn second to Duntle in the June 19 Duke of
Cambridge at Royal Ascot, edging eventual Beverly D. romper Dank. Ladys First
was next runner-up in the July 9 Pipalong to Gifted Girl, who was subsequently
second in the Beverly D.

Ladys First exits a brave dead-heat victory in the August 31 Atalanta at
Sandown. By fighting the well-regarded Integral to a draw in the Group 3 event,
she earned her richly-deserved first Group win. Ladys First will now try to keep
her momentum going at Woodbine, where Tony Hamilton will be back in the saddle.

Solid Appeal is a candidate to rebound from her sixth in the Beverly D. (WEG/Michael Burns Photography) Solid Appeal, a disappointing sixth in the Beverly D., is eligible to rebound back at her home course. Prior to her fruitless trip to Chicago, the Reade Baker filly had won three straight at Woodbine, including the May 25 Nassau and the July 7 Dance Smartly. The 121-pound highweight sports a 6-4-0-0 local mark. La Tia, in contrast, ships in from her Arlington base. The habitual pacesetter could not maintain her lead in her last pair at 1 3/16 miles, being relegated to third in the July 13 Modesty and fifth in the Beverly D. While La Tia could prosper on the slight cutback in trip, she is arguably better on synthetic. Attfield is triple-handed, with No Explaining, Moment of Majesty and Meri Shika. No Explaining is rounding into form after a nearly two-year hiatus and warrants respect in her fourth start back. The 2011 Gallorette winner, she was a commendable second in her comeback in an off-the-turf allowance, and third to Solid Appeal in the Dance Smartly next time. No Explaining continued her progress by landing an August 3 allowance, and gets John Velazquez in the irons on Sunday. Moment of Majesty was a fast-finishing third in the August 25 Belle Mahone on Polytrack in her first outing for Attfield, and new French import Meri Shika, Group 3-placed as a juvenile at home, debuts for new connections.

Michael Matz will be represented by Minakshi, most recently third in the
Matchmaker, and by Colonial Flag, who garnered the 2012 Ontario Colleen in her
only other Woodbine appearance and annexed the August 17 Rosenna at Delaware
last out.

Pure Blue Sky was a strong-closing third in the 1 1/2-mile Flaming Page and
drops back sharply in distance while stepping up in class.

Winning Cause reverts to Polytrack for the 1 1/8-mile Ontario Derby after
mixed results on the Saratoga turf. The Todd Pletcher pupil got up in time in
the July 28 Sir Cat, but was only a belated third in the August 21 Dance of
Life.

Although Winning Cause’s record on Polytrack is better than on turf, all
three of his wins on the surface have come at Keeneland, most notably the April
20 Lexington. The Giant’s Causeway colt played second fiddle in his previous
jaunts to Woodbine, beaten handily by leading Canadian three-year-old colt Up
with the Birds in the May 26 Marine and overturned at 1-2 by Five Iron in the
June 16 Victoria Park. Winning Cause will try to avoid another upset, with the
newly-retained help of Velazquez.

His Race to Win, just denied in the June 9 Plate Trial, could get no closer
than sixth off a slow pace in the July 7 Queen’s Plate. A Sam-Son Farms homebred
trained by Malcolm Pierce, he roared back with a sharp allowance score on August
10. His Race to Win remains in the shadow of stablemate of Up with the Birds,
but he’s due to feather his own resume with a first stakes win.

Pyrite Mountain is a two-time stakes winner, with last December’s Kingarvie
and the May 5 Wando to his credit. Fourth in the Plate Trial and seventh in the
Queen’s Plate, the Mark Frostad colt was a grinding third to Up with the Birds
in the August 18 Breeders’ and ought to enjoy turning back in trip.

B E Boston Strong, a 10-length maiden conqueror at Suffolk on August 12,
takes a class hike for new connections (Tucci Stables and Nick Gonzalez);
Charlie Barley runner-up Sky Commander lines up for the John C. Oxley/Mark Casse
team; and the Wayne Catalano-trained Coastal Breeze ships in off a second in the
grassy Mystic Lake Derby on August 3.

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