TORONTO - Jockey Slade Callaghan and Rahy's Attorney won't have the element of surprise working for them Sunday at the 13th running of the $1-million Woodbine Mile.
Callaghan guided the Canadian owned and bred horse to victory in last year's race as a 12-1 longshot. Callaghan said a big reason for the win was the five-year-old gelding being able to enter the turf event well under the radar.
"Last year no one was really expecting much from this horse," Callaghan said Thursday at the race draw. "We made an early move and got a jump on a few of the horses and I think that in itself caught everyone by surprise.
"I would attribute that to winning it last year. This year now is a little different because you sort of almost have a little bulls-eye on your back."
Rahy's Attorney will attempt Sunday (The Score, 5:40 p.m. ET) to become the first two-time winner of Woodbine Mile title. Then again, title defences in this event have been rare as only 2006 winner Becrux has attempted winning consecutive titles but was sixth in his return engagement.
Callaghan and Rahy's Attorney certainly won't be sneaking up on the competition for the $600,000 winner's share, having been installed as the early 9-2 third choice.
French-bred Bribon is the 5-2 morningline favourite with American-bred Ventura, last year's second-place finisher, the 7-2 second pick.
The race winner will also earn a berth in the Breeders' Cup Mile, slated for Nov. 7 at Santa Anita in California.
Two other turf events on Sunday's card include the $750,000 Northern Dancer Stakes, a 1 1/2-mile race, as well as the $300,000 Canadian Stakes, 1 1/8-mile event for fillies and mares.
Rahy's Attorney drew the No. 8 spot in the 10-horse event. Bribon will break from the No. 5 post while Ventura, the lone mare in the race, will start from the No. 9 position.
The field, in order of post positions with horse, jockey and odds, include: Sandy Cove, Richard Dos Ramos, 20-1; Sterwins, Patrick Husbands, 8-1; Ferneley, Rafael Bejarano, 8-1; Field Commission, Julien Leparoux, 12-1; Bribon, Alan Garcia, 5-2; Daylight Express, Anderson Ward, 30-1; Grand Adventure, Eurico Rosa da Silva, 30-1; Rahy's Attorney, Slade Callaghan, 9-2; Ventura, Garrett Gomez, 7-2; and Jungle Wave, Todd Kabel, 6-1.
Ideally, Callaghan wanted a post position closer to the rail but said Rahy's Attorney can put a solid trip together from any spot in the starter's gate.
"He's a fast horse and has enough tactical speed to be as close to the lead as he wants to be," Callaghan said. "I don't think that's really too much to worry about."
Rahy's Attorney has finished in the money 16 times in 23 career starts (winning nine, taking second three times and third on four occasions) and amassed over $1.5 million in earnings. This season, he has two wins and one second in four starts, good enough for more than $400,000.
Rahy's Attorney is coming off a disappointing sixth-place finish in his last race, the 1 3/8-mile Sky Classic on Aug. 23. But the son of Ontario stallion Crown Attorney has more turf wins over a mile (four in eight starts) than any other distance and is a perfect four-of-four in mile events at Woodbine.
"He comes in off a slightly disappointing effort," said trainer Ian Black. "He's trained back really well.
"His first three races this year were as good as any he's ever run."
Favourite Bribon enters the race on a nice roll, having won its last three starts. Included was the mile turf allowance event Aug. 9 at Saratoga that was important because it marked the first time in two years he had run on grass and marked his first win on the surface since October 2005.
"In the back of my mind, I knew this race in Canada had a great purse and it was at the right distance," said trainer Robert Ribaudo. "It certainly wasn't his surface of choice, as of then.
"I said, 'If we can get a race into him on the grass at Saratoga and see if he can perform somewhat near his dirt performance, we can think about it."'
The six-year-old gelded son of champion Mark of Esteem raced on turf exclusively in his first 10 races. In 11 career starts on grass, Bribon has three wins, two second-place finishes and one third.
Overall in 28 lifetime starts, Bribon has won nine times, finished second seven times and taken third on three occasions. He has won more than $770,000.
Ventura, the five-year-old daughter of Chester House, will attempt to become the first filly or mare to win the Woodbine Mile. Rust could be a factor, though, as the horse is coming off a five-month layoff and has raced only three times this year (one win, two second-place finishes) but all have been Grade I events.
Last year, she made a bold move in mid-stretch to finish 1 1/4-lengths behind Rahy's Attorney. Ventura's last race was in April when she finished by a head to Informed Decision in the Grade 1 Madison at Keeneland, an event she won in 2008.
Ventura heads into Sunday's race as the field's leading money winner (over US$1.6 million). Regardless of how she fares, though, Ventura will defend her Filly and Mare Sprint crown at the Breeders' Cup at Santa Anita.
Ventura is trained by Bobby Frankel, who has conditioned two Woodbine Mile champions -- Riviera in 2000 and favoured Leroidesanimaux in 2005. A win Sunday would make Frankel and Neil Drysdale as the race's only three-time winning trainers.
