TORONTO — Trainer John Ross will let Cool Catomine decide Wednesday whether he'll run in the $400,000 Breeders' Stakes.
The Prince of Wales winner is scheduled to train on Woodbine Racetrack's E.P. Taylor turf course in the morning. And how Cool Catomine handles the grass will essentially determine whether the Spring At Last-Smart Catomine colt heads to the starter's gate Sunday for the mile-and-a-half final jewel of the Canadian Triple Crown.
The surface — not the distance — is Ross's biggest concern. Cool Catomine has never run on grass in five career starts, and while he's won his last two races they've been on Woodbine's Tapeta course and dirt at Fort Erie Racetrack.
Cool Catomine worked on Woodbine's training turf course last week. Ross said while that went well, Wednesday's session on the main grass circuit will be telling.
"Luis (jockey Luis Contreras) will be on him and we're going to let him go down the lane and see how he likes it and make our final decision off that," Ross said Tuesday. "I just want to make sure he goes over it and likes it well.
"He worked once on (grass) but that was on the training track. Luis was on him then also and said he felt OK, that everything went OK. It was a good first start but we just want to test the actual main turf we'd be running on."
There's plenty riding on Wednesday's workout. Not only will it determine whether Cool Catomine chases a third straight victory on a foreign surface but also if Contreras goes for a second personal Triple Crown title.
Contreras rode filly Holy Helena to victory in the $1-million Queen's Plate last month, then jumped aboard Cool Catomine when Holy Helena's handlers opted to skip the Prince of Wales. In 2011, Contreras became the first jockey in Canadian racing history to win all three Triple Crown events aboard two horses, capturing the Plate aboard Inglorious before guiding Pender Harbor to victory in the Prince of Wales and Breeders' Stakes.
"I'd love to go (to the Breeders')," Ross said. "Hopefully things stay good, he likes it and we can go.
"The way he's training and what he's doing right now, he's on top of his game once again."
Holy Helena won't be at the Breeders'. Instead, the Stronach Stables-owned filly is expected to run in the Grade 1 US$600,000 Alabama Stakes at Saratoga on Saturday.
Contreras guided Cool Catomine to the Prince of Wales victory and $300,000 winner's share as a 14-1 longshot. Ross also owns a share of Cool Catomine so he and co-owner Jack of Hearts Racing paid a $12,500 supplemental fee to enter their horse into the race.
And if Cool Catomine fares well Wednesday and the decision is made to run him in the Breeders', the owners would again have to ante up another $12,500 supplemental fee.
"He came out of (Prince of Wales) very well," Ross said. "He's a happy, healthy horse right now.
"He's training well, he's eating well, all the things a trainer likes to see in a horse. If horses are happy, they'll keep going but if they're not handling it (track surface) well, they'll just stop . . . so Luis and I will work together and watch him (Wednesday) and see how he is, then we'll talk and make a major decision."
Dan Ralph, The Canadian Press
