21 Nominated To 2011 Breeders Stakes

Courtesy: WEG / Michael Burns Photography

The 2011 Breeders' Stakes, the third jewel in the Canadian Triple Crown, has attracted 21 total nominations. The one mile and one half event for three-year-olds foaled in Canada will be run on Sunday afternoon over the E.P. Taylor Turf Course.

UPDATED (AUG. 4, 2011): Field Set For 2011 Breeders' Stakes

Leading the way is the Prince of Wales winner Pender Harbour, who fended off Bowman's Causeway and Oh Canada in the final strides to win the one mile and three sixteenths race on Fort Erie's dirt track on July 17th. Bowman's Causeway is included in the nominations, while Oh Canada is not.

A surprise to me was the inclusion of Check Your Soul, who disappointed as the favourite in both the Queen's Plate and the Prince of Wales Stakes. While this list does not mean that the horse will be making a start, I had anticipated that Check Your Soul would be given a layoff and an opportunity to recover for more racing in the fall. Check Your Soul had been suffering from thumps and muscle soreness during the Plate and his performance in the Prince of Wales may have suggested he hadn't fully recovered.

Other notables include Queen's Plate runner up, Hippolytus, who was named the morning line favourite in the Prince of Wales and finished fourth, and Queen'splatekitten, who finished fifth in the Queen's Plate on June 26th.

All of the other horses on the nominations list are new to the Triple Crown trail, including Blackstone Bay, Celtic Conviction, Clean House, Control, Crown's Path, Delawana, Diego Bay, Ghost Gunner, Good Better Best, Grand Style, Head Honcho, Kurogane, Molinaro Remarks, Nanaimo, Runaway Whiz and Stunning Split.

Grand Style, the lone filly nominated, will most likely not start in the Breeders' Stakes, as she took part in the Wonder Where Stakes this past Sunday at Woodbine.

Clean House would be making his first start of his career in the Breeders' Stakes should he go postward. Clean House has had regular works for trainer Josie Carroll leading up to the Breeders' Stakes, with his most recent work being a four furlong breeze from the gate on July 29th in 49.60.

Six horses come into this race having won their last time out, including Pender Harbour who won the Prince of Wales Stakes on July 17th. Blackstone Bay won a $50,000 maiden claiming event on July 2nd, Crown's Path won a maiden special weight race for Ontario-sired horses on July 17th, Delawana won an open maiden special weight race on July 16th, Good Better Best won an allowance race at Keeneland on April 22nd and Kurogane won an allowance race at Woodbine on July 6th.

Here's the full list of nominees listed in alphabetical order:

• Blackstone Bay
• Bowman's Causeway
• Celtic Conviction
• Check Your Soul
• Clean House
• Control
• Crown's Path
• Delawana
• Diego Bay
• Ghost Gunner
• Good Better Best
• Grand Style
• Head Honcho
• Hippolytus
• Kurogane
• Molinaro Remarks
• Nanaimo
• Pender Harbour
• Queen'splatekitten
• Runaway Whiz
• Stunning Split

The post position draw for the Breeders' Stakes will take place at Woodbine on Thursday afternoon, but will not have a special event feel to it. The draw will be a part of Woodbine's normal race draw proceedings. Check back with At The Post on Thursday for the results of the post position draw. We will also break down the race and make our selections this weekend.

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Posted in: Woodbine