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Royal Regalia finished third in last year's Atto Mile.
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Leroidesanimaux Bio
“Le-wrah-days-annie-moe.” Yes, his name is a real mouthful. In French, it means ‘The King of the Animals.’ And so far, Leroidesanimaux is doing his darndest to live up to that name, at least in the horse racing world…. more specifically, in the world according to ‘milers.’
The TNT Stud colour-bearer not only comes into Sunday’s Grade 1, $1 million Atto Mile on a seven-race win streak, he’s also the top-ranked horse in the Breeders’ Cup poll of experts for the NetJets Breeders’ Cup Mile, October 29 at Belmont Park, a race in which he’ll have to be supplemented for $135,000.
In order to claim the throne, though, the five-year-old son of Candy Stripes will have to start with a big effort in the Atto. But this Brazilian-bred package of dynamite may just be up to the challenge.
In his most recent outing, Leroidesanimaux and jockey John Velazquez led every step of the way in the Grade 2 Fourstardave Handicap, August 27 at Saratoga, scoring by one and one-quarter lengths over Silver Tree in a course record 1:39.92 for the mile and one-sixteenth. An impressive performance in itself, but even moreso considering the fact that Leroidesanimaux was coming off a five and one-half month layoff. To make matters more interesting, there was a tele-timer malfunction during the race, which showed a final time of 1:42.2. However, it was corrected after the Daily Racing Form clocker had hand-timed the race in 1:39.92.
Said Hall of Fame trainer Bobby Frankel, “It (Fourstardave) was an easy race for him because he made an easy lead. He wasn’t challenged at all.”
He was seeing action for the first time since taking the Frank E. Kilroe Handicap, March 5 at Santa Anita, one of his two Grade 1 triumphs (the other was the Citation, November 27, 2004 at Hollywood Park). In the Kilroe, he defeated, amongst others, last year’s Breeders’ Cup Mile winner Singletary and former BC Sprint winner Cajun Beat.
Now, Frankel has decided to send him north from New York for the Atto Mile. Who would question him? After all, the five-time Eclipse Award winner has won the Atto Mile before, teaming with Velazquez to score in 2000 with Riviera, who went postward as a 10-1 outsider.
No such chance that Leroidesanimaux will be overlooked. In fact, there’s no doubt he’ll be favoured over challengers such as Artie Schiller, the leader in the World Thoroughbred Championships Divisional Points Standings (Mile) and Royal Regalia, last year’s third-place finisher in the Atto. Up until last year, though, that would not have been good news, as no favourite had won the Atto…until Soaring Free got the job done in the eighth running of the turf classic.
Immediately after the Fourstardave, Frankel indicated that Leroidesanimaux might contest the $350,000 Kelso Breeders’ Cup, October 2 at Belmont. However, he subsequently changed his mind, explaining, “He’s not a Breeders’ Cup (nominated) horse, so he wouldn’t get all the money in the Kelso (even if he won it). The Atto Mile is a lot of money, so I decided to go there.”
By way of explanation, non-Breeders’ Cup-nominated horses are not eligible to share in any purse money from the Breeders’ Cup in any designated pre-Breeders’ Cup races. A win in the Kelso (of which $100,000 comes from the Breeders’ Cup) would be worth roughly $150,000 US (60% of $250,000) to his connections, while a win in the Atto is worth $600,000 Cdn (60% of $1,000,000). With the Canadian dollar almost in as good form as Leroidesanimaux these days, the decision was a no-brainer….unless of course, the quick turnaround proves his undoing. “We’ll know about it (the timing) after the race if it worked out well or not,” said Frankel.
Yet, in spite of fashioning a remarkable seven-race win streak, dating back to January 31, 2004, Leroidesanimaux doesn’t win by much. His largest winning margin since he came to the United States has been two and one-half lengths, his smallest margin a half-length. But the bottom line is he just wins and wins often, with eight victories (three of them at the one mile distance) in only 11 career starts. And check out his last five Beyers (Daily Racing Form speed rating)…111, 111, 112, 112 and (most recently) 109, far and away the highest last five-race average of any Atto starter.
