TORONTO-there was a Breeders’ Stakes for Jockey Patrick Mann and an unannounced British license to remember.
Husbands rode the 24/1 Longshot to an emphatic four-length victory in the Turf race at Woodbine Racetrack on a cloudy Sunday afternoon.
It was the Breeders’ record fifth win and marked British royalty’s first trip into the winner’s circle this year, about a month after a rather unspectacular eighth-place finish in a major race at Woodbine.
“Well, you know, it’s just another plate,” he says. “I am very proud of myself.
“He was running the way I expected him to walk.”
Winning trainer Barb Minshall, who is also a co-owner of the horse, congratulated Husbands on the trip he had made from No. 1 to the 12-horse field.
“I thought Patrick was having a great ride,” she said. “I was glad to have the fence because I thought we could save all the way from the ground.
“I was so confident in the horse’s ability to get the trip. I’m just happy.”
Minshall lost British royalty on 11 July, but was able to reclaim it on 24 July. She said Sunday’s win was one of the most rewarding of her career.
“I wanted to win a race, and I took a chance, and I was very upset with myself because I took advantage of it,” Minshall said. “And lo and behold, the horse is back in the coming time, he is running two weeks after, and I could not get in fast enough to bring him back.
“I knew I had made a big mistake. So I’m really happy.”
British husbands and kings made steady progress throughout the race. After the seventh start, Husbands had the horse after a half-mile sixth and fifth behind Leader Safe Conduct, the Champion Queen’s Plate, through a three-and-a-quarter mile.
The Husbands led British royalty and the three-year-old Wallach had more than enough to complete the 1 1/2-mile race in two minutes, 34 seconds on soft turf.
Riptide Rock, ridden by Justin Stein, finished second, Steve Bahen led the Collective Force to a third-place finish.
The rest of the field, in target order, included: Harlan Estate; Artie’s Storm; H C Holiday; Go Take Charge; safe behavior; break alone; keep grinding; Haddassah; and executive Giant.
Safe Conduct was back at Woodbine after his on-set win in August. 22. Safe Conduct did not run in the Prince of Wales’s on the Fort Erie Racetrack on Sept. 14 when the 1 3/16-mile dirt race was won by Haddassah.
Wando, ridden by the Husbands, was the last Canadian Triple Crown champion.
Safe Conduct won the discus with Irad Ortiz Jr. on board. Veteran Woodbine jockey Emma-Jayne Wilson rode Safe Conduct on Sunday in search of their first Breeders’ Stakes win.
Wilson took a safe behavior at the top of the starting gate, and had Bodemeister’s son there on the track. But instead of hanging, the safe behavior was fading badly.
“It (the trip) went according to plan,” said Wilson, who won the ’07 record aboard Mike Fox. “We had a lot of rain overnight and this course is soft, it gives way and it is tried and tested.
“Everything went as we had planned and hoped. He laid down well in my hands for a slight arrhythmic rhythm on his back, I would not have liked it better, we just weren’t the best horse that day.”
And Wilson said Safe Conduct’s performance Sunday didn’t diminish his status in his eyes.
“He’s fantastic, I’ve been fantastic since last year.”she said. “The coach (Phil Serpe) had asked me to ride him when he was two, so I’ve been watching him closely ever since.
“So congratulations to you, congratulations on winning the disc, I was hoping to give you another jewel in the crown, but it was not our day today.”