Pam and
Marty Wygod’s 4-year-old Kentucky homebred colt Courageous Cat was last seen
finishing second to international champion filly Goldikova in the $2 million
Breeders’ Cup Mile (G1) at Santa Anita on Nov. 7, and comes out for another
campaign as the horse to beat in the Canadian Turf Stakes with Garrett Gomez
flying in to ride for trainer Bill Mott.
Courageous
Cat is an impeccably bred son of Storm Cat out of the Wygod’s Grade 1 winner Tranquility
Lake.
He held a 1 ½ lengths lead in mid-stretch in the Breeders’ Cup before giving
way grudgingly to lose by a half-length with former Mott-trained charge Court
Vision finishing third.
Courageous
Cat’s career rose quickly last year after he broke his maiden on the turf at Belmont
in June. He captured the A Gift overnight stakes at Belmont and the Hall of
Fame (G2) at Saratoga
to make it three straight and finished a close-up third in the Jamaica Handicap
(G3) at Belmont
on Oct. 10 before going into the Breeders’ Cup as a 23-to-1 longshot.
A threat
to Courageous Cat and the rest of the field in the Canadian Turf will be the
prospect that Farnsworth Farms’ 7-year-old gelding Jet Propulsion could get
loose on the lead as he did last out winning the $300,000 Sunshine Millions
Turf wire-to-wire by two lengths over the course on Jan. 30.
Jockey
Julien Leparoux gets a return call on Jet Propulsion for trainer Marty Wolfson,
who claimed the son of Double Honor on behalf of Farnsworth for $50,000 when he
won an optional/claiming test in his previous start at Calder on Dec. 12 in a
similarly easy fashion. Jet Propulsion was a Graded stakes winner earlier in
his career.
Quiet Harbor
& Backseat Rhythm Meet Again in Honey Fox
Stuart
Janney III’s Quiet Harbor was sent off at odds of 18-to-1 last out when she
posted a head victory in the Marshua’s River Stakes over the Gulftsream course
on Jan. 16 with Paul Pompa, Jr.’s Grade 1 winner Backseat Rhythm seventh in a
wild finish. The two will meet again in a bulky field of 14 fillies and mares
entered in the Honey Fox Stakes.
Remarkably,
Quiet
Harbor
was bidding for a fifth consecutive victory in the Marshua’s River at long odds
as she made her first start since capturing the Violet Stakes (G3) over the
Meadowlands turf course on Oct. 10 for trainer Shug McGaughey. Jockey Eddie
Castro has been aboard throughout the streak and retains the mount on the
5-year-old homebred mare by Silver Deputy.
Backseat
Rhythm is another prize mount that brings champion jockey Garrett Gomez in from
California
for the day. Trained by Rick Dutrow, the 5-year-old daughter of El Corredor was
beaten only two lengths by Quiet Harbor in the Marshua’s River as she bids to
regain the form she showed winning the Lake Placid Stakes (G2) at Saratoga and
Garden City Stakes (G1) at Belmont as a 3-year-old.
Completing
the field for the Honey Fox are Doubledown Stable’s Belmont Cat, Frank
Calabrese’s Romacaca, Fred Seitz’ Meadow Saffron, Oak Bluff Stables’ Akilina,
Dell Ridge Farm’s Bluegrass Princess, J. Mack Robinson’s pair of Cherokee Queen
and Drop a Line, A. Claire Silva, Jr.’s Kitty Cat Express, William Backer’s
Sales Tax; Blazing Meadows Farm’s Afternoon Stroll and Bart Evans’ Wasted Tears.
Michael
and Lenora Paulson’s Our Dahlia and Robert Cromartie’s Yes She’s a Lady are on
the ‘also-eligible’ list.
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