“Yes, he waits on horses a little bit,” said Frankel. “But he’s a very nice horse, very easy to train, good looking horse, does everything right.” And while he’s been on the engine for his last two wins, the trainer says, “He definitely doesn’t have to be on the front.”
Leroidesanimaux made his first start for Frankel in January of 2004 in a six and one-half furlong allowance contest at Santa Anita. He lost, finishing fourth. Since then, though, it’s been nothing but ‘1’s’, as his development has surprised even a veteran like Frankel.
It wasn’t really the plan to lay him up from March until August of this year, but, “He had a little problem so we decided to get him ready for the end of the year. We gave him some extra time.”
Frankel, who has trained a number of champions, isn’t about to add Leroidesanimaux, who tuned up for the Atto by breezing five-eighths on the Belmont Park inner turf last Sunday in 1:03.09, to that list quite yet. But could he be one of his best turf horses ever?
“It’s hard to say,” said Frankel. “But he doesn’t make too many mistakes and he’s got a good record.” An understatement, for sure and a record which might be even more impressive seven weeks from now…perhaps good enough then to make Frankel’s best-ever list.
Mobil Bio
'Mo' knows the Mile! Last year, fan favourite and millionaire Mobil finished fifth to Soaring Free in the Atto Mile. This year, the feisty bay horse, Canada's Top Older Male in 2004, is back for another try in the ninth running of the Grade 1 turf race. "He ran a pretty decent race last year. He was making up a little ground in the stretch. Hopefully, he can do even better this time," said trainer Mike Keogh.
He's built up a faithful following of fans, both young and old, over the years. So what exactly is it that makes this tough, tenacious and talented five-year-old such a popular figure? "He's a blue-collar horse," explained Keogh. "He's a working man's type of horse."
"He's what a racehorse should be," continued Keogh, of the lifetime winner of 12 races from 28 starts, who also has 21 top-three finishes. "He’s a versatile horse and he’s shown he can win in different ways and on different surfaces. He’s just a great horse to be around." And one you'd like to have in your corner, too. "He's the type of guy you'd want to have your back if you ever got into a bar fight."
The orange pylon that stands in front of his stall at Keogh's barn on the Woodbine backstretch gives fair warning to anyone who wants to get too close to his personal space. But before you think Mobil is a tough guy without a soft side, guess again. "He loves to eat fruit off a plastic fork," said groom Christine Windsor, who has worked with Keogh since the start of his training career. "But he is tough. He's tried to bite me several times, but he hasn't gotten me yet. I think he likes to put an act on for everyone when they walk by his stall. But when you're alone with him, he's very different."
“There is a saying around the barn that Wando (Keogh's retired 2003 Triple Crown champion) would be the one to go shopping with the girls and Mobil would be the one to go out to the bar with the guys," said Windsor.
“I liked him the first time I saw him,” said Keogh, of the well-built son of Langfuhr (a champion also trained by Keogh), who finished second to Wando in the 2003 Queen’s Plate. "He's just a great horse. He's battled foot problems this year after he stumbled leaving the gate in the Eclipse, but I think we have that straightened out."
It was a sweet Halton Stakes three-peat for Mobil, whose first win in 2005 came in the 1 1/8-mile turf race on September 4, after the Ontario-bred registered three second-place finishes in four stakes starts. “It was really a nice win for him,” said Keogh. "It’s a nice confidence booster. He’s been in some tough spots this year.”
And though it definitely won't be a Sunday drive for Patrick Husbands after he gets a leg up in the Woodbine walking ring this weekend, the four-time Sovereign Award-winning rider enjoyed sitting behind the wheel last time out. "It was a steer job," laughed Husbands, after the Halton. “It’s a great pleasure to ride this horse.”
