2009 Woodbine Oaks Post Position: 5
* No maiden has ever won the Woodbine Oaks in its 53 editions. Yet, who would dare question Hall of Fame trainer Roger Attfield, as to why he intends to saddle Charles Fipke’s homebred Soul of Nataka in Sunday’s renewal of the classic for Canadian-foaled three-year-old fillies?
* After all, he’s won a record-tying eight Queen’s Plates and three Oaks, although it’s been a while since he last saddled an Oaks starter - 2002, as a matter of fact, when finishing third with Alpha Heat and eighth with Winning Chance.
* Said Attfield, “She’s been training very well. Her last work was a bit confusing (1:01 4/5 seconds over the Polytrack on May 31) because it was the morning of the strong wind. All the horses were stopping badly in the stretch. But we’ll give her a shot at it, because she’s a legitimate stayer. She’s just a little filly that wants to run all day. She probably would be more ideal on the turf. I thought it was worthwhile keeping my eye on the Oaks so that’s where we are going to go.”
* Attfield has a strong connection to the lineage of Soul of Nataka. He trained the sire, Fipke’s Perfect Soul, throughout his career, winning a number of stakes, including the Shadwell Mile at Keeneland, en route to a Sovereign Award in 2003 as Canada’s Top Male Turfer.
* And of course, he also conditioned With Approval, the sire of the dam, Nataka. With Approval won the 1989 Canadian Triple Crown for Attfield and owner Kinghaven Farms en route to Canadian Horse of the Year honours. Meanwhile, Nataka raced for owner-breeder Trudy McCaffery and John Toffan in California, where she broke her maiden on the grass in her second start, then promptly finished second twice in two allowance grass races, all in 1996. Fipke eventually purchased her for a broodmare.
* There’s other karma at work here, too. Attfield and jockey Richard dos Ramos have enjoyed Oaks success together. Both have won the Oaks on three occasions, but teamed in 1994 with Plenty Of Sugar and before that, Playlist in 1986.
* After two nondescript outings at Woodbine last year, Soul of Nataka began her 2009 season at Gulfstream Park on the grass, in a one mile, maiden $80,000 claimer.
* “I started her for a tag race on the turf at Gulfstream,” continued Attfield. “She ran a very good race. She was in some trouble. She’s probably going to be better on the turf. Her last race was not a bad race (a closing second to Oaks rival Gore Bay over one and one-sixteenth miles on May 13). She will get the trip. I think a lot of the fillies probably won’t want to go that far. She’ll run all day long.”
Owner – Charles Fipke
Born in Edmonton, Alberta, Charles Fipke became interested in horse racing after watching the great Secretariat sweep through the U.S. Triple Crown in 1973.
Last year, he reached the pinnacle for a Canadian race horse owner, winning the Queen’s Plate, Canada’s most famous horse race, with his homebred Not Bourbon, who went on to garner a Sovereign Award as Canada’s top three-year-old male.
In the United States, he also saw his Tale of Ekati compete in two-thirds of the American Triple Crown, finishing fourth in the Kentucky Derby. The son of Tale of the Cat was an impressive two-year-old winner and returned as a three-year-old to upset champion War Pass in the Grade 1 Wood Memorial at Aqueduct. He also won the Cigar Mile in November. Trained by Barclay Tagg, Tale of Ekati was retired earlier this year.
Fipke’s Canadian racing success really began with Perfect Soul, a multiple stakes winner who took him all the way to the Breeders’ Cup. The son of Sadler’s Wells now stands at Darby Dan Farm for $15,000. He retired with seven wins in 21 starts and over $1.5 million in earnings. His most significant victory was the Grade 1 Shadwell Turf Mile at Keeneland in 2003.
A resident of Kelowna, British Columbia, Fipke, an acclaimed geologist and diamond magnate, made his fortune by discovering a large diamond mine, named Ekati, in 1992 in the Northwest Territories.
Fipke added a significant broodmare to his burgeoning band in 2007, when he purchased Kentucky Oaks winner Lemons Forever for $2.5 million.
Trainer – Roger Attfield
One of Canada’s most accomplished horsemen, Roger Attfield has trained a record-tying eight Queen’s Plate winners (Norcliffe, 1976; Market Control, 1987; With Approval, 1989; Izvestia, 1990; Alydeed, 1992; Peteski, 1993; Regal Discovery, 1995; Not Bourbon, 2008). Three of them (With Approval, Izvestia and Peteski) went on to win Triple Crowns. He’s also won the Breeders’ Stakes, third leg in the Canadian Triple Crown, on seven occasions and the Oaks, Canada’s top race for three-year-old Canadian-bred fillies three times (Playlist, 1986; Plenty of Sugar, 1994, Capdiva, 1997).
