Quidditch Plays Magician in Canadian Breeders' Stakes

Original article written by Marzy Dotes posted 11 years 1 week ago

Quidditch stood in the paddock munching on a patch of grass while attracting quite a crowd to see the horse who would be running in the $350,000 Grade I Canadian Breeders’ Stakes Stakes at Toronto Racecourse.

The solid grey colt paid no attention as those who watched him eat discussed his probable fate in the noted turf race that would cover the 1 ½ miles distance.

After all, he’d never set foot on the surface before and until now, his relationship with grass was that it tasted awfully delicious after a morning spent walking the grounds and taking a bath, his coat dappled under the afternoon sun.

Some wondered if he was biting off more than he could chew by daring to take turf for a test drive in such a prestigious race, the third jewel of the Canadian Triple Crown. But then it’s not like a talented dirt router never captured the race before in its history. West captured this trio of races capping it off with a sensational victory in the Canadian Breeders’ Stakes which was his first outing on the turf. Smoulders who’s a son of famed dirt router sire Flames did the same in choosing to make his turf debut in that race as well. Others like Life Worth Living didn’t spend much of their career on the turf either, in fact this talented performer only stayed on this surface long enough to sweep his Canadian Triple Crown.

Most importantly of all, the Hall of Famer Magician who sired Quidditch had boasted wins on the dirt including the Prince of Peace Stakes and on the all weather surface before successfully adding turf to his resume again in the turf jewel. Then again Magician was indeed just that during his racing career, he could turn just about every type of scenario on every surface into a scintillating showcase put on by one of the most versatile thoroughbreds ever produced by the sport. If you look into this amazing performer’s pedigree what you’ll find is that his own sister Trickster also captured the Canadian Breeders’ Stakes though she was much more of a turf specialist.

So what Quidditch was attempting to do was hardly unusual but it did attract discussion. After all, most of his predecessors had simply gambled on their pedigrees, coming from multi-talented runners and sires like Hall of Famer father and son team Conduit and Loki Dynasty who both captured the Canadian Triple Crown and even Hall of Famer Five Circles who had turf winners among his progeny.

Smoulders in addition also descended back to Midnightconfession, himself a winner of the Canadian Triple Crown.

Quidditch himself had of course Magician and Loki Dynasty, the sire of his dam Wise to the Future. She never raced herself and is perhaps best known for siring the newly crowned super sire Just Victory whose brilliant son Just Ludicrous just captured the Prince of Peace Stakes.

He was picked up at auction by Ali Weasley for $11.309 million, a hefty price for most stables but one that likely will pay back in dividends before he’s ultimately pensioned. In the mornings, he zoomed on the dirt fast enough to break 58 seconds for five furlongs but saved his best running for competition.
Breaking his maiden first time out, he quickly captured the Inglewood Futurity and the I’ll Have Another Stakes. He wrestled with Riddle in the stretch of the Southern California Derby finishing only a neck behind him in second.

Three weeks later, he showed up for the Baltimore Crown and after a slow start wound up finishing seventh. He shipped up to Canada and rebounded to a second place finish behind the Baltimore Crown winner Just Ludicrous in the Prince of Peace Stakes. That put him in great stead to make his attempt at the final jewel not that he’d be without serious challenges beyond the new surface he would be trying out.

New Balance a homebred of Steph Lonhro is a grey colt similar in stature to Quidditch but with a couple splashes of white on his face. He’s by Shoes who leads third crop sires in number of winners and is out of stakes mare Bilodeau, a daughter of Stop and Stare. He started out his racing career winning his first five starts capturing the Fish Stakes and the Brooklyn Bunbury. Jack Frost broke his streak in the Louisville Bunbury relegating him to second place just a head behind. That colt also had his measure in the Virginia Derby where New Balance finished third and perhaps needing some rest and reflection.

Jockey Andrew Campbell who was seen squiring Ava Flynn at the pre-race bashes expressed supreme confidence in the horse that he’d ridden since his training days. The threat of a huge squall which would turn the grassy oval into a roaring river didn’t bother him at all.

“New Balance won the Brooklyn Bunbury like a yacht skimming across the ocean,” Campbell said, “He’ll have no problems here.”

Flynn who would be aboard Primo also touted her horse’s strengths even though he’d just won his maiden last time out. But Primo’s a tough black gelding with a fierce eye who is a son of Never Back Down who in a sad twist of fate pensioned the day of the race. The news was delivered over the intercom and the crowd in the grandstand hushed for a moment of silence.

Blood Analyst Liza Doolittle dabbed her eyes with her doily handkerchief having seen a flurry of activity surrounding the stallion this season.

“They just all seem to be going down like flies lately,” she said, “I wonder which stud will be next.”

Emma Lochran bred and owns Primo who is out of a daughter of American Champion Turf Male Caesar Augustus. He acted up a bit during the saddling but Flynn was able to get aboard.

Constant Collision, owned by Alex Safka who bought him for $403,000 at auction is by African Horse of the Year Constant Stranger and is out of Deep Impact mare Soft Collision. He’s struggled in his attempts at stakes competition but won a conditional race earlier this year. Last time out, he’d finished fourth in allowance competition but given the size of the field was guaranteed a share of the purse here.

Press One owned by Andrew Carlson who picked him up for just one dollar was a turf sprinter making his debut at a longer distance. He’d won once in four starts and is a son of Auto Dialer and Am I The Only One a daughter of Hero Worship.

The horses all splashed down to the starting gate as people huddled to take shelter under the grandstand and the infield tents. As the gates opened, Constant Collision bounded out to take the lead by 2 ½ lengths to set the pace. New Balance kept behind him, watching carefully as Quidditch took to his new surface with relish coasting in third. Press One and Primo followed behind him. As the horses hit the backstretch, Constant Collision trying to run away from them led by 5 ¾ lengths. Quidditch pushed ahead of New Balance into second and that pair began to pull away from the rest of the horses. Into the far turn, the dynamic duo began to reel in Constant Collision shortening his lead to a length before they turned for home.

Down the stretch, New Balance on the rail tried to battle for the lead with Quidditch and the two went at it fiercely but at the wire Quidditch couldn’t be denied winning by a half length. New Balance finished second by 2 ¼ lengths over Primo who hustled to make up ground in the stretch. The winner waded the distance in 2:26.10, a time somewhat faster than some of the other recent winners of the race and quite nice in the stormy conditions.

Quidditch went back to his stall to rest up for his next race. With two surfaces under his belt, will he perhaps try for a third? New Balance recovered well from his effort to travel to A Wheely Nice Farm in sunnier California and likely will be back as well as one of the budding stars of his class.

Soon enough he and other talented sophomore colts like Jack Frost, Usain, Race Rocks and Impacted who have all been winning stakes races on different parts of the globe will be putting their best efforts against their older counterparts including at the Steward’s Cup Turf at the end of the season.

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