It’s hard to believe the lifetime earner of $1,751,384 – tops in the Atto field – finished sixth and fourth, respectively, in his first two career starts. But there was a very good reason for the lacklustre efforts on July 27 and August 8, 2002. “I had trouble with him fighting ‘shins’ before he ever made it to the races,” said Keogh, of a common condition found in young horses. “He wasn’t at the top of his game in his first two starts.”
But the third time proved to be the charm for Mobil, who won the Simcoe Stakes (September 2, 2002 at Woodbine), the first added-money race for the bay, a half-length score at seven furlongs.
An avid supporter of British soccer club West Ham United, Keogh is hoping to get a big kick out of his charge down the long E.P. Taylor Turf stretch. Can Mobil put the 'Hammer' down on his opposition? "I always have confidence when Patrick rides one of our horses. I don't want to see Mobil too far out of it early and get boxed in. You know he's always going to try."
Royal Regalia Bio
Just three-quarters of a length separated Stronach Stables’ Royal Regalia from the winner’s circle in last year’s Atto, as the game grey finished just behind champion Soaring Free and Perfect Soul, an effort which trainer Justin Nixon still relishes.
“I thought it was a fantastic race,” said Nixon. “The only result was we just got beat. Maybe we would have had a better chance if we were on the outside. We would have dictated a little more than what we did. But Soaring Free ran a dynamite race. He’s an awful nice horse. My horse ran fantastic, he never gave up. That’s racing. I was thrilled with that outcome. Every time a horse gives 100%, you can’t look down on it.”
It was only Royal Regalia’s third start of the year and it was the first time in his career that he was running without blinkers.
“I took the blinkers off after the Fourstardave (when he finished an excellent third after cutting out all the pace in the mile and one-sixteenth fixture at Saratoga). He never did wear a big set of blinkers anyway. It was a small set, so I thought we’ll just take them off, it’s one less piece of equipment, maybe it would help him relax. He could get a little rank in his races, so I think it just helped him settle.”
So, Royal Regalia went from the Atto to Lone Star Park, where he was on the also-eligible list (not enough Graded Stakes earnings) for the Breeders’ Cup Mile. As it turned out, he didn’t draw in, but did win the $100,000 mile and one-eighth Conifer-General Buffett Texas Turf Stakes on the undercard impressively, his first stakes victory.
How did Nixon feel he might have done in the BC Mile? “I think he would have run well. He trained very well coming up to that race. He came out of the Atto in great shape and went forward from that. I would like to think that if we had been in the (BC) Mile, we would have done some damage. It’s easy to say when you’re not in it. But he travelled down there great, looked great and ran pretty impressive on the undercard.”
That was it for the year, as Royal Regalia stayed south at Adena Springs South for the winter. “The guys took great care of him down there. I got him (back) in May.”
Since then, Royal Regalia has surfaced just once, comfortably winning a mile and one-sixteenth allowance contest, July 28 at Woodbine over a good E.P. Taylor Turf Course.
On only having one start before the Atto, Nixon said, “It wasn’t necessarily the plan. A horse at his level, though, it’s tough to find a proper race for him, other than stakes races. We nominated him to the (seven furlong) Play the King (August 27) as an alternative plan. But I think the Play The King was just too short for him. He likes to go a little bit further. I think a mile is his best distance, but he’s won going a mile and a sixteenth, and a mile and an eighth. I think if we’d gone in the Play the King, we may have compromised his chances in the Atto, because he might be a little too rank early.”
No seven-year-old has ever won the Atto Mile. A few have run in it though, with the best finish being a second-place effort by Affirmed Success in 2001. But then again, Royal Regalia is no ordinary seven-year-old. Here’s a horse who didn’t get to the races at two or three, had only one start as a four-year-old and didn’t break his maiden until May of 2003 at Tampa Bay Downs as a five-year-old, as he battled ankles, a minor knee injury, immaturity, etc. He’s only had 15 career starts, winning seven of them. So patience has indeed been the key for this late bloomer.
