TORONTO, August 3 – With a name inspired by a popular cartoon character and an open-length victory in his career debut, Be Vewy Vewy Quiet is sure to garner some attention heading into this Saturday’s $125,000 Clarendon Stakes for two-year-old Ontario-breds at Woodbine Racetrack. “As a kid I was always a fan of Looney Tunes cartoons, Bugs Bunny and the others,” said co-owner Frank Di Giulio Jr., who came up with the gelding’s moniker that corresponds with his sire Silent Name and is inspired by the famous phrase from the animated ‘wabbit’ hunter. “That’s always something that everyone who watched those cartoons would hear from Elmer Fudd. I try to have a little bit of fun with naming horses.” Often playing with puns and double entendres, Di Giulio Jr. has enjoyed creating racehorse names like Tequilamockingbird and Gorilla My Dreams. “Frankie Di Giulio, who’s the best at naming horses than any owner I’ve ever had, he must stay up an extra two hours at night thinking up these names,” laughed Robert Tiller, who has trained horses for the Di Giulio family since 1981. “I wish I was like him, he’s the best. He’s had so many great names.” Di Giulio Jr. and his partners Anthony D’Onofrio and J. Peri bred Be Vewy Vewy Quiet, who is out of their Malibu Moon mare Advanced Green. “Bob bought us his mother 10 years ago or so and bought her as a yearling,” said Di Giulio Jr. “She ran once as a two-year-old and won her only start and unfortunately fractured her knee so she wasn’t able to run again. We bred her and we’ve had some luck with her. We had a horse called Jade Dragon, who was a stakes winner for us, and a couple of other lesser horses and now Be Vewy Vewy Quiet.” Jade Dragon, sired by Trajectory, won the 2013 Deputy Minister Stakes as a three-year-old and earned nearly $300,000 in purses. Be Vewy Vewy Quiet will make his first stakes start in Saturday’s Clarendon following a victory in his career debut on July 19. The bay gelding won a maiden allowance tilt at Woodbine by 11-1/4 lengths in 1:06.41 over five and a half furlongs on the Tapeta. “We were really impressed with his first start, pleasantly surprised,” said Di Giulio Jr. “I can’t remember a horse I’ve been a part of winning by that many lengths. His time was fairly slow, but you can’t knock how he won it so I’m kind of excited about him. You always dream about having a nice two-year-old and hopefully he’ll go on. Bob thinks he’ll get better as the distance gets longer. This race is the same distance as his last race so we’ll see. He’s got the one-hole, which I’m not crazy about, but it’s just one race and hopefully we’ll run well and come out of it well and go from there.” “He’s doing well and obviously we were super impressed by his first race,” echoed Tiller. “He’s going to get tested in here a little more, but he’s training good into the race and I expect him to run well. Unfortunately, he drew the dreaded one-hole, which I wasn’t looking for that, especially not with a young horse because they like to come around horses. Sheena [Ryan] rides him back and she knows him well, gets on him in the mornings, so we’re hoping for the best. He’s in good order.” Here is a look at the complete field for the $125,000 Clarendon Stakes, which is scheduled as race eight on Saturday’s 1 p.m. program: $125,000 Clarendon Stakes Post – Horse – Jockey – Trainer – Morning Line 1. Be Vewy Vewy Quiet – Sheena Ryan – Robert Tiller – 2-1 2. Water Polo – Omar Moreno – Laurie Silvera – 8-1 3. Eskiminzin – Patrick Husbands – Analisa Delmas – 3-1 4. Differential – Gary Boulanger – Mark Casse – 9-5 5. Aheadbyacentury – Jesse Campbell – John Ross – 6-1 6. Sent From Heaven – Luis Contreras – Sam DiPasquale – 12-1 Share This:Share
