The eyes of the racing world were on Saratoga Race Course and a historic dead heat in the Travers Stakes (gr. I) Aug. 25, but Southview Ag's Toccetive quietly made history of his own at Northlands Park, taking the 83rd running of the $200,000 Canadian Derby (Can-III) by half a length (VIDEO) .
The 3-year-old gelded son of Toccet was well back in a field of eight sophomores going 1 3/8 miles at the track in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada. As stablemate Dougs Buddy clipped off brisk early fractions of :23 and :47 2/5, the Joan Petrowski-trained Toccetive raced along in seventh under jockey Jorge Carreno.
"I was really happy with where I was," Carreno said. "Me and Joanie, we talked about it like 20 times. I said, 'We're going to sit off it, hopefully, and if we get a good pace to run at, we're going to be dangerous.' "
Seventh after a mile with 10 lengths to make up on the leader, Toccetive commenced his rally on the outside and was third as the field turned for home. Set down for the drive, he closed ground on the leaders under strong urging to get the job done in 2:22 4/5. Dougs Buddy held on for second and Devil in Disguise finished third.
It was the second Canadian Derby score for trainer Petrowski, a 69-year-old Alberta native who won the 2007 edition with Footprint. She is the only female trainer to have taken two runnings of the largest and most celebrated Thoroughbred race in Western Canada.
"It feels very wonderful, and thank you very much to Jorge, who rode very well," Petrowski said.
Sent off at 4-1, Toccetive returned $12.70, $5.40, and $3.40 while Dougs Buddy paid $12.20 and $5 and Devil in Disguise paid $2.70. Bear's Taurus, Up Jumps a Monster, Officer Jones, Speyside, and Clear The Runway completed the order of finish. Live A Little was scratched.
Toccetive, bred in Kentucky by Lyle and Phylis Farkash out of the Two Punch mare Punching, registered his first graded-stakes score in the Canadian Derby, improving his career record to 3-3-4 from 11 starts for earnings of $170,576.
