Five years after Neepawa romped by 3 1/2 lengths in the final jewel of the Canadian Triple Crown, his younger sibling Touch’n Ride secured a Breeders’ Stakes victory of his own Oct.1 at Woodbine.
Running under the same silks as his older half-brother, Chiefswood Stables, Touch’n Ride prevailed in an epic stretch duel over Elysian Field to land the CA$400,000 Canadian Classic.
A late bloomer, the 3-year-old son of Candy Ride broke his maiden July 30 at Woodbine for trainer Layne Giliforte in his second trip to the post. The impressive 5 1/4-length win earned him a trip to the CA$1 million Queen’s Plate a month later, where he closed willingly but could only manage a fifth-place finish behind winner Paramount Prince .
Facing several familiar foes from the King’s Plate in the Breeders’, Touch’n Ride was positioned just off the pacesetters as Hemlo Gold and Paramount Prince dueled for early command. The frontrunners set a brisk tempo for the 1 1/2 miles, rattling off opening splits of :23.71, :48.75, and 1:13.65. Under a patient ride from Kazushi Kimura, Touch’n Ride surged into contention around the furn, and after briefly checking at the top of the lane, was angled wide for the stretch run. The gelding immediately locked horns with new leader Elysian Field, who had made a sweeping move around the turn.
Elysian Field forced Touch’n Ride to the middle of the track as he was lugging out during their battle but the Chiefswood runner refused to fold and dug in for a nose score.
Touch’n Ride ($10.20) completed the distance on a firm turf course in 2:27.56
Sahin Civaci, aboard Elysian Field, launched a claim of foul against Kimura and Touch’n Ride, but it was disallowed by the stewards.
Elysian Field and 51-1 shot Twowaycrossing completed the trifecta.
Bred in Ontario, Touch’n Ride is a third-generation Chiefswood homebred. He is produced from the stakes-winning Niigon mare Niigon’s Touch, the dam of three winners from five foals to race.
* Layne Giliforte, the trainer of the winners of over 900 races, won his first Canadian Classic.
* Lightly-raced Touch’n Ride won for the second time in only four career starts.
What They Said
“It feels amazing. I’ve always tried to win the Triple Crown and I’ve finally made it. Last week, I got on (Touch’n Ride) in the morning and he was a very nice horse on the turf.” -jockey Kazushi Kimura after notching his first win in the Canadian Triple Crown series