How’s he coming up to the race? “Where we’ve got him right now, he’s relaxing nicely, doing everything right. So the best thing we thought was just to train him into the race. He’s run very good races off a layoff before…set a Woodbine (mile) track record (1:31.84) off a nine-month layoff. Last year he ran very well in the Fourstardave with an eight-week break between races, so he’s not a horse than needs to race. I think it’s a good scenario for him.”
Nixon worked Royal Regalia on September 4, a blistering six furlong move over the training turf course in 1:12 3/5, breezing. “Obviously, we need to be tight…that was a real strong tightener. I worked him in company, which I’ve never done before…give him something to run at, keep him honest. He was doing two-minute licks in August. He trains pretty forwardly. He doesn’t have to be working every 10 days.”
“I feel a little more confident this year because he raced so well in it last year,” explained Nixon. “I’m a little more nervous too if we don’t do as well as last year (it’s) because something has gone wrong. Last year, he was kind of an unknown entity. He ran so well the first time out, he’s training great and everything. I’m hoping maybe we can get a little better than last year. We’re going to be pretty forwardly placed. He likes to be near the front. He doesn’t have to have the front, but he’ll be in the first flight, that’s for sure.”
“He’s run on very soft turf, and he ran very well the day he broke the track record. Iit was very firm. He’s run just about identical numbers on different surfaces. He ran a triple digit (101) Beyer on soft turf (at Lone Star).”
Nixon feels his May foal has got the right temperament to be a Grade 1 winner. “He’s kind of a character. He’s very laid back, but very professional about his business when he goes to train. You kind of have to let him do what he wants as well. He’s a good- feeling horse. Before he gallops every day, he just stands there and watches traffic for about 10 minutes. He likes his routine. He’s got some personality, he can be aggressive at times too, but for the most part, he’s a gentle giant.”
Sophia’s Prince Bio
He was a problem child who finished 10th in his career bow, went through the claiming ranks without any takers, suffered what was thought to be a career-ending injury, recently broke a 44-year-old record and comes into Sunday’s Grade 1, $1 million Atto Mile on a four-race win streak. Ladies and gentlemen, Hereeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee's 'Snotty.'
The story of six-year-old Sophia's Prince is indeed a compelling one, to say the very least. The son of Schossberg, who began his career on August 29, 2002, is now hoping to give his connections a fairytale finish in the biggest race of his life.
“When I first saw Sophia's Prince, he was just a baby," said trainer John LeBlanc, Jr. "He got his nickname, 'Snotty' from (sister-in-law) Martha Scott because he had a snotty nose. From the very beginning, he was always a handful. He was the mischievous one, always picking on another horse, always up to something."
And as LeBlanc found out soon enough, Sophia's Prince could be the hurtin' kind… literally. "He's hurt me three times very badly in three different ways. He dropped me, he ran into a fence and the other time, I was getting a leg up and he ran backwards as fast as he could. Each time, I was unable to gallop for a number of days. The worst time, I couldn't gallop for one month. But through it all, I always thought this horse had ability."
That ability came to light in the chestnut's second start, after the aforementioned 10th-place finish. Sent off at odds of nearly 28-1, Sophia's Prince took to the main track and took top prize at seven furlongs, grabbing a 94 Beyer figure (Daily racing Form speed rating) after a 53 in his first race.
But it wasn't all sunshine and lollipops after that maiden-breaking score. "Mentally, he was very challenging. That's pretty much him. Right from the first few times I worked him, I knew he was talented. We had a top-notch allowance horse and a stakes horse in the Ontario Sires program. He just missed in the (Grade 3) Highlander Stakes in 2003 (second to Forever Grand). But then he had some injuries to deal with."
After rest and rehabilitation, the 'Prince' was back on track in 2004, albeit in the claiming ranks. But no one stepped up and took the gelding, racing for a tag of $25,000, when he finished second on November 12 and second again, this time for $28,000. The Ontario-bred closed out his five-year-old campaign with a victory in the slop for $45,000.
