Marchfield holds off Champs Elysees in Sky Classic

The Sky was the limit for Marchfield (Courtesy WEG/Michael Burns Photography) Melnyk Racing Stable's homebred MARCHFIELD (A.P. Indy) returned to the winner's circle on Sunday with a hard-fought, half-length decision over Champs Elysees (GB) (Danehill) in the $256,100 Sky Classic S. (Can-G2) at Woodbine. The duo battled down the entire length of the stretch -- leaning, bumping and generally turning it into a knock-down, drag-out fight. Just a few feet from the wire, Patrick Husbands asked Marchfield for just a little more, and the bay responded to stop the clock in 2:16 2/5 for 1 3/8 miles on the good turf. "He showed me that he just wants to run down the lane," Husbands said. "I tried to get him as close as possible. He wanted no part of it. When I swung for home, he just took off." Marchfield, the 2-1 second choice in the eight-horse field, paid $6.50, $3 and $3.30 for his gutsy score while keying the $21.30 exactor, $263.80 triactor and $1,290.60 superfecta (7-2-6-3). Champs Elysees, the 5-2 third pick, was worth $3.90 and $3.60 for his battling second. Marlang (Langfuhr) set the initial pace through quick splits of :24 4/5, :49 1/5, 1:13 2/5 and 1:38 while Marchfield and Champs Elysees were running in the rear. Rahy's Attorney (Crown Attorney), drafting just to the outside of the pacesetter, took first run on the leader rounding the turn but couldn't sustain his rally and began dropping back. By that point, both Marchfield and Champs Elysees had begun their forward progression down the center of the track, and the fight was on.

The two came together and drifted apart a couple of times, then both started

edging closer to the rail as their battle royal continued. In the end,

Marchfield pulled off the win for trainer Mark Casse while running on the

outside.

"It's a great delight to see this horse show his pedigree," said Melnyk, who

was at Woodbine to celebrate in the winner's circle. "He's an A.P. Indy horse,

out of a wonderful mare that I raised. Coming to Woodbine is an emotional thing

because I won the Queen's Plate here. Winning a race of that stature is a huge

thrill. I'm looking forward to racing Marchfield back here again."

Medjool (Monarchos) finished another 2 3/4 lengths back in third, returning

$11.10 as the 38-1 long shot, and was followed under the line by Marlang, Cool

Gator (Macho Uno), Rahy's Attorney, Catch the Luck (A.P. Indy) and Woodbourne

(Danzig).

The Ontario-bred Marchfield entered this one off a second to Rahy's Attorney

in the Nijinsky S. (Can-G2), with Champs Elysees another 5 3/4 lengths back in

third. That race followed a win in the Dominion Day H. (Can-G3) and a neck

second in the Eclipse S. (Can-G3), and the five-year-old has also captured the

2007 Breeders' S. and 2008 Autumn S. (Can-G2). Marchfield, voted Canada's

champion older horse last season, boosted his earnings to $1,016,386 with this win

and improved his record to 22-7-8-0.

Out of multiple Grade 3 queen Pico Teneriffe (Red Ransom), Marchfield counts

as half-siblings the stakes-scoring three-year-old Congor Bay (Speightstown) and

stakes-placed Westmoreland (Danzig). He also has an unnamed yearling full

sister. Notables in the family include multiple Italian Group 1 winner Duke of

Marmalade (*Vaguely Noble), Grade 1 hero George Navonod (Bold Tactics) and Grade

1-winning sire Cryptoclearance (Fappiano).

Casse said the plan is to run Marchfield next in the Northern Dancer Turf S.

(Can-G1) on September 20.