He has also conditioned six Horses-of-the-Year. In addition to the Triple Crown winners, Norcliffe, Play the King and Alywow were also accorded that honour, among his numerous Sovereign Award winners.
The Nobleton resident has won scores of stakes at Woodbine during his 30+ years as a trainer and is a six-time (1986, 1987, 1989, 1990, 1993, 2002) Sovereign Award winner as Canada’s outstanding conditioner. In 1999, he was inducted into the Canadian Horse Racing Hall of Fame.
Born November 18, 1939 in Newbury, England, Attfield was an accomplished show-jump rider and amateur steeplechase jockey before immigrating to Canada in 1970.
In 2000, he won 10 stakes, including three with Sovereign Award-winning juvenile filly Poetically, finishing with 42 wins (sixth place) and over $2.9 million in purses (second place). In 2003, Attfield saddled 23 winners, 99 top-three finishers and ranked tied for 15th in the standings, capturing the King Edward Breeders’ Cup Stakes with Perfect Soul for his lone stakes score on the campaign.
In 2005, Attfield saddled six stakes winners at Woodbine, including two with Palladio, who triumphed in the Ontario Derby and Victoria Park. Palladio also took the Ohio Derby and top three-year-old Sovereign honours. In 2006, Pellegrino gave him his 300th career stakes winner, in a year that saw the classy horseman rank 10th at the Toronto oval with 25 wins.
In 2008, Attfield had one of his best seasons ever, winning 12 stakes and over $4.5 million (a career high) in purses, highlighted by Not Bourbon’s campaign and other stakes winners Sand Cove and Callwood Dancer.
His public stable includes about 15 horses for Fipke.
Jockey - Richard Dos Ramos
Born in Port-of-Spain, Trinidad on September 10, 1962, Richard Dos Ramos, who credits trainer John Mack for his early development, scored his first win in 1981 aboard Lord Henry. He went on to capture the Woodbine and Greenwood Autumn meets with 142 victories, en route to a Sovereign Award as the nation’s outstanding apprentice. In 1982, he notched 162 wins, despite missing three months due to injuries, to nail down another Sovereign as top apprentice.
Ten years later, in 1992, Dos Ramos teamed with Knob Hill Stable and trainer Phil England for a dramatic and historic victory in the 1992 Molson Export Million. Taking over from an injured Larry Attard, Dos Ramos guided Benburb to a 31-1 win over A.P. Indy and Alydeed in the 1 1/8 mile event.
In 1999, he ranked eighth with 76 wins and sixth in purses with $3.5 million, highlighted by his score aboard 18-1 Thornfield in the $1.5 million Canadian International, his first mount in that historic event, after an earlier win in the Niagara Breeders’ Cup aboard Steve Stavro’s eventual Sovereign Award-winning Horse of the Year.
In 2001, Dos Ramos captured 49 wins and just over $2.9 million in 439 starts to rank 14th among riders for the second-straight year. He scored seven stakes victories, including three aboard Mysterious Affair (Whimsical, George C. Hendrie and Ballade). He also won the Dominion Day Stakes aboard A Fleets Dancer.
The 2002 campaign was a season of ups and downs for Dos Ramos. After recovering from an injury suffered early in the season, Dos Ramos returned in style. On Woodbine Oaks day, he was presented with the prestigious Avelino Gomez Memorial Award and several hours later piloted Ginger Gold to an Oaks victory, his third in the filly classic (Playlist, 1986; Plenty of Sugar, 1994).
In 2005, he guided Palladio to local stakes wins in the Victoria Park and Ontario Derby, and was also aboard when the Roger Attfield trainee took the Grade 2 Ohio Derby at Thistledown Racetrack in Ohio.
In 2006, Dos Ramos eclipsed his win total from the year previous, winning 35 local races, including the New Providence Stakes with Main Executive. In 2007, Dos Ramos won his 2,000th race aboard Gracelicious.
Last year, he won 30 races and over $1.8 million in purses, highlighted by stakes wins aboard Marlang (Breeders’ Stakes, the Charlie Barley and the Saranac at Saratoga) and Sand Cove.