Woodbine Mile: Three Contenders, Three Perspectives

What’s the word on three of the top contenders for Saturday’s $1 million Woodbine Mile? Here’s what the connections of Archivist (GB), Deterministic and Notable Speech (GB) are saying ahead of the big one.

Inside track for Notable Speech (GB)?

Charlie Appleby knows what to expect when his turf titan returns to the E.P. Taylor turf—and he believes the Woodbine layout could play right into his strengths.

“The turning track at Woodbine suits his run style particularly well, and he tends to be at his best when there is a good, strong pace to aim at, which he should get here. In terms of the track itself, the E.P. Taylor course is one of the premier turf courses in North America, so naturally that is something we take into account when prepping horses to go on to a Breeders’ Cup.”

Stepping up

After a sharp win at Goodwood on July 31, Archivist stepped up to the Group 3 stage in the Strensall Stakes on Aug. 22—and put on quite a show. The performance left trainer Hamad Al-Jehani believing the talented gelding may have taken another significant step forward.

“From the beginning, we knew he was a nice horse,” said trainer Hamad Al-Jehani. “When he won in Dubai (at Meydan on March 13), we believed he had the talent to move forward from there. And he has done that, and we are very pleased with him.

“He ran a very good race at Goodwood and did it in a very good way. After that race, I knew the Strensall would be very good for him. We were very confident that he would have a good result, but we didn’t expect that type of huge performance from him, to be honest. We knew he was a nice horse, and after the finish line, we knew that he could be a Group 1 horse.”

Lucky No. 7?

Deterministic arrives at the Woodbine Mile riding a six-race win streak that includes a quartet of Grade 1 victories.

Jockey Kendrick Carmouche, aboard for all six victories, has been along for the entire ride – and has a seemingly endless string of superlatives for the Miguel Clement trainee.

“We get along together,” said Carmouche. “We pretty much have the same personality. He comes out nice, cool, calm and collected around the paddock, but when he’s going around the track, he’s all about business and wanting to win.

“You just move your hands and he moves for you. He’s one of them – he’s a push-button horse. You don’t have to do much.”