Sir for Sure’s victory in Sunday’s Breeders’ Stakes at Woodbine was all about redemption

Woodbine jockey Declan Carroll went from being tossed to the dirt in the Prince of Wales Stakes on Sept.13 to tossing garlands in the air after winning the 130th Running of the Breeders’ Stakes on Sunday afternoon at Woodbine Racetrack.

What a difference a race makes.

The combination of Carroll and the Mark Casse-conditioned Sir for Sure finished a very respectable third on Aug. 21 in the $1 million Queen’s Plate — the first jewel of the Canadian thoroughbred Triple Crown.

But in the second jewel of the classic treble, the $400,000 Prince of Wales at Fort Erie, Carroll shockingly fell off Sir for Sure in the first turn and the huge gelding posted an unfortunate DNF.

Needless to say, all eyes were on Carroll and Sir for Sure on Sunday afternoon at Woodbine when nine horses lined up for the third jewel of the Triple Crown — the $400,000 Breeders’ Stakes, a 1 ½ mile endurance contest on the famed E.P. Taylor Turf Course.

For Carroll, Casse and owners Heste Sport Inc., the finish was pure redemption. Carroll guided Sir for Sure, who went off at 6-1, to an impressive 2 1/4 length victory after an emphatic stretch run, crossing the finish line in 2:28.88. Understandably, there were tears of happiness and relief in Carroll’s eyes afterwards.

“This is my first season at Woodbine and to do this for Mr. Casse, who has given me many opportunities, is special,” said Carroll, who was one of the leading riders last year at Arlington Park near Chicago. “I’m very grateful.”

Gaston and Duke of Love, who won the Prince of Wales on Sept.13, dueled for the lead until Sir for Sure made a four-wide bid in the final turn before rumbling home for the victory.

“Once I got him settled down in the backside, he was just travelling so easily and comfortably,” said Carroll. “A horse of his size and his stature, he was relishing the turf. His father was (multiple graded stakes winner) Sligo Bay, so it was just beautiful.

“Turning for home I said, ‘Come on boy, it’s 3/8ths.’ And he took it from there. He made my job very easy today,” added Carroll. “I was very loaded turning home. I think I may have kicked home a little earlier than I probably should have but fortunately for me he can run all day and he took to the turf beautifully. Probably one of the easiest horses to ride. He’s very kind. That makes my job easy.”

Sir for Sure’s victory marked Casse’s third Breeders’ Stakes score, having won the classic event in 2018 with Neepawa and in 2007 with Marchfield. Casse’s mounts finished 1-2 in Sunday’s Breeders’ Stakes as the Patrick Husbands-ridden Hall of Dreams was second. Lac Macaza, trained by Julia Carey, finished third. Dancin in Da’nile was disqualified from fourth to seventh for interference while Gaston was moved up from fifth to fourth.

Though Sir for Sure had never raced on the turf before but the Carroll said he “relished” the E.P. Taylor course.

“He was bred for the turf,” said the young rider.

As for what went down in the Prince of Wales last month, Casse told the Toronto Sun last week that nobody was to blame. In fact, when asked if he considered switching Carroll for another jockey in the Breeders’ Stakes, Casse’s reply was short and to the point.

“Never,” said Woodbine’s leading trainer. “You dance with the one that brought you.”

For his part, Casse went from worrying about what damage Hurricane Ian might inflict on his home and racing stable in Ocala, Fla., last week (thankfully there was none), to worrying about where on his trophy case he was going to fit the Breeders’ Stakes hardware. Clearly, the Hall of Fame trainer was also feeling a tremendous amount of relief for a number of reasons on Sunday.

Sir for Sure, who won the Plate Trial on July 24, paid $14.80 and earned $240,000 in his first stakes win.

This year’s Queen’s Plate winner Moira, the spectacular filly trained by Kevin Attard and owned by X-Men Racing, Madaket Stables and SF Racing, elected not to go for the Triple Crown this season. Moira was not entered in either the Prince of Wales or the Breeders’ Stakes. There’s a chance she will run in $750,000 Grade 1 E.P. Taylor Stakes next Saturday at Woodbine. The last Canadian Triple Crown winner was the Mike Keogh-trained Wando, who was ridden by Husbands and owned by the late Gustav Schickedanz. Carroll said the plan all along for Sir for Sure was to run in all three legs of the Triple Crown as long as he was healthy and training well.

“He’s bred for turf top-to-bottom and today it paid off,” said the personable jock.

The eight-year-old gelding Prideofdistinction, ridden by Emma-Jayne Wilson for trainer Ronald Sadler, won the longest race of the Woodbine meet earlier on Sunday in the final event of the Woodbine Turf Endurance Series, over 1 3/5 miles. Runner-up Meyer, trained by Martin Drexler and ridden by Kazushi Kimura ended up being the series winner.

The handle for the 111-race Breeders’ Stakes card was $7.1 million.