Attfield chases tenth Breeders’ Stakes win with Ciunas

TORONTO, September 25, 2025 – Nine 3-year-olds are set to go postward in Sunday’s $400,000 Breeders’ Stakes, the final jewel in the OLG Canadian Triple Crown, at Woodbine.

The final event of the tri-surface series for Canadian-bred sophomores concludes on the inner turf with the longest leg of 1 ½ miles. Mansetti won the 166th edition of The King’s Plate on August 16 and Runaway Again took the second jewel in the series, the Prince of Wales Stakes, on September 9.

Ciunas heads into his first stakes test off a pair of impressive victories, one on the Woodbine main track, the other over the Toronto oval’s inner turf, for dual Hall of Fame conditioner Roger Attfield, who has won a record nine Breeders’ Stakes.

A son of Silent Name (JPN) out of the Oratory mare Myrtle’s Gray, Ciunas was an impressive debut winner on July 6. Sent off as the 5-2 choice in the 6 ½-furlong race that drew 11 runners, the gelding rallied from last early to post a 1 ¼-length score in 1:17.65.

“He has a powerful late kick,” said Attfield. “That’s the way we kind of want him to run.”

In his most recent effort, at 1 1/16 miles on the grass, Ciunas, bred by Jeff Zlonis, who co-owns along with Richard Hogan, once again employed a powerful late turn of foot to record a one-length score in 1:44.44 over firm ground.

“He relaxed early in the race, and he came with his run very effectively,” said Attfield. “That’s what we have been looking for from him and that is what he has shown in both races. He can settle well at the start and then put in that nice run at the end.”

Attfield, inducted into the Canadian Horse Racing Hall of Fame in 1999 and the National Museum of Racing’s Hall of Fame in 2012, was impressed with Ciunas well before his career bow.

“He caught my eye right from when we started breezing him, actually,” said the 85-year-old, whose outstanding resume includes a record-tying eight King’s Plate victories as well as three Canadian Triple Crown triumphs – With Approval in 1989, Izvestia in 1990 and Peteski in 1993. “He always looked like a nice horse, and he’s done everything right so far.

“He’s coming along very nicely. This is a big step up, but from everything I have seen of him, he should enjoy the mile and a half. That’s why we nominated him for this race.”

The decorated trainer, whose first Breeders’ Stakes success came with Carotene in 1986, sees similarities between Ciunas and another horse once under his tutelage.

“I had his half-brother, Gray’s Fable, for years,” Attfield said of the 10-year-old son of Gio Ponti, who won the 2021 Kitten’s Joy Stakes (G3T). “He has gone on to win nearly $700,000, and he was the same kind of animal [as Ciunas] in the respect that he was always looking to achieve, wants to train and loves to run.”

Ciunas posted a pair of five-furlong breezes over the turf training track on September 14 (:59.60) and September 21 (:58.80) ahead of the race.

Attfield, whose most recent Breeders’ Stakes victory came in 2015 with Danish Dynaformer, is expecting another strong performance from his pupil on Sunday.

“He has worked extremely well. He worked faster than I wanted him to go this past weekend, but he did it within himself. I had to be pleased with that, and his gallop out was very good. It put the green light on as far as the decision for the weekend.”

Trainer Rachel Halden, who finished first and second with Roscar and Saccharine, respectively, in last year’s Breeders’ Stakes (both homebreds for Chiefswood Stables) sends out a pair of hopefuls in this year’s running.

Aristella arrives at her eighth consecutive stakes engagement off a rousing score in the $250,000 Wonder Where Stakes, third leg of the Canadian Triple Tiara, on September 6.

“We knew it was going to be a tough race, but she was doing so well coming into the race and we felt she deserved to be there,” said Halden. “It was a great effort and she has come out of it very well.”

A daughter of More Than Ready out of the unraced Street Cry (IRE) mare Back to Love, Aristella, who won last year’s Princess Elizabeth Stakes, is 3-0-1 from 10 starts.

Owned by Flying Zee Racing Stables LLC, the bay debuted with an off-the-board finish on the Saratoga inner turf last July, and was fifth in her next start, a 1 1/16-mile race over the E.P. Taylor turf at Woodbine that September.

Aristella broke her maiden in her third start, a 1 ¾-length triumph over a mile and 70 yards on the Woodbine main track last October.

Bred by Peter A. Berglar Racing Interests, LLC & Anderson Farms (Ontario), Aristella was a $70,000 (U.S.) purchase at the 2023 Keeneland Association September Yearling Sale. ​

Adrian Harewood is the groom.

Halden’s other starter, Borealis Trail, broke through in a big way last time out.

After three starts on the main track to launch his career, the homebred for Chiefswood Stables stormed past his rivals late en route to a maiden-breaking 1 ½-length score at one mile over the E.P. Taylor turf on August 3.

A bay son of Quality Road out of the Pulpit mare Aurora Lights, Borealis Trail debuted with a sixth over one mile on the Gulfstream main track on April 19.

He followed it up with a third at 1 1/16 miles on the Woodbine main track on June 22 and a sixth over the same course and distance on July 13.

“In that last one on the grass, he ran a big race,” said Halden, of the 22-1 upset. “We were thrilled with that effort from top to bottom. This is a step up the ladder, but he’s been doing well.”

Ray Perez is the groom.

The most recent Triple Crown winner was Wando, who won the 2003 Breeders’ Stakes with jockey Patrick Husbands aboard for trainer Michael Keogh and late owner/breeder Gustav Schickedanz.

Since then, A Bit O’Gold (2004), Pender Harbour (2011) and Tone Broke (2019) also claimed two-thirds of the Triple Crown by taking the last two legs. In 2020, Belichick won the Breeders’, denying stablemate Mighty Heart a Triple Crown sweep.

The longest shot to win the Breeders’ Stakes was Miami Deco in 2010. The Ontario-bred son of Limehouse returned $132.10 for a $2 win bet. Catherine Day Phillips became the first female trainer to win the race courtesy of A Bit O’Gold in 2004. One year later, she was in the winner’s circle again, this time with Jambalaya.

Post time is set for 1:05 p.m. ET, with the 135th running of the Breeders’ Stakes scheduled as the ninth race (approximately 5:39 p.m. ET). The race will be broadcast live from 5:00 p.m. to 6:00 p.m. ET on Sportsnet+.

The wagering menu for the race includes Rolling Double, Exacta, 0.20 Trifecta, 0.20 Superfecta, 0.20 Pick 3 (Races 9-10-11) and $1 Swinger.

Field for the Breeders’ Stakes – Race 9

Post – Horse – Jockey – Trainer

1 – Scat Girl (S) – Daisuke Fukumoto – Mike De Paulo

2 – D’aurum (S) – Pietro Moran – Kevin Attard

3 – Borealis Trail – Jose Campos – Rachel Halden

4 – Ciunas – Sahin Civaci – Roger Attfield

5 – Aristella – Patrick Husbands – Rachel Halden

6 – Watsonville Red – Leo Salles – Mike De Paulo

7 – Faber – Pietro Moran – Kevin Attard

8 – Sedburys Ghost – Ryan Munger – Barb Minshall

9 – Tom’s Magic – Rafael Hernandez – Michael Stidham

Chris Lomon, Woodbine