Last Call Closes Out Woodbine G1s With Natalma Surprise

Last Call is a maiden no more after surging to a 21-1 upset in the CA$508,000 Johnnie Walker Natalma Stakes (G1T) Sept. 17 at Woodbine. Trainer Kevin Attard attributed the filly’s transformative victory to a change of equipment. After Last Call displayed rankness in her second start, a seven-furlong turf maiden special weight that saw her locked in battle with jockey Rafael Hernandez through the first half-mile, Attard decided to remove the blinkers in an attempt to take the edge off the headstrong filly. “(Blinkers off) was an integral part of today’s win,” Attard said. “(In) her last race if you watch, she was pretty rank early and was burning too much energy, and when it came time for go time there wasn’t much left in the tank. Now that she had some time and (race) experience, we decided to take the blinkers off. We worked her without them, tucked in her behind horses, and she handled it all well.” In a reversal of her second start, Last Call settled nicely under Hernandez through the early stages of the Natalma. She steadily advanced from seventh to fourth down the backstretch, picking off horses one-by-one behind moderate opening splits of :24.27 and :49.02. With race favorites G Laurie and Cairo Consort caught between traffic turning for home, Hernandez steered Last Call into a striking four-wide position with two furlongs left to run. Kept under steady pressure from a left-handed stick, Last Call swept to the front and maintained her advantage to the wire, staving off a late-charging Cairo Consort by a length. U.S. invader G Laurie, angled to the inside late by jockey Manuel Franco, got up for third, three-quarters of a length behind runner-up Cairo Consort. The longest shot on the board in the field of eight juvenile fillies, Last Call raced the mile in 1:36.49 on a firm turf course. She rewarded her backers with a $44.30 payoff from a $2 win ticket. Purchased by bloodstock agent Donato Lanni for $30,000 at the 2021 Keeneland September Yearling Sale on behalf of owners X-Men Racing 2 and SF Racing, some of the same connections behind Queen's Plate winner Moira, also trained by Attard. Last Call became the 12th individual grade 1 winner for late sire English Channel. The Calumet Farm stallion died in November in a blow to the breeding industry. One of only two maidens, along with the Mark Casse-trained Star Candy in the one-mile Breeders’ Cup Challenge race, Last Call earned automatic entry into the Nov. 4 Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies Turf (G1T) with her Natalma win. The last time trainer Kevin Attard had a contender in the Breeders’ Cup, he was left crestfallen when his star mare Starship Jubilee fell to her knees at the start of the 2020 Maker's Mark Breeders’ Cup Filly & Mare Turf (G1T), losing all chance when jockey Florent Geroux was tossed from the saddle. “I’m still looking for my first Breeders’ Cup win,” Attard said. Attard noted that a trip to Keeneland for the Championships would be strongly considered for Last Call. Last Call, bred in Kentucky by English Channel Co-Owners and Jodi Cantwell, is the first stakes winner produced by the Black Minnaloushe mare Over Served. A half sister to two graded stakes winners, Over Served has produced six winners from seven offspring to race. She foaled a full brother to Last Call this past breeding season.