The Breeders' Cup Challenge Series will shine its considerable spotlight north of the border this weekend when an expected international field of seven fillies and mares start in the E. P. Taylor Stakes (G1T) at Woodbine.
The 1 1/4-mile race for fillies and mares carries a "Win & You're In" fees-paid berth to the Breeders' Cup Filly & Mare Turf (G1T). Viewers won't have to dig through many records to find Breeders' Cup success for the E. P. Taylor, as last year's race saw runner-up Moira deliver a half-length victory in the Filly & Mare Turf at Del Mar.
That win may carry an extra bit of meaning as an established path for success because the Breeders' Cup returns to Del Mar this year, where the Filly & Mare Turf again will be contested at 1 3/8 miles.
Moira's victory marked a big win for Canada as the daughter of Ghostzapper is Ontario-bred and she was trained by Canada-based Kevin Attard. Moira defeated males to win the 2022 Queen's Plate Stakes at 3 and had placed third in the 2023 Filly & Mare Turf at Santa Anita Park. In last year's E. P. Taylor, she finished behind stablemate Full Count Felicia, who would finish seventh in the Filly & Mare Turf.
Lael Stables' She Feels Pretty, who finished third in the 2023 Breeders' Cup Juvenile Fillies Turf (G1T), makes the trip north for trainer Cherie DeVaux. The 4-year-old daughter of Karakontie is the 3-5 morning-line favorite off a close runner-up finish to Excellent Truth in the Diana Stakes (G1T) July 12 at Saratoga Race Course. That race snapped a four-race win streak that included a trio of grade 1 triumphs.
She Feels Pretty has been favored in nine straight races and has never finished off the board in her 11 career starts.
But if you're looking for more Canadian success in this year's E. P. Taylor, there are plenty of options. Charles Fipke homebred Ready for Shirl was bred in Kentucky but she races for legendary Woodbine-based trainer Roger Attfield. An eight-time Sovereign Award winner as Canada's top trainer and a Hall of Famer in Canada and the United States, Attfield has saddled 19 Breeders' Cup starters and won the 2011 Filly & Mare Turf with Perfect Shirl—dam of Ready for Shirl.
In 2022 Attfield sent out another daughter of Ready for Shirl, Shirl's Speight , to a runner-up finish against males in the Breeders' Cup Mile (G1T). Ready for Shirl enters Saturday's race off a narrow victory in the 1 1/8-mile Canadian Stakes (G2T) July 20 at Woodbine.
Attard also is back this year with 4-year-old Ontario-bred Caitlinhergrtness, a daughter of Omaha Beach who is campaigned by WinStar Farm. Like Moira, Caitlinhergrtness defeated males last year in the King's Plate Stakes.
Literate, a Kentucky-bred daughter of Oscar Performance , is based at Woodbine for trainer Martin Drexler and enters off a victory in the Trillium Stakes (G3). The other Ontario-bred in the field is stakes winner Hurricane Clair.
