TORONTO -- Amis Holiday couldnt find a clear path to the winners circle in the Queens Plate or the Prince of Wales Stakes, so he got another chance in the Breeders Stakes. Brad Wieck Jersey . Under a clean ride from jockey Luis Contreras on Sunday afternoon, Amis Holiday cruised by horses on the outside to win the $500,000 final jewel of the Canadian Triple Crown. Second to Lexie Lou in the Queens Plate on polytrack and third to Coltimus Prime in the Prince of Wales on dirt, Amis Holiday validated trainer Josie Carrolls confidence by winning on the turf course at Woodbine Race Track. "I think it says a lot about this horse," Carroll said. "Not many horses can do all three and do them well, so I just think we have an exceptional horse." Amis Holiday, who beat long shot Interpol by three-quarters of a length, was the only horse to run all three legs of the Canadian Triple Crown. The morning-line favourite who went off as the second choice at odds of 2-to-1 showed no fatigue from his third race in seven weeks and looked to be on top of his game at 1 1/2-mile. After the Prince of Wales last month, Carroll had some reservations about bringing Amis Holiday back for the 124th running of the Breeders Stakes. He had never run on turf before, but she told owner Ivan Dalos it was worth seeing what Amis Holiday had to offer. "When I put him on the course he just lit it up. I said, Boy, weve got to take a serious look," Carroll said. "The last three days hes been wanting to eat meat. Hes been really serious. Here we are and he got it done." Amis Holiday got it done in 2:30.12, paying 6.70 to win, 3.80 to place and 2.80 to show. He impressed Carroll by saving some acceleration for the finish and galloping out strong. With Big Red Bugsy setting the pace as the early leader, Contreras kept Amis Holiday in stalking position "sitting behind the speed" but not too far back in the pack. "I wanted to keep him with the other horses, keep him busy," Contreras said. "I know my horse is very brave, hes been in trouble before. He was going great." Carroll told Contreras that "trouble always seems to find this horse and instructed him to use the big, wide turf course at Woodbine. The 28-year-old who won the 2011 Breeders Stakes aboard Pender Harbour did just that. "It was really well done on Luiss part," Carroll said. "I think because we run so few mile and a half races in North America, the jockeys dont ride as many and sometimes they think they have to take back, have to take back and when everybodys taking back youve got no pace in front and you cant close. "And I think he just really read this race well at every stage." Rolling along the outside down the stretch, Amis Holiday passed final-turn leader Squeeze the King and Interpol to hit the wire first. It was the horses "tremendous kick at the end" that Contreras said made it happen. Eurico Rosa da Silva, who rode Up With the Birds to last years Breeders Stakes title, thought he had a winning trip with Squeeze the King, who finished third. "When we got to the stretch, the pace was very slow, so I thought Im going to kick it in here because I had so much horse and I thought I was going to get the money," da Silva said. "But he ran a great race." Bangkok was fourth. Unikat, the post-time favourite at 2-to-1, finished last in the 12-horse field. Interpols jockey, Jesse Campbell, was thrilled the 18-to-1 shot made such a huge run to get up for second. "He was getting tired in the end, but he kept hanging in there," Campbell said. "He ran so hard. You have to be proud of him. The best horse won the race. Im tickled to run second." Carroll was glad to run second to Lexie Lou in the Queens Plate on July 6, even if a better trip mightve landed Amis Holiday in first with a legitimate shot at the first Canadian Triple Crown since Wando in 2003. "Its really tough to second guess a trip in the Queens Plate," Carroll said. "You cant take anything away from the filly that won that race. At the end of the day, she ran her race, she won it, she gets all the credit and we did it today." David Bote Cubs Jersey . The two were in the batting cage moments before game time. Bautista was taking final warm up cuts. Pillar was hitting soft toss. The one-time utility player turned All-Star pulled aside the clubs young, fourth outfielder and offered him some advice. John Lackey Cubs Jersey . The Canadiens captain, who underwent surgery on his injured biceps in the off-season, had been skating with the team in a non-contact capacity since last week. https://www.cheapcubs.com/2820t-adbert-alzolay-jersey-cubs.html . - Considering where Jeff Gordon was after Richmond, left out of the Chase for the Sprint Cup championship in part due to some late-race shenanigans, he couldnt have been happier on Sunday.Every night of the Stanley Cup playoffs, TSN hockey analyst and former NHL goaltender Jamie McLennan breaks down each goalies performance. Jamies number grades given are out of five, with five being the best mark. Jonathan Quick, Los Angeles Kings (4) - Aggressive early in the game, had a pokecheck one minute in to get the puck out of danger. He had some big saves on Hagelin, St. Louis and Boyle. First goal against was a breakaway by Pouliot that freezes him and beats him blocker side as Quick drops his knee looking glove. He had no chance on the second goal - he makes a great initial save on Hagelin, and it hits Voynov. Outchanced 10-5 in the period but kept it close. Big saves on Richards and Zuccarello to keep it tied at 2. Not as busy that period as he faced four scoring chances against. Mark Prior Jersey. . Game saver with one minute left on Hagelin, unbelievable save, timely save again. Henrik Lundqvist, New York Rangers (4) - Great left pad save early on, was more aggressive in the crease on big save on Muzzin. Nice save on Carter before Clifford scores on a bad angle shortside as he is late to seal the post. In the second, he makes back-to-back big saves on a 2-on-1 then stands tall on Muzzin to stay ahead. Doughty goal goes through the seven-hole shortside. Hes the difference in the game in the second, as the Kings continue to press with 20 shots. Third period, he was great as well. On the game-winning goal, he gets caught leaning to the glove side a bit and Williams picks the top corner blocker side, not much chance. ' ' ' |