TORONTO, August 14, 2025 – Ask trainer Don MacRae what he loves about his pupil Cruden Bay and get ready for a long list of reasons. “There’s not one thing that you couldn’t love about him,” MacRae said of the 7-year-old fan-favourite gelding who will contest Saturday’s (Aug. 16) $200,000 Grade 2 bet365 King Edward Stakes, for 3-year-olds and up at Woodbine Racetrack. “He’s just a pleasure to be around. He’s a kind horse, he’s a happy horse, he loves his job, he loves people. He’s just amazing. He really brings a tear to my eye pretty much every time he runs. I am proud to say that I train him.” The King Edward will be contested over one mile on the E.P. Taylor Turf Course. The race is the leading local prep for the Grade 1 $1 million Rogers Woodbine Mile on Sept. 13. On July 20, in his most recent start, Cruden Bay won the $175,000 bet365 Connaught Cup (G2T) for the second straight year. It was a storybook return to racing after the gelding, owned by Michael Lay, had been off 11 months due to injury. Cruden Bay and jockey Fraser Aebly winning the Connaught Cup Stakes on July 20, 2025 at Woodbine (Michael Burns Photo) “I was extremely pleased, and I was even more proud to see Cruden do that,” MacRae said of the 2025 Connaught Cup victory. “It was just amazing. He trained very well leading up to it. We were originally prepping for an allowance race, but I thought he was just really coming into himself. I know he always runs well fresh, so I just thought it was a good opportunity to take the shot. And he did what he does best and he fired down the lane” Bred in Ontario by Spring Farm, Cruden Bay, won his debut Nov. 14, 2020, at Woodbine. He is now 8-9-1 from 24 lifetime starts. He has career earnings of $538,706. Last year, Cruden Bay was fifth in the King Edward won by Filo Di Arianna (BRZ). “Last year, [Cruden Bay] had kind of a hiccup in that race,” MacRae said. “I think he dropped the bit early. He really fired late down the lane, but you can’t give up that much ground against good horses. I would love to see him really fire the way he can and show what he really is about.” MacRae, who will also send out William T in Saturday’s $1 million King’s Plate, said for Cruden Bay to win the King Edward, he would need, “pace up front. I was happy to see a bigger field [of 10] because they tend to press themselves a little bit more. When you have those smaller fields, the race can fall apart in front of you. He’s the kind of horse that you can’t really stall once you get him running. You just point him in the right direction and he goes. So, as long as there’s a bit of a pace, he’s going to come on the run.” Cruden Bay was a $45,000 (CDN) purchase at the 2019 CTHS Canadian-bred Yearling Sale. The Ontario-bred son of Big Screen is out of the Bold Executive mare Executive Affair. The King Edward will also feature Piper’s Factor trained by Katerina Vassilieva, who also sends out Simcoe in the Bold Venture. Piper’s Factor will be ridden by Patrick Husbands. “Factor is doing really well.,” Vassilieva said. “I love the way that Patrick Husbands was able to get him to settle in his most recent race, the Connaught Cup. He was able to come with a late run and sort of pick off some horses to be third. [Seven furlongs] probably was just a little bit short for [Piper’s Factor’s] liking. So, I love that we get to stretch out an extra eighth of a mile this time, and I’m expecting him to run a good race.” Field for the $200,000 bet365 King Edward Stakes (Race 10) Post – Horse – Jockey – Trainer 1 – Piper’s Factor – Patrick Husbands – Katerina Vassilieva 2 – Twin City – Keveh Nicholls – Stuart Simon 3 – Cruden Bay – Fraser Aebly – Don MacRae 4 – Wyoming Bill – Jose Lezcano – Catherine Day Phillips 5 – Dresen Row (S) – Ryan Munger – Lorne Richards 6 – Lucky Score – Sahin Civaci – Mark Casse 7 – Mason’s Gamble – Jalon Samuel – Mike De Paulo 8 – Gas Me Up – Flavien Prat – Kevin Attard 9 – Public Sector (GB) (S) – Javier Casellano – Saffie Joeseph, Jr. 10 – War Strategy (S) – Pietro Moran – Mark Casse Dave Briggs, for Woodbine Share This:Share
