Caitlinhergrtness Aims to Score in E. P. Taylor

No shot is seemingly out of range for women's basketball star Caitlin Clark. The impossible is often possible. And so it also may hold true for a chestnut Omaha Beach filly named after the sharpshooter—Caitlinhergrtness. Last year, the filly won the CA$1 million King's Plate Stakes, becoming the 39th filly to win the race in its 165-year history, and Aug. 16, WinStar Farm-owned Caitlinhergrtness aims to capture another of Woodbine's most prestigious stakes: the CA$750,000 E. P. Taylor Stakes (G1T). None of the 38 other Plate-winning fillies has gone on to win the E. P. Taylor—not even Moira, the 2022 Canadian Horse of the Year and last year's Eclipse Award-winning older turf female. Before her Breeders' Cup Filly & Mare Turf (G1T) victory last year, Moira ran second in the 2024 E. P. Taylor behind her front-running stablemate Full Count Felicia. Moira was also third in the 2023 E. P. Taylor and eighth in the 2022 race, when she lost by a neck after lacking room in the lane. Stewards demoted her in that race from second to eighth for interference with another rival when jockey Rafael Hernandez angled her inside to secure running room. Now Caitlinhergrtness will look to succeed in the E. P. Taylor where Moira fell short. Kevin Attard trains Caitlinhergrtness, as he did Moira through the 2024 Breeders' Cup. This year, the E. P. Taylor has the bonus of being part of the Breeders' Cup Challenge Series: Win and You're In. Its winner will earn a fees-paid automatic berth in the Nov. 1 Breeders' Cup Filly & Mare Turf (G1T) at Del Mar. "Obviously the E. P. Taylor is rich in history—a lot of the winners have gone on to be successful broodmares to boot later in their careers," Attard said. "The fact that she's a King's Plate winner, I guess contesting that would obviously be a unique and pretty special double if you were able to win." It would also give the reigning Sovereign Award-winning trainer his third win in the E. P. Taylor. Even though Moira lost the race last year, he won it with Full Count Felicia. He first took the E. P. Taylor in 2019 with eventual Canadian Hall of Famer Starship Jubilee. Though Caitlinhergrtness has a long way to go to match the accomplishments of that dynamic duo, she is already ahead of them from the standpoint of having picked up her first grade 1 placing as a 3-year-old last fall in the Queen Elizabeth II Challenge Cup Stakes (G1T) at Keeneland. That race served as a memorable follow-up to her King's Plate triumph, the highlight victory of her 3-year-old season. Liam O'Rourke, director of bloodstock services for WinStar and originally from Toronto, was on-site at Woodbine in 2024. He represented WinStar for the Plate, which was postponed six days after heavy rain canceled racing on the original date. "So he was up there and it was extremely special for him being a Canadian," said WinStar Farm president, CEO, and racing manager Elliott Walden. "Canadian people will say it has the impact of what the Kentucky Derby has for Kentuckians. So, I'd say it is a bucket-list race, and it was very special to win. "I've always kind of wanted to win as a trainer and, you know, I've looked for Canadian-breds throughout the years to maybe think about winning it." Walden, who left training 20 years ago to work for WinStar, memorably trained an elite Canadian-bred. Prestonwood Farm's Victory Gallop, bred by Tall Oaks Farm and foaled in Ontario, won the 1998 Belmont Stakes (G1), denying Real Quiet's Triple Crown bid. He had been second to Real Quiet in both the Kentucky Derby (G1) and Preakness Stakes (G1). That year's Plate was just 15 days after the Belmont, and Walden and Prestonwood elected to give Victory Gallop two months off before a runner-up finish in the Haskell Invitational Handicap (G1) that summer. The colt would go on to win three more races as a 4-year-old, including the 1999 Stephen Foster Handicap (G2) and Whitney Handicap (G1). "He was extremely special to me and really launched my career, so I owe him everything," Walden said. On Saturday, Caitlinhergrtness gets her top-level stakes opportunity, facing an E. P. Taylor cast that includes multiple grade 1 winner She Feels Pretty, who is the likely favorite. Behind that filly, Caitlinhergrtness, Literate, and Ready for Shirl are also likely to take action. Typically contested in October and moved to mid-September last year, the E. P. Taylor has an earlier summer date on King's Plate day this year. Such placement was necessary due to the upcoming renovation of Woodbine's outer turf course, also named after Canadian legend E. P. Taylor. This year's race comes just a week after the Ballston Spa Stakes (G2T), Beverly D. Stakes (G2T), and Yellow Ribbon Handicap (G2T) were contested across the United States. Trainer Chad Brown initially intended to send Diana Stakes (G1T) winner Excellent Truth (IRE) north from his New York base to run in the E. P. Taylor, before she was removed from consideration over the weekend due to what John Stewart of Resolute Racing indicated was an ankle issue. Excellent Truth's defection allows her regular jockey, Flavien Prat, to become available and pick up the mount on Caitlinhergrtness. Attard is hoping for a better performance than during her prior start on the E. P. Taylor turf course when she ran eighth in the June 28 Nassau Stakes (G2T) at a mile. That race was preceded by a win in the May 31 Belle Mahone Stakes (G3) and a runner-up finish in the July 26 Trillium Stakes (G3), both at 1 1/16 miles on Woodbine's synthetic Tapeta surface. The Jesse Korona-bred filly, out of the Giant's Causeway mare Belatrix, also won on dirt as a 2-year-old when trained by Todd Pletcher. A $375,000 purchase in 2023 from the Ocala Breeders' Sales Spring Sale of 2-Year-Olds in Training, she joined Attard during the spring of her 3-year-old season. The E. P. Taylor Stakes is at 1 1/4 miles, the same distance as the King's Plate, though the latter is a main track race on Tapeta. Besides the Nassau and the 2024 Queen Elizabeth II Challenge Cup, her only other turf start was a win in an allowance optional claiming race over Woodbine's inner turf course last July. "She's sharp right now and eating well. I'm looking forward to seeing her run," Attard said. "She had some success on turf, obviously, (but) her first try on this E. P. Taylor course was a little disappointing. Hopefully, the second time around, we see the real Caitlinhergrtness."