Spice Route romps in Singspiel; Red earns hard-fought win in Highlander

Sunday's renewal of the $153,999

Singspiel S. (Can-G3) on Queen's Plate Day at

Woodbine was an especially poignant one, for the champion and noted sire sadly

lost his battle with laminitis just this past Friday. In the circumstances,

SPICE ROUTE (GB) (King's Best) bolted home a most appropriate winner, and not

only because the British-bred saluted a visiting Queen Elizabeth II. Spice Route

is out of a mare by In the Wings (GB), the sire of Singspiel (Ire).

Trained and co-owned by the British-born Roger Attfield, Spice Route was the established

class of the field. Although he was making his first start since his runner-up

effort to Cloudy's Knight (Lord Avie) in the W.L. McKnight H. (G2) at Calder on

December 26, the layoff proved no deterrent to his backers, who bet him down to

3-2 favoritism.

In the opening stages of the turf marathon, longshots Grey Boundary

(Boundary) and Cool Gator (Macho Uno) virtually shared the pacesetting role.

Cool Gator got the first quarter in :25, and Grey Boundary posted fractions of

:50 and 1:14 2/5. Attfield's other runner, Perfect Soul (Not Impossible [Ire]),

crept into a close third on the outside by that point, while Solitaire (Victory

Gallop) enjoyed his ground-saving trip as a stalker. Spice Route had loped along

near the rear early, but gradually improved his position for Mike Smith.

On the far turn, Cool Gator disposed of Grey Boundary and clocked 1:38 4/5

for the mile. Perfect Shower was already breathing down his neck, however, and

put his head in front through 1 1/4 miles in 2:03. Solitaire was likewise

bearing down, and he took charge in upper stretch. Looming just behind, and

traveling best of all, was Spice Route. As soon as Smith set him down, Spice

Route bounded clear by 3 3/4 lengths to complete 1 1/2 miles on the firm turf in

2:26 3/5.

"He felt great the whole time," Smith said. "Roger told me not to hit the

front too soon. He was going to be a little bit fresh, just cover him up and

make that one run.  Off a six month layoff, you've got to hand it all to

this guy (Attfield)." 

"He ran well, didn't he," said Attfield, who owns a piece of Spice Route,

along with Harlequin Ranches and Ralph Johnson. "I thought maybe I was two works

short of having him at his very best, but he proved me wrong. I knew he'd run

well if he was tight enough. I'm very pleased with him. 

"He grabbed a heel really, really badly in Florida and it took a long time to

grow in. But he's in fine shape now and hopefully we'll have a great year (with

him) from here on in." 

Spice Route furnished mutuels of $5.10, $3.10 and

$2.60. Solitaire finished second by 4 1/2 lengths over Perfect Shower, who in

turn had one length to spare over fourth-placer Genius Kinshasa (Kinshasa). Cool

Gator tired to fifth in the nine-horse field.

A six-year-old chestnut gelding, Spice Route advanced his

mark to 26-6-4-6, $920,827. He was originally based in England with Michael

Bell, who also trains a few horses for The Queen. Spice Route placed in a trio

of stakes in his native land in 2008 -- the Huxley S. (Eng-G3), Magnolia S. and

Festival S. After joining Attfield that summer, Spice Route finished second in

the Canadian International (Can-G1) and third in the Sky Classic S. (Can-G2). He

broke through with his first stakes coup in the Tropical Turf H. (G3) at Calder

in December 2008, and in his 2009 debut in the Mac Diarmida S. (G2), he closed

well for third after being checked on the far turn. Spice Route then rolled to a

two-length decision in the Elkhorn S. (G2), took runner-up honors in the

Louisville H. (G3), and later added a third in the Red Smith H. (G2) prior to

placing in the McKnight to conclude the year.

Bred in England by Usk Valley Stud, Spice Route was produced by the 2001

Italian Oaks (Ity-G1) winner Zanzibar (In the Wings [GB]). This family has

produced Glint of Gold and Diamond Shoal (GB), full siblings by Mill Reef who

won championships in various European nations, as well as the German highweight

Catella (Ger) (Generous).

In the day's opening stakes event, Norseman Racing Stable's SIGNATURE RED

(Bernstein) outdueled a stubborn Heros Reward (Partner's Hero) by a neck to

notch his first stakes victory in the $192,403

Highlander S. (Can-G2). Trained by Sid Attard and piloted by Chantal

Sutherland, the lightly-raced four-year-old prompted the pacesetting Heros

Reward through splits of :22 2/5 and :44 4/5 before putting his head in front in

the stretch. Heros Reward fought valiantly along the inside, but Signature Red

wouldn't let him sneak back into the lead. Sent off as the slight second choice

at 2-1, the winner zipped six furlongs in 1:08 on the turf and returned

$6.50, $4.40 and $3.

The eight-year-old Heros Reward had competed in the past three editions of

the Highlander, when it held Grade 3 status, and he has yet to finish off the

board. Runner-up in 2007, he won in 2008 and placed third last year, and now has

another runner-up performance to his credit. The Dale Capuano charge crossed the

wire a half-length in front of Jungle Wave (Hold That Tiger), with Canadian

champion sprinter Field Commission (Service Stripe), the 2-1 favorite, the same

margin back in fourth. Reporting home another 6 1/4 lengths adrift in fifth was

Not Bourbon (Not Impossible [Ire]), hero of the 2008 Queen's Plate.

Signature Red had checked in third in his two prior stakes attempts, the

Kenny Road S. (Can-G3) last November and the Vigil S. (Can-G3) in May, both on

the Woodbine Polytrack. The bay was coming off an allowance score at the same

course and distance as Sunday's Highlander. His scorecard now reads 12-5-1-4,

$321,088.

Bred by Gary Tussey in Kentucky, Signature Red is out of the multiple

stakes-placed Irish and Foxy (Irish Open) and sold for $77,000 as a Fasig-Tipton

Kentucky October yearling.