Kevin Attard

In this continuing series, TDN's Senior Racing Editor Steve Sherack catches up with the connections of promising maidens to keep on your radar. The team behind Moira (Ghostzapper) is back with another very promising filly. Belle (f, 3, Uncle Mo--Lunar Evening, by Malibu Moon) was a too-good-to-lose second--beaten just a head by 'TDN Rising Star, presented by Hagyard' La Rascasse (Authentic)--first time out for trainer Kevin Attard in a live maiden special weight going seven furlongs at Keeneland Apr. 11. Overlooked at 12-1 in a deep field of 12, Belle...

The Jockey Club of Canada named the finalists for the 2025 Sovereign Awards and the winners, along with Canada's Horse of the Year, will be revealed during the 51st annual ceremony to be held on Thursday, Apr. 23 at Paramount Eventspace in Woodbridge, Ontario, the club said via a press release on Friday. The nominees for this year's Sovereign Awards include a pair of past King's Plate winners in Canadian MGSW Caitlinhergrtness (Omaha Beach)--a finalist for Older Main Track Female--and last year's hero Mansetti (Collected), who was named in the...

The 2025 Thoroughbred season at Woodbine concluded with a weather-shortened afternoon of racing Sunday, Dec. 14, with jockey Rafael Hernandez, trainer Mark Casse and owner Bruno Schickedanz finishing the meet as leading jockey, trainer and owner, respectively. A native of Puerto Rico, Hernandez rode 148 winners and was taking out the jockeys' premiership for the second time in his career, having topped the standings in 2020. He was also on top by purse earnings with US$6.4 million and was the leading rider of stakes winners (23), including 11 at the...

6th-WO, $115K, Msw, 2yo, 1 1/16mT, 3:34 p.m. ET. Mike Repole's European purchasing run last year included TOLD (Ire) (Lope de Vega {Ire}). The owner took home the colt for €200,000 out of Book 1 of the Goffs Orby Yearling sale. Sent to Kevin Attard, Told is out of Cartesienne (Ire) (Pivotal {GB}). The dam's own half-siblings include the Eclipse Award-winning Modern Games (Ire) (Dubawi {Ire}), 'TDN Rising Star, presented by Hagyard', Mawj (Ire) (Exceed And Excel {Ire}) and English stakes winner Modern News (GB) (Shamardal). TJCIS PPS

Canadian Horse of the Year and U.S. champion turf female Moira (Ghostzapper--Devine Aida, by Unbridled's Song) has been retired from racing, according to a statement from Chris Waller, who had trained the mare in Australia after she was purchased by Yulong Investments in 2024. "Moira is obviously a world-class mare and, while she hasn't yet quite reached those same heights here in Australia, her performance earlier in the prep gave us a glimpse of her class," Waller's statement read. "We simply feel that she is not racing at her absolute...

Apprentice jockeys are not supposed to win stakes races, let alone a $1-million race that is among the most coveted prizes in Canadian racing. But that's exactly what 20-year-old Pietro Moran, who has been dubbed "The Baby-Faced Bandit," did last week, winning the King's Plate at Woodbine aboard the Kevin Attard-trained Mansetti (Collected). Moran, who is also the leading rider at Woodbine, has had quite the year. To discuss the King's Plate, his future, what it's like to ride against his father, David Moran, and other topics, Moran joined this...

With on-track handle the highest since prior to the pandemic, Saturday's 166th running of the King's Plate at Woodbine brought in over $4 million in wagering. Overall, the 13-race card generated over $17 million in all-sources wagering, which marked the third highest in event history. The Plate record, set in 2023, holds at $18.1 million. This year's card generated the highest dollars wagered per starter of any Plate program and debuted the new "Kings & Queens Pick-3" wager that offered a $5 minimum and 15 percent takeout. "We were confident...

Named a 'TDN Rising Star' when romping to a 12-length maiden victory over the adjacent Tapeta track back on July 13, Gold Square LLC's Two Out Hero (War Front) split horses decisively with push coming to shove in Saturday's Soaring Free Stakes at Woodbine and finished nicely to take his record to two wins from as many tries and cap a wildly successful afternoon from the King's Plate-winning barn of Kevin Attard. Off as the 6-5 chalk, the $240,000 Keeneland September purchase could have flaunted the same sort of speed...

Etobicoke, Ontario--Heart stopping. Those are often the words used to describe the thrill of winning a horse race. After Mansetti (Collected) crossed the finish line first in Saturday' s King's Plate Stakes at Woodbine, Al and Bill Ulwelling and their team erupted into a frenzied celebration as a steady string of well-wishers passed by their box to congratulate the Minnesota-based owners on their first King's Plate win. And then, the unexpected. As the team made their way over to the winner's circle in the Woodbine infield, 72-year-old Bill Ulwelling collapsed...

TORONTO - He is young, just 20, has been riding for only two full years and still has his five-pound apprentice allowance. But don't expect Pietro Moran to be intimidated when he climbs aboard Mansetti (Collected) in Saturday's $1-million King's Plate at Woodbine. It's nothing new to him. Though he's not allowed an apprentice allowance in stakes races, he's ridden in 30 so far this year. On Saturday's card, there are six stakes. Moran has mounts in four of them. "I definitely have a lot of confidence in him," said...

ETOBICOKE, ONTARIO -- There are those that will often lament the things that are wrong with horse racing. However, a stroll around Woodbine's ever-expanding facilities go a long way in dispensing with some of those notions. The opening of the Great Canadian Casino-Resort has ushered in a next-level racetrack experience offering rooms with panoramic views of Woodbine's expansive E. P. Taylor racecourse while proving all the services and amenities that one might expect at a modern casino hotel. If one enjoys racing and a myriad of gaming products with a...

Al and Bill Ulwelling have certainly made a name for themselves on the Canadian racing scene. In fact, the son-and-father team have had such a presence north of the border that one might be tempted to assume that they are Canadian-based. Simply put, that assessment would be entirely incorrect. In fact, the Ulwellings appeared on the Canadian racing circuit a decade ago, after having spent the previous decade campaigning horses in the U.S. While their participation in Canada might signify only a slice of their overall racing history, the Ulwellings...