Dominion Day Stakes 2011 - Don Cavallo wins under Luis Contreras, Mike Casse’s James Street runner-up
The Dominion Day Stakes was held with great zeal in Canada and it was dominated by the tall chestnut, Don Cavallo, who got hold of a 3 3/4-length victory. Don Cavallo, termed as ‘fairly dumb’ seemed to be a favourite at the Polytrack surface of Woodbine.
Roger Attfield, the trainer of the winning horse, echoed his feelings about the horse by saying:
“He did a great job riding him, didn’t he? I could tell down the backside how easily and strongly he (Don Cavallo) was going. He’s a very nice horse. I was very pleased with him and the ride today”.
The Grade 3 Dominion Day Stakes was held on July 1, 2011. The race has a purse of $207,600. The four-year old son of El Prado was favoured at odds of 7-2 in the field of eleven contestants. By winning at the Dominion Day Stakes, he scored the first of his
stakes win. He races for Stronach Stables.
The final time over the synthetic Polytrack surface was 2 minutes and 03.47 seconds. The race is run over a distance of 10 furlongs.
A brief illustration about the winner’s bio is necessary. Don Cavallo was bred by Frank Stronach’s Adena Springs in Kentucky. He finished second, beaten by half a length by Fifty Proof in the Canada-3 Eclipse Stakes held on May 28, 2011 at Woodbine.
Don Cavallo is out of the Mt. Livermore mare, Transcendental, who is a multiple Grade 1 winning mare. Don Cavallo shares lineage with Grade 1 winner, Slew’s Exceller, Rover Flyer, and, multiple graded stakes winner, Worldly Manner.
Earlier, in the race the field had its pace set by Longboarder. Don Cavallo managed to rip Longboarder off the lead at the far turn. Under the adept hands of jockey, Luis Contreras, Don Cavallo crept up to Longboarder on almost every step of the race.
Longboarder set split fractions of 24.47 and 49.32 seconds and was ridden by Joe Bravo. Contreras urged Don Cavallo to soar into the lead after six furlongs. He was spotted carrying a three length lead after getting a mile in 1 minute and 37.64 seconds.
Mark Casse trained, James Street, rallied from the sixth position to finish as runner-up to Don Cavallo. He finished 2 1/4 lengths ahead of the third place finisher, Stately Victor. The pace setting Longboarder succumbed to a sixth place finish.
Don Cavallo collected $120,000 and paid $7.20, $4.30, and $3.10 to improve his career profile to five wins in 13 career starts and his earnings compound to $291,785.
It is hoped that he will continue to astound his owners and fans in races to come.
Tags: