NEWS
Rahy’s Attorney turns back Sterwins in King Edward
Posted: Saturday, June 27, 2009 6:06 PM
RAHY'S ATTORNEY
Michael Burns photo
by Mike Curry
Champion Rahy’s Attorney controlled the pace and called on all of his class to turn back multiple graded stakes winner Sterwins in the final furlong of the $283,476 King Edward Handicap (Can-G2) on Saturday at Woodbine (video).
Rahy’s Attorney won the 2008 Woodbine Mile Stakes (Can-G1) en route to the Sovereign Award as Canada’s champion turf male, and he established a course record for 1 1/8 miles in the King Edward.
The five-year-old Crown Attorney gelding found enough stamina in reserve to hold off game runner-up Sterwins in the King Edward, winning by a length as the 2.40-to-1 third wagering choice for trainer Ian Black. Rahy’s Attorney completed the distance in 1:44.73 on firm turf under Slade Callaghan to improve to eight wins in 21 career starts. The previous course record of 1:45.20 was set by Bold Ruritana on June 18, 1995.
“I told Ian after that last race that they would have to run a track record again to beat him,” Callaghan said of a runner-up finish to Sterwins in the Connaught Cup Stakes (Can-G3) on May 24. “It just so happens that he got the track record this time. At the top of the lane, he dug in. He saw the horses on the outside and he gave me everything he had. He's just a fantastic horse."
Owned by Ellie Boje Farm, Dean Read, Mitch Peters, and Jim and Jean MacLellan, Rahy’s Attorney boosted his bankroll to $1,264,500 with his fifth career stakes win.
Sterwins finished 1 3/4 lengths clear of 9-to-5 favorite Baletti.
Rahy’s Attorney broke alertly under Callaghan and controlled the tempo through an opening quarter in :24.63 and a half-mile in :47.83. Sterwins was angled to the outside by Patrick Husbands and stalked the pacesetter from three wide.
Sterwins closed in on Rahy’s Attorney in early stretch, but the victor lengthened his stride and battled tenaciously to prevail.
"He's so game,” Black said. “He has a very high cruising speed. I thought we would have to take the cake away from some of these other horses by going fast enough from maybe the three-eighths pole, when everybody else wanted to come from the quarter-pole. It worked out fine."
Bred in Ontario by Ellie Boje Farm, Rahy’s Attorney is out of the winning Rahy mare Rahy’s Hope.
For an Equibase chart, click here.
Mike Curry is a Thoroughbred Times TODAY editor
