TORONTO, November 13, 2025 – Hall of Fame trainer Roger Attfield said Ciunas is in fine form heading into Sunday’s (November 16) $100,000 Lake Ontario Stakes at Woodbine. “He’s been training very well,” Attfield said of the gelded son of Silent Name (JPN) out of the Oratory mare Myrtle’s Gray. “He had a very nice work on Saturday, and we’re just cruising into [the Lake Ontario], hoping that the weather cooperates.” The Lake Ontario, to be contested on the main Tapeta track, is the Ontario Sired Heritage Series finale for 3-year-old colts & geldings. It drew a field of eight, with Ciunas drawing Post 8. Co-owned by his breeder, Jeff Zlonis, along with Richard Hogan, Ciunas will be making his fifth career start on Sunday. He has a record of 2-1-0 and earnings of $60,369 in his young career. He comes into the Lake Ontario off a second-place finish over seven furlongs on the Tapeta in an optional claiming race on Oct. 19 at Woodbine. Ciunas and jockey Sahin Civaci winning Race 10 on August 24, 2025 at Woodbine (Michael Burns Photo) “I thought he ran well enough, [but] I don’t think he ran his best race,” Attfield said. In the start prior to that, Ciunas finished last in a field of nine in the Breeders’ Stakes on Sept. 28 at Woodbine. Attfield said the 1 ½-miles was likely not Ciunas’ best distance. “Outside of that, his form has been excellent,” Attfield said. “He’s got a beautiful stride to him. His attitude is quite good. He’s getting better all the time that way; getting more professional about it. He’s a fairly easy horse to train. We could do just about anything I want with him. He can work fast. He can work slow. Whatever we want him to do, he does. He’s a very nice animal to train.” As for the Lake Ontario’s 1 1/16-mile distance, Attfield said it should suit Ciunas well. “I think a mile and a 16th is fine, but I think probably 7/8ths to a mile is probably going to be his best distance down the road,” Attfield said. “We’ll find it as we go along. But a mile and a 16ths on the track as it is right now, will be fine.” Ciunas is a half-brother to Attfield’s former graded stakes winner Gray’s Fable (Gio Ponti). “I was quite successful with, and won two or three stakes with him in the States and [Ciunas] is a lot like him in the way that he really likes to work,” Attfield said. “He loves to go out and train every day… he just loves to train and loves to run.” Gray’s Fable has earned over $670,000 lifetime and won the Grade 3 Kitten’s Joy Appleton Stakes in 2021 at Gulfstream Park for Attfield, who was inducted into the Canadian Horse Racing Hall of Fame in 1999 and the National Museum of Racing’s Hall of Fame in 2012. The Lake Ontario is the finale of the division’s Heritage Series that pays tribute to the four Great Lakes that border Ontario. Go Kart Mozart won both the $100,000 Lake Huron Stakes first leg over five furlongs on June 22 on the inner turf at Woodbine and the third and final leg, the $100,000 Lake Erie Stakes over 6 ½ furlongs on Sept. 9 at Fort Erie. Dark Screen won the middle leg – the $100,000 Lake Superior over six furlongs on July 27 over the E.P. Taylor Turf Course at Woodbine. Go Kart Mozart is not entered for the Lake Ontario, but Dark Screen has drawn Post 1. Established in 2021, the Ontario Sired Heritage Series is comprised of three $100,000 legs and a $100,000 final for two divisions: 3-year-old colts & geldings, and 3-year-old fillies. The total purse structure for the series is $800,000. There is also a total of $70,000 in bonus money for the Heritage Series, $35,000 for each division – awarded $20,000, $10,000, $5,000 for the top three point earning colts/gelding and fillies. (Details here: tip.ontarioracing.com/tip-stakes-program/). First post is 1:05 p.m. Fans can watch and wager on all the action via HPIbet.com and bet365. Field for the Lake Ontario – Race 10 Post – Horse – Jockey – Trainer 1 – Dark Screen – Juan Crawford – Beverley Chubb 2 – Kekoa – Austin Adams – Catherine Day Phillips 3 – Sedburys Ghost – Ryan Munger – Barbara Minshall 4 – Stratus – Daisuke Fukumoto – Robert Tiller 5 – Dewolf – Fraser Aebly – Kevin Attard 6 – Mymathes Correct (S) – Leo Salles – Beverley Chubb 7 – Shinigami – Keveh Nicholls – Norm McKnight 8 – Ciunas – Rafael Hernandez – Roger Attfield Dave Briggs, Ontario Racing Share This:Share
