Canadian horse of the year Spaceship anniversary extended their legend on September 19, beating the boys on Ricoh Woodbine Mile (G1T) at CA $ 1 million (US $ 757,336) honeysuckleand hit her ticket to the Breeders’ Cup World Championship.
Indy Wind’s 7-year-old daughter was the oldest horse and the only woman in a field of eight for the Woodbine Mile with the 2019 Preakness Stakes (G1) winner War of will Sent off as a 2-1 favorite but defied her nearly 6-1 chances and galloped home to take a sharp score of a length.
The Kevin Attard trainee held the winner’s rally with multiple staged outreaches March to the bow while securing her second Class 1 win. Her first came on Woodbine’s EP Taylor Stakes (G1T) 2019. She was the third woman to win the mile along with Tepin (2016) and Ventura (2009).
“Just an incredible feeling,” said an emotional Attard, who won the Starship Jubilee for $ 16,000 in 2017 with his father Tino Attard. “This mare doesn’t get the respect she deserves. She is a winner of 19 races from 38 starts. I was really disappointed to see her (almost) 6-1 on the board … just kind of forgotten. Again and again , she’s coming and proving she’s a top horse in North America. ”
Starship Jubilee bounced back from a fourth in the Diana Stakes (G1T) on August 23 at Saratoga racetrackYour only loss in six years will start in 2020.
With Justin Stein in the irons, Starship Jubilee sat in fourth place Admiralty Pier and Value Proposition led the way through an opening quarter in: 23.66. The pacemakers continued through half an hour at: 46.14 when Stein held a patient hand on the Starship Jubilee, which was flanked by the War of Will. When the field spun home by three-quarters in 1: 09.12, Stein found a seam and signaled Starship Jubilee to leave, and the brave Bay mare took over with a steep climb.
“I sat in the three-eighths pole, around the 5/16 pole, and had tons (horse). I was waiting for the opportunity to tip her and ask her to run,” Stein said. “She’s so honest and wants to win more than anyone else out there. I’ve seen her reps … it’s just gritty. She just waited for her cue and ran off like a scalded cat. She was gone.”
War of Will was three quarters long, with in third place Olympic runner, Armistice Day, Admiralty Pier, Shirls Speightand Value Proposition complete the order of completion.
The final time for the mile was 1: 32.06 on what was considered a firm grass pitch, just 0.31 seconds off Wise Dan’s course record. Starship Jubilee paid $ 13.50 for a $ 2 prize ticket.
Starship Jubilee was bred by William Sorren in Florida and is out of the unridden Forest Wildcat broodmare Perfectly Wild, whose dam was the four-time winner of the tiered performance Perfect Arc. She improved her record from 38 starts to 19-5-3 with a profit of $ 2,093,069.
Starship Jubilee entered the 2018 Keeneland November Breeding Stock Sale but failed to meet their $ 425,000 reserve and was subsequently privately sold by the Attards to Bonnie Baskins Blue Heaven Farm.
Now she’s likely on her way to Breeders’ Cup. The Woodbine Mile win gave her a paid berth in the FanDuel Breeders’ Cup Mile on November 7th, presented by PDJF (G1T) at Keeneland.
“I’m going to be enjoying the moment, but it’s obviously a special feeling to know that this race has produced so many horses that have won the Breeders’ Cup,” said Attard. “So now I’m really excited and this is a place we wanted to go all year. This is just one step closer.”
Starship Jubilee wins the Woodbine Mile
Video: Ricoh Woodbine Mile S. (G1T)
.
