'Reward, 'Approved steal the spotlight on Plate undercard

One of Maryland's favorite sons has found a home in Canada. Voted

Maryland-bred Horse of the Year last season, HEROS REWARD (Partner's Hero)

continued to lay the groundwork for a defense of that title by once again

plundering riches north of the border, this time in Sunday's $198,211

Highlander S. (Can-G3) at Woodbine, one of two graded stakes on the Queen's

Plate undercard. Heros Reward took an early lead and, after drawing off through

the lane, had plenty left to repel the late charge of the The Great Caruso

(Sultry Song) to win by three-quarters of a length under Javier Castellano in a

time of 1:08 for six furlongs on the firm turf.

Heros Reward held a half-length lead through the opening half-mile while being

closely tracked by Indian Ashton (Tribal Rule) and Gantu (Mazel Trick), setting

fractions of :22 2/5 and :44 2/5. Putting away those rivals at the top of the

stretch, Heros Reward sped off to a three-length advantage with a furlong to go,

but The Great Caruso whittled away at that margin late and simply ran out of

ground.

Owned by Rob Ry Farm and Jayne Marie Slysz, Heros Reward returned $4.30,

$2.90 and $2.60 as

the even-money favorite.

Wollemi Pine (Aljabr) finished two lengths back in third and was followed by

Indian Ashton, Quietly Mine (Belong to Me), Awesome Action (Awesome Again),

Unusual Suspect (Unusual Heat), Gantu and Santana Springs (Wheaton). Silver

Strip (Comic Strip) was scratched.

The Highlander was the second win in three career starts over the Woodbine

turf for Heros Reward. After finishing second in the 2007 Highlander, he returned to the Toronto course last October to win the Nearctic S.

(Can-G2). Heros Reward has also won consecutive runnings of the Baltimore City

Turf Sprint S. at Pimlico, a race he won in his start prior to the Highlander.

The six-year-old gelding's record now stands at 24-9-6-2 with earnings of

$743,600.

"Hopefully we'll be back for the Nearctic (on October 4)," trainer Dale

Capuano said. "We had good luck in that race last year and then maybe the

Breeders' Cup (Turf Sprint on October 25)."

Bred by Gretchen Mobberley, Heros Reward is the first stakes winner out of

the winning Lifes Passage (Caveat), who has also produced an unnamed yearling

colt by Dance With Ravens.

A wire-to-wire victory on the E. P. Taylor turf course was also attained by

William Coyro Jr.'s MISSION APPROVED (With Approval), who proved best in the

$153,624

Singspiel S. (Can-G3). Under Ramon Dominguez, Mission Approved won by 1 1/2

lengths and paid $10.50, $5.60 and $5.10 as the 4-1 third choice, completing 1 1/2 miles in 2:30

1/5.

Setting pokey fractions of :25 1/5, :50 2/5, 1:15 1/5, 1:40 1/5 and 2:05 3/5,

Mission Approved met only one serious challenge, from Rahy's Attorney (Crown

Attorney), who advanced from sixth early on to take second at the top of the stretch. That

rival could not cut into the winning margin in the final quarter-mile, but did

finish 5 3/4 lengths clear of Dubai Gold (Deputy Commander) for second. Dubai

Gold was followed by Benz Boy (Siphon [Brz]), Colorful Judgement (Diesis [GB]),

Pellegrino (Brz) (Nugget Point [Ire]), It's Like This (Ascot Knight), Marchfield

(A.P. Indy), My Imperial Dancer (My Imperial Slew), Shillelagh Slew (Chief

Seattle), Mike Fox (Giant's Causeway) and Tap Show (Pleasant Tap).

"We were very confident in him," said Coyro, who also bred the colt. "It's

very nice to bring a horse by With Approval back to Canada and win a big race. I

can't be happier."

With Approval captured the Canadian Triple Crown in 1989 en route to Canadian

Horse of the Year honors.

The Singspiel was the second graded stakes win for the Gary Contessa-trained

Mission Approved, who pulled off a 34-1 upset of the Saranac S. (G3) at Saratoga

last September. The four-year-old later won the Princeton S. at Meadowlands, but

was unplaced in his most recent starts in the Joe Hirsch Turf Classic

Invitational (G1) and Kingston H., both at Belmont Park. Mission Approved's line

now reads 12-6-1-1, $308,275.

"I think we're going to look at a couple of graded stakes races (in the

future), a mile and three-eighths, a mile and a half, and point to the Breeders'

Cup, hopefully," Coyro added.

Out of the winning Fortunate Prospect mare Fortunate Find, Mission Approved

hails from the family of multiple Grade 1 turf star El Senor (Valdez), who

earned more than $1.7 million over five seasons of campaigning.