Following back-to-back stakes wins against Ontario-breds on the turf, Amalfi Coast used her momentum to springboard into graded company for the first time. This past Sunday, the 3-year-old daughter of Tapizar continued her winning ways in the Grade 2 Bessarabian Stakes at Woodbine. The race also marked her first start against older fillies and mares, and placed Amalfi Coast in the lead for Canadian Champion 3-Year-Old Female.
The victory came on the all-weather at 7 furlongs, the same course and distance in which Amalfi Coast broke her maiden in early August.
“She’s just a nice filly. She’s trained really well,” said trainer Kevin Attard, who is amid a career-best season. “Obviously, the cut back to seven-eighths was a little bit of a challenge for her, but when a horse has some confidence, they can do anything.”
Unraced as a two-year-old, the Terra Racing homebred improved her record to 4-2-1 from eight starts.
“We always had high hopes for her,” said Attard. “She trained well as a two-year-old, she was really close to running and just needed a little time off so we started her up early in 2019. When she started working, she showed the talent that she was showing last year as a juvenile. Her first race was stellar. It looked like it was just a matter of time before she was going to break her maiden. It took a few more starts and the addition of blinkers seemed to really pick her up.”
Amalfi Coast marks Tapizar’s 13th graded stakes horse, ranking him 3rd in his crop, behind The Factor and Union Rags. Tapizar stands at Gainesway for $10,000.