“I think she can do even better than that,” Clement said. “I’m delighted
Irish Mission was one of a trio entered by Clement, along with 5-2
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As usual, Viva Rafaela set up shop on the front end and carved out leisurely
fractions of :24 4/5, :49 3/5 and 1:15 2/5 on the firm course. Pleasant Cat, the
longest shot on the board at 36-1, was perched in a non-threatening second,
while Irish Mission was perfectly spotted in a hedge-skimming third, and
Watsdachances was wider out in fourth.
Viva Rafaela began to inject more pace through a mile in 1:39 4/5 and tried
to put the race away entering the homestretch. Still two lengths in front at the
eighth-pole, the longtime leader reached the 1 1/4-mile split in 2:03 2/5.
But Velazquez peeled Irish Mission off the fence and came around to accost
Viva Rafaela. Rallying with gusto once seeing daylight, Irish Mission overhauled
Viva Rafaela by a half-length and completed 1 3/8 miles in 2:15. The winner
rewarded her backers with an $8.50 win mutuel.
“She broke good. I put her right behind the speed and came out at the
eighth-pole,” Velazquez recapped. “When I needed her, she responded. She made me
look good. It worked out good today. I had her covered up when I needed to and
got out when I needed to.”
“She was so comfortable with Johnny that the fractions were irrelevant,”
Clement noted.
Caroline Thomas, who had been last of the octet for much of the way, also
finished with a flourish to grab third, just a neck behind Viva Rafaela.
Watsdachances ran evenly in fourth, followed by Aigue Marine, Cat’s Claw,
Emotional Kitten and Pleasant Cat. Baffle Me was scratched.
Irish Mission has now bankrolled $1,183,443 from her 25-5-6-2 line. Initially
trained by Mark Frostad, the daughter of Giant’s Causeway took seven tries to
break her maiden, but then made rapid progress. After capturing a maiden on the
Keeneland turf in April 2012, she came right back to land the Woodbine Oaks.
Irish Mission competed against males in all three legs of the Canadian Triple
Crown, closing for second in the Queen’s Plate, fading to sixth in the Prince of
Wales in her only dirt attempt, and scoring a classic win in the Breeders’
Stakes back on turf.
Although she ended her sophomore year with a fifth versus older males in the
Northern Dancer Turf, Irish Mission had done enough to merit two Sovereign
Awards as Canada’s champion three-year-old filly and turf female.
Irish Mission couldn’t scale the same heights as a four-year-old. Her 2013
campaign included placings in the Orchid and the Nassau, but her only win came
in a Woodbine allowance. Beaten a scant length in fourth in when taking another
crack at the Northern Dancer, Irish Mission failed to build on that effort next
time in the E.P. Taylor, where she checked in seventh.
Evans kept Irish Mission in training and transferred her to Clement. Last of
seven over an inadequate 1 1/16 miles in the May 3 Beaugay in her reappearance,
the five-year-old was a staying-on third in the May 24 Sheepshead Bay at 1 3/8
miles. Irish Mission stepped up to two miles for the inaugural Belmont Gold Cup
versus males on June 6, finishing a gallant second. Back down in trip for the 1
1/8-mile Matchmaker on Haskell Day at Monmouth, she was a strong runner-up
again, and regained the winning thread at a more suitable distance here.
“She’s the most beautiful mare to look at,” Clement enthused. “She’s
obviously going to be a great broodmare prospect in the future.
“We have three major races in the fall for fillies and mares, and we’ll aim
at one of them.”
Clement was alluding to the Grade 1 trio of the Flower Bowl Invitational at
Belmont Park and the Rodeo Drive at Santa Anita, both on September 27, as well
as the E.P. Taylor at her old stomping grounds at Woodbine October 19.
Bred by Sam-Son Farm in Ontario, Irish Mission sold for $375,000 as a
Fasig-Tipton
Saratoga yearling. She is a half-sister to multiple Grade 3 scorer French Beret.
They were produced by the Miswaki mare Misty Mission, heroine of the 2000 Wonder
Where, who is in turn a half-sister to Canadian champion Comet Shine.
Irish Mission’s second dam, Hangin on a Star, earned her signature win in the
1987 Breeders’ Stakes. Hangin on a Star is a half-sister to two-time Canadian
champion Rainbow Connection, the dam of three-time Sovereign Award winner
Rainbows for Life and ancestress of Eclipse champion Tempera.
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