Marlang Shines in Breeders’ Stakes
The Breeders’ Stakes is the third leg of the Canadian Triple Crown, and took place at the Woodbine Racetrack on Sunday, 3 August 2008. Noticeably absent from this horse racing event, were the winners of the first two legs of the Canadian Triple Crown, namely Not Bourbon (winner of the Queen’s Plate) and Harlem Rocker (winner of the Prince of Wales Stakes). The reason for them not taking part in the Breeders’ Stakes was due to both horses being more comfortable racing on dirt, and Sunday’s event was hosted on turf. But this left the field wide open for the 9-1 long shot, Marlang.
Marlang was sired by Langfuhr and is owned by horse owner Gus Schickedanz. He had promised Deborah England that he would one day give her a horse to train, and he kept his word by giving her Marlang as a yearling to train for him. Deborah England has now been training horses for approximately thirty years, but winning such a big stakes race was most definitely one of the defining and memorable days in her career as a trainer.
The $500 000 Breeders’ Stakes is run over a distance of one and a half miles and usually horses are kept back by their jockeys in such a long distance horse racing event, to ensure that they have enough energy left to give in the last stretch towards the wire. Jockey Richard Dos Ramos decided to get Marlang as close to the lead of the race as possible, and both jockey and trainer were a little worried when Marlang took the lead, as he is known for his speed. But he settled down in his position as race leader, looking very comfortable, and when he started to accelerate down the home stretch towards the wire, Dos Ramos let him go and allowed him to run his own race.
Second place finisher, Sligovitz went quite wide down the stretch, trying to catch Marlang, and Chantal Sutherland struggled a little to get Sligovitz to straighten, but as soon as their presence was felt, Marlang turned on the speed to win the Breeder’s Stakes from wire to wire. Third place went to Solitaire, followed by Cryptonite Kid, Palmers, Deputiformer, East End Tap, Mamma’s Knight, Go In Peace and in tenth place, Pronger. It was a great day for Marlang and an unforgettable racing event for Deborah England, as she became the second female trainer to enjoy victory at the Breeders’ Stakes.
