Trainer Roger Attfield leads in Lady Speightspeare and jockey Emma-Jayne Wilson following her dead-heat win within the Nassau Stakes
Jockey Emma-Jayne Wilson put it completely when she was interviewed within the winner’s circle following Lady Speightspeare’s dead-heat victory with Graham Motion-trained Crystal Cliffs in Saturday’s Grade 2, $175,000 Nassau Stakes at Woodbine in Toronto, Ontario.
The win was No. 2,000 in coach Roger Attfield distinguished profession, one that features eight Sovereign Awards as excellent coach in Canada, eight triumphs in Canada’s greatest race, the Queen’s Plate, and 14 victories within the Canadian Triple Crown’s different two legs, the Prince of Wales Stakes and the Breeders’ Stakes. Three of his runners swept Canada’s Triple Crown. He is a member of the Canadian and U.S. Halls of Fame.
“Leave it to Mr. Roger Attfield, a dual Hall of Famer, to have his 2,000th victory have an epic story behind it,” Wilson stated. “Roger is legendary.”
Canadian champion 2-year-old filly of 2020 for her proprietor and breeder, Charles Fipke, Lady Speightspeare got here into the Nassau on a five-race dropping streak relationship again to final December.
Wilson put the daughter of Speightstown on the lead within the opening levels of the Nassau, however she by no means bought a lot of a breather, pressured first by Dreaming of Drew by opening fractions of :23.26 and :45.85. Our Flash Drive and Patrick Husbands had been subsequent to problem Lady Speightspeare, taking a slender benefit after six furlongs in a fast 1:08.46. But Lady Speightspeare fought her off, too, and appeared to have the Nassau gained till a late surge from Crystal Cliffs, ridden by Rafael Hernandez. The two hit the wire collectively and couldn’t be separated by the picture end digital camera.
Final time for the one mile on agency turf was 1:32.40. Our Flash Drive completed one size behind the highest pair and two lengths forward of Plum Ali in fourth. They had been adopted by Peace Seeker, La Libertee, Dreaming of Drew, Broadway Lady, Lady War Machine Perseverancia, and Saratoga Vision.
Lady Speightspeare (inside) andd Crystal Cliffs hit the wire collectively within the Nassau Stakes
Lady Speightspeare, despatched away the 5-2 favourite, paid $3.80, Crystal Cliffs, off at 3-1, paid $4.20 to win.
“This filly is pretty special,” Wilson stated. “She tried her guts out all winter and to come back again house, after I noticed her stroll into the strolling ring below the willows of Woodbine, I stated to Roger, ‘She seems completely satisfied to be house,’ and he stated, ‘Yes, she does.’ She ran a gangbuster of a race.
“She fought tooth and nail when Patrick went by us on the outside, fought tooth and nail to get back in front of him and fought off a challenger to the best of her ability and still secured a win,” Wilson stated.
Hernandez relished nearly enjoying the function of spoiler. “I had to make it harder,” he stated of Attfield’s milestone win.
“I never really thought too much about (the 2,000-win milestone) until just recently when there’s been so much written about it,” stated Attfield, an 82-year-old native of Newbury, England, who got here to Canada in 1970 following time as a steeplechase rider and worldwide present jumper. “I’m very proud of it.”
Attfield turned his consideration to Lady Speightspeare, who was coming off a fourth-place end within the G2 Distaff Turf Mile over the brand new Churchill Downs turf course May 7.
“She’s an interesting filly to train,” he stated. “She was unlucky this winter, having a lot of different things happen that people really didn’t know about, and then Churchill was a disaster with that turf course. It’s funny, really, because the jockey that rode her (Luis Saez) came back and said she wasn’t handling the turf course, that it was too loose. It turned out it wasn’t really ready to run on I guess.” Churchill stopped racing over the course final month and is letting it relaxation for the rest of its meet.
“I’m very proud of her and she trained well into this race,” stated Attfield.
Lady Speightspeare was successful for the fifth time in 10 profession races. Crystal Cliffs, a French-bred daughter of Canford Cliffs recorded her first graded/group stakes win and fourth general from 9 begins. The 5-year-old mare, coming off a second to Technical Analysis within the Galorette at Pimlico May 21, races for Michael Dubb, Madaket Stables LLC and Wonder Stables.
