Internal Bourbon faces the boys in Bunty Lawless

​TORONTO, October 18 – Supplemental entry Internal Bourbon will take a shot at competing against the boys in this Saturday’s $125,000 Bunty Lawless Stakes at Woodbine Racetrack.

Owned and bred by Charles E. Fipke and trained by Roger Attfield, Internal Bourbon has drawn post five in the Ontario Sires Stakes event for horses three years old and up with Alan Garcia back aboard following a close third-place finish in the Classy ‘n Smart Stakes last month over 1-1/16 miles on the Woodbine main. She will move back to her favoured turf course for Saturday’s one-mile contest.

“She’s being doing well and the owner would like to see her run in a stake before they end of year and she definitely prefers turf so that’s the reason that she’s there,” said Attfield on the decision to supplement the five-year-old Not Bourbon mare to the Bunty Lawless for $2,500.

 “I thought she ran well enough [in the Classy ‘n Smart]. She has to improve on that race to be in this next one for sure, but we’re going to give it a go. She came out of it well. She’s in good shape.”

Internal Bourbon also finished a game third in her first of three starts this year in July’s Victoriana Stakes over 1-1/16 miles on the turf followed by a fourth-place finish in a 1-1/8 mile allowance race.

“She was a bit late starting out, which really was more of a management thing,” noted Attfield. “She’s an honest, little filly. She always tries hard and she really likes the turf, but there’s no magic to her.”

Attfield has a record four wins in the Bunty Lawless, with his most recent in 2008 courtesy of Sand Cove. His first was in 1980 with Big Bay Point and the Hall of Fame trainer also won back-to-back editions in 1989-1990 with Control Zone.

Where’s the Widget and San Nicola Thunder, both past winners of the Bunty Lawless Stakes, are back for another shot in this year’s edition.

Where’s the Widget is the defending champion hailing from the Ralph Biamonte barn with Gary Boulanger picking up the mount. The five-year-old Giant Gizmo gelding defeated returning contender Nipigon by a neck in the 2016 Bunty Lawless to earn his sixth straight victory at the time, but has failed to return to winning form since.

San Nicola Thunder won the 2014 Bunty Lawless and is the richest of this year’s eight contenders with almost $740,000 banked in purses. The seven-year-old Silent Name gelding finished fourth and a tiring ninth in subsequent editions of the Bunty Lawless, but heads into Saturday’s feature in winning form racing from the stable of trainer Martin Drexler. Following a runner-up finish in the Shepperton Stakes to this season’s undefeated gelding Pink Lloyd, San Nicola Thunder has earned two consecutive six-furlong turf scores while partnered with Luis Contreras, who has won a three of the last six editions of the Bunty Lawless.

The lightly raced Mr Havercamp is the only sophomore in field for the Catherine Day Phillips outfit. The son of Court Vision is three-for-four to start his career and enters Saturday’s headliner off a victory in the Vice Regent Stakes over one mile on the turf. Eurico Rosa da Silva, who has been aboard for all of the gelding’s hometown wins, retains the mount.

The aforementioned Nipigon, Call Me Wally, Born in a Breeze, and Wittle Wed Wabbit complete the field for the Bunty Lawless Stakes, which is scheduled at race eight on Saturday’s program. First race post time is 1 p.m.
 
$125,000 Bunty Lawless Stakes
Post – Horse – Jockey – Trainer
1. Where’s the Widget – Gary Boulanger – Ralph Biamonte
2. Call Me Wally – Jesse Campbell – Paul Buttigieg
3. Born in a Breeze – Rafael Hernandez – Katerina Vassilieva
4. Nipigon – Steven Bahen – Rachel Halden
5. Internal Bourbon (S) – Alan Garcia – Roger Attfield
6. Mr Havercamp – Eurico Rosa da Silva – Catherine Day Phillips
7. San Nicola Thunder – Luis Contreras – Martin Drexler
8. Wittle Wed Wabbit – Jeffery Alderson – Cathy McEwin