Grand Adventure delivered his second graded stakes win in a row over the Woodbine turf when he turned back Rahy's Attorney in the stretch to capture the $344,708 King Edward Stakes (Can-IIT) (VIDEO) by one length June 26.
Sam-Son Farms' 4-year-old son of Grand Slam disposed of pacesetter Get Stormy , who was seeking his sixth straight win, in the lane. He then held off a strong bid from Rahy's Attorney, who won this race last year, to take the one-mile King Edward by one length.
Grand Adventure, expertly ridden by Patrick Husbands, was timed in 1:36.40 over "good" going. The King Edward, shortened this year from nine furlongs, is the most lucrative victory of Grand Adventure's career with a winner's share of $202,713.
Trained by Mark Frostad, Grand Adventure won for the fifth time in seven tries over the Woodbine turf course. He was coming off a one-length score in the seven-furlong Connaught Cup (Can-IIIT) May 30 and has now won two of four starts in 2010.
“He’s always a keen horse,” said Husbands. “This is the fastest race horse I ever sat on in my life. I’ve breezed him on the training track, on the Poly, on the turf. He’s just an athletic race horse. These last two races, he drew the outside. He’s a speed horse, so today, we leave there and after about 10 strides he relaxed, pricked his ears, so I knew I wasn’t going too fast. I was comfortable with the position I was in.”
Breaking from the far outside in the field of nine, second choice Grand Adventure was always close to the 9-5 favorite Get Stormy while racing three or four paths wide. Get Stormy, pushed along by Grand Adventure and from the inside by Jimmy Simms, fought through fractions of :24.46, :47.83 and 1:11.64 and battled into the stretch. But he could not contain Grand Adventure, who put a head in front at the quarter pole. Rahy's Attorney, advancing steadily on the turn while six wide for Robert Landry, put in a determined drive and nearly came to even terms with Grand Adventure in upper stretch.
But Grand Adventure, under steady urging from Husbands, repelled the challenger to regain command with three-sixteenths of a mile to run and held on impressively. Rahy's Attorney, looking much better than he did in his sixth-place finish in the Connaught Cup, was second by three lengths over Ice Bear and Chantal Sutherland. Ice Bear closed with a mild bid to gain the show spot by four lengths over the two-time grade III winner Get Stormy, who tired after fighting the pace battle for Javier Castellano.
Grand Adventure, ninth in last year's Woodbine Mile (Can-I) after setting the pace, would seem destined for another shot at that race Sept. 19. His fifth win in 11 lifetime starts boosted his earnings to $583,093.
“We’ve always had a lot of faith in this horse," co-owner Rick Balaz said. "He just seems to be getting better every start now. We’re hoping that’s going to continue. We were a little bit worried about the turf, being soft today. But Patrick had him right up there on the lead, a fantastic ride by Mr. Husbands. He didn’t look like he was fading in the stretch and that’s a long stretch. He looked great and finished up so nicely. So, yes, that (Woodbine Mile) would be a fantastic objective for us.”
Gulf Coast Farms bred the winner, who is is out of Val Marie, by Coronado's Quest. The dark bay or brown colt sold for $75,000 as a yearling at the Fasig-Tipton July 2007 auction in Kentucky.
Grand Adventure carried 121 pounds and paid $6.90, $3.90 and $3.20. Grade I winner Rahy's Attorney, a 10-time winner of more than $1.6 million in his career, returned $4.30 and $4.70 as the 123-pound high weight. He completed a $35 exacta. Ice Bear was $7.40 to show.
Get Stormy was followed by Society's Chairman, Monty's Best, Cherokee Heaven, Strike Again and Jimmy Simms.