“At the end of the year, he came home on top of the world. He wanted to keep racing. He hurt himself slightly over the winter, but in the spring, good old 'Snotty' was back."
And better than ever. After two wins to start 2005, Sophia’s Prince became the king of 6 ˝ furlongs and the boss of the Shepperton Stakes on August 7, when he galloped under the wire 5 ˝ lengths the best in 1:14.56. The win broke a track record established 44 years ago by Fair Juror (1:14 3/5) and equaled by Saoirse in 1999.
"We have Hopeful Moment, who we won the Shepperton with in 2001, in the paddock on our farm. The night before the race, Maggie (LeBlanc's wife) went into the barn and pulled some hair out of his mane. It was to be a part of Sophia's Prince for the race."
"Any race is a challenge," said LeBlanc. "The Atto Mile definitely is. But being in a race like this, it's a dream."
Vanderlin Bio
This is one British invasion that won't be music to the ears of those who have horses entered in this year's Atto Mile. In 2003, trainer Andrew Balding and jockey Martin Dwyer, both based in England, made their Woodbine debuts a smashing success, teaming with Phoenix Reach to take the 2003 Pattison Canadian International. Now the winning duo is back at the Toronto oval in another high-profile race with another legitimate contender, Vanderlin.
A six-year-old gelded son of Halling, Vanderlin has already picked up a royal sum at Woodbine, having taken the seven-furlong, Grade 2 Play the King Stakes on August 27, heading fellow Atto Mile entrant Le Cinquieme Essai in the key Atto prep. Now, the veteran of 41 starts stretches out in distance as he attempts to capture the biggest race of his career. Is it a stretch to think the British-bred can win it?
"I was very pleased with the way he knuckled down in the Play the King," said Balding, of the lifetime winner of six races and 24 top-three finishes. "It's a wonderful track and I think it suits him, but as in any case, you need luck on your side."
Luck is exactly what Vanderlin got in the Play the King, albeit with a helping hand from Dwyer, who literally chose the right path to victory. "They went fast and I knew we'd come home good," said Dwyer, who also captured the 2005 Wonder Where Stakes for Silver Highlight, also with Balding. "I was just waiting for the split. I didn't want to come out wide. I thought if we pulled out wide, we might not make the ground up. He fought really well and battled to win." Aside from the impressive score, it might have served notice that Vanderlin is a "seven-furlong specialist."
Vanderlin launched his career on May 20, 2001 at Newbury, tackling 5 1/4-furlongs over a good-to-firm turf. As far as career bows go, it was hardly a disappointing result, as the then two-year-old finished second under Kieren Fallon, five lengths in arrears of Peter Breughal.
After finishing seventh, second and second, respectively, Vanderlin, previously trained by Balding's famous father, Ian, (Andrew took over the yard upon his Dad's retirement three years ago) broke his maiden at Pontefract in May of 2002. "My Dad and I bought him as a yearling and he had a good two-year-old campaign. He’s had to contend with injury problems over the years, but he has significantly improved over time."
Now, some four years later, the hard-knocking Vanderlin, half-brother to six winners, notably useful runners Mashoura, Monaiya and Miss Orah, looks for back-to-back wins for just the second time in his career, having turned the trick in 2002. "He's an absolute delight to be around, very quiet," said Balding. "He's a charming horse. Whenever he trains, he always works to his mark. You can set your watch by him."
Perhaps one of the most impressive attributes of the Atto Mile contender is an ability to shrug off a poor result and come back with a strong showing. Take the Play the King victory, for example. Vanderlin came into that race off an eighth-place finish on July 26, nearly eight lengths back of Court Masterpiece. But it was Vanderlin and Dwyer who turned in a masterpiece at Canada's Showplace of Racing, at odds of nearly 12-1.
"He's put in some decent runs at a mile before and hopefully, he'll come up with another big effort again.”
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