By Alan Carasso
Just one week removed from a victory in the GI Franklin-Simpson Stakes by Howard Wolowitz (Munnings), Al Gold's Gold Square LLC was again front and center in top-level competition when Full Count Felicia (War Front) kept up a relentless gallop beneath Kazushi Kimura and proved not for catching in Saturday's GI E.P. Taylor Stakes at Woodbine.
Intent on securing the front, even given the presence of the fleet-footed defending champion Fev Rover (Ire) (Gutaifan {Ire}), the $85,000 Keeneland September yearling turned $200,000 Fasig-Tipton Midlantic breezer was already well clear rounding the first turn and she continued to tear away from her four remaining rivals, who were content enough to allow her to flaunt her speed, reasoning that she would come back to them at some point.
But come back to them she did not. A good 12 lengths in front after a half-mile in a strong :48.19, Full Count Felicia opened up the advantage to the better part of 15 lengths passing the half-mile marker before turning down the side of the track. The others began to get busy with more than three furlongs remaining, but Full Count Felicia was showing no signs of slowing down as her stablemate Moira (Ghostzapper) moved in tandem with Fev Rover. Having run the six furlongs from the mile pole to the quarter pole in a remarkable 1:10.07, Full Count Felicia saw her lead begin to dwindle at least somewhat, but she had simply left the others too much to do and stopped the timer in 1:59.29, the first sub two-minute clocking since the race was lengthened to a mile and quarter.
Winner of the GIII Suwannee River Stakes last December while under the care of Brittany Russell, Full Count Felicia was a low-odds sixth in the GIII Endeavour Stakes at Tampa Feb. 3 before joining this barn. A pacesetting fourth in the one-mile GII Nassau Stakes June 29, the bay made all the running in the GII Canadian Stakes over nine panels Aug. 10 and led them a merry chase again on Saturday.
If winning the race was not a total shock to Kevin Attard, how the mission was accomplished certainly was.
“Never in a million years,” said the trainer when asked if he'd mapped the race out thusly. “I thought Fev Rover and Full Count Felicia would, kind of, you know, duke it out a little bit early.
“She set an honest pace, I thought. And you know, the I looked around at the three-eighths, and she had an insurmountable lead, and I'm thinking, 'Is she gonna stop?' Like, she'd have to come to a dead walk at this point.
“But you know, she's a nice filly. I don't think she got the respect she deserved. Thought her race in the Canadian last start was really impressive. And I think she's just improving, just getting better with each start.”
Pedigree Notes:
Full Count Felicia is the 25th international Grade I/Group 1 winner for War Front and is the 58th G1/GISW out of a mare by Galileo (Ire), whose 'TDN Rising Star' son Jan Brueghel (Ire) won Saturday's G1 St Leger Stakes at Doncaster to become the late stallion's 101st elite-level winner worldwide. The cross of War Front over Galileo has yielded 66 winners from 99 runners, 12 of those at stakes level, including top-level scorers Roly Poly, U S Navy Flag and young sire Fog of War. War of Will, Brave Anna and Hit It a Bomb are all out of mares by Galileo's equally prolific sire Sadler's Wells.
Full Count Felicia is out of a French listed-placed half-sister to L'Ancresse (Ire) (Darshaan {GB}), a stakes winner and runner-up in the G1 Irish Oaks and second in the 2003 GI Breeders' Cup Filly & Mare Turf. Among the latter's eight winners from 11 to race are Group 3 winner Master of Reality (Ire) (Frankel {GB}), also third in a G1 Ascot Gold Cup; French Group 2 winner Sibila Spain (Ire) (Frankel {GB}) and SW Chamonix (Ire) (Galileo {Ire}).
L'Ancresse's Irish Oaks-winning half-sister Moonstone (Ire) (Dalakhani {Ire}) produced six winners, chief among them G3 Chester Vase and G1 Investec Derby runner-up U S Army Ranger (Ire) (Galileo {Ire}). Another half-sister, Cerulean Sky (Ire) (Darshaan {GB})–winner of the G1 Prix Saint-Alary and second in the 1999 E. P. Taylor, bred the top stayer Honolulu (Ire) (Montjeu {Ire}).
Claire de Lune sold for $100,000 at the 2021 Keeneland November Sale and produced a filly in 2022 now named French Moonlight (Liam's Map). Also the dam of a yearling Smiling Tiger filly, the mare produced a filly by American Pharoah this year and was bred to Essential Quality and Early Voting.
Saturday, Woodbine
E.P. TAYLOR S.-GI, C$780,000, Woodbine, 9-14, 3yo/up, f/m, 1 1/4mT, 1:59.29, fm.
1–FULL COUNT FELICIA, 124, m, 5, by War Front
1st Dam: Claire de Lune (Ire) (SP-Fr), by Galileo (Ire)
2nd Dam: Solo de Lune (Ire), by Law Society
3rd Dam: Truly Special (Ire), by Caerleon
1ST GRADE I WIN. ($85,000 Ylg '20 KEESEP; $200,000 2yo '21 EASMAY). O-Gold Square LLC; B-Joseph Allen, LLC (KY); T-Kevin Attard; J-Kazushi Kimura. C$450,000. Lifetime Record: GSP-US, 18-7-2-1, $756,354. Werk Nick Rating: A+++. *Triple Plus* Click for the eNicks report & 5-cross pedigree. Click for the free Equineline.com catalogue-style pedigree.
2–Moira, 124, m, 5, by Ghostzapper
1st Dam: Devine Aida (MSW & GSP, $273,215), by Unbridled's Song
2nd Dam: Passion, by Came Home
3rd Dam: Rajmata, by Known Fact
($150,000 Ylg '20 KEESEP; $3,000,000 4yo '23 FTKNOV). O-Madaket Stables LLC, SF Racing LLC and X-Men Racing; B-Adena Springs (ON); T-Kevin Attard. C$180,000.
3–Fev Rover (Ire), 124, m, 6, by Gutaifan (Ire)
1st Dam: Laurelita (Ire), by High Chaparral (Ire)
2nd Dam: Chervil (GB), by Dansili (GB)
3rd Dam: Nashmeel, by Blushing Groom (Fr)
(£20,000 Ylg '19 GOFFPR; 695,000gns 3yo '21 TATMA). O-Tracy Farmer; B-Manister House Stud (IRE); T-Mark E. Casse. C$82,500.
Margins: 3HF, 2HF, 2HF. Odds: 7.80, 0.90, 3.40.
Also Ran: Blush (Ire), Blue Rose Cen (Ire). Scratched: Cinderella's Dream (GB).
Click for the Equibase.com chart and the TJCIS.com PPs. VIDEO, sponsored by FanDuel TV.
FULL COUNT FELICIA ($17.60) WOULD NOT BE CAUGHT!! @kazushi0096 is back at @woodbinetb! What an impressive ride in the $750,000 E. P. Taylor Stakes (G1)! The @kevin_attard trained War Front (@claibornefarm) opened up double digit lengths on them and never looked back! pic.twitter.com/8Ee20ZJVB8
— FanDuel Racing (@FanDuel_Racing) September 14, 2024
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