Trainer MacRae counts the ways he loves his King Edward entrant Cruden Bay / Vassilieva says Bold Venture’s 6½ furlongs the perfect distance for her trainee Simcoe
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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.
“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
Vassilieva says Bold Venture’s 6½ furlongs the perfect distance for her trainee Simcoe
TORONTO, August 14, 2025 – Trainer Katerina Vassilieva said Saturday’s (Aug. 16) Grade 3 $150,000 Bold Venture is setting up perfectly for her trainee Simcoe.
“The distance should hit him right between the eyes,” the trainer said of the race that attracted a field of eight. “Six and a half [furlongs] seems to be his ideal distance, and it seems that he gets very brave when he battles for the lead and gets the lead. So, I'd like to see him be able to do that.
“I'm sure we're not the only ones with that game plan. There's a little bit of speed in the race, but I liked what [Simcoe] was able to do in his last race when he fought for the lead, got it, and went on and put the other challengers away. So, I would like to see him be on the front end.”
Simcoe, a gelded Ontario-bred son of Uncle Mo out of Aurora Lights by Pulpit comes into the Bold Venture off a victory on June 22 in a $120,700 Allowance Optional Claiming race at Woodbine.
In the start prior to that last one, Simcoe was second on May 31 in the Grade 3 $180,000 Jacques Cartier stakes, also at Woodbine. In that race, Simcoe finished second to his Bold Venture foe Old Chestnut.
“Simcoe is doing really well,” Vassilieva said. “He's had plenty of time off since his last race, which he won… It’s been about six or seven weeks.
“He’s coming into [the Bold Venture] a really fresh horse. He's been training well, working well, week to week. I think he's going to run a really good race for us on Plate Day.”
Simcoe will be ridden by Rafael Hernandez.
The dark bay Chiefswood Stables Limited homebred has been first or second in all five 2025 starts, posting a record of 3-2-0 with earnings of $132,080. Lifetime, the 5-year-old sports a record of 5-4-0 in 17 starts and earnings of $250,170.
“He seems to really have hit his best ride when we shortened him up in distance,” Vassilieva said. “He won twice at a route distance when he was 3. And then a few different things happened and he seemed to lose his stride a little bit.
“Then, we decided to shorten up the distance at the end of last year and that worked really well. That was the start of a slew of first and seconds. So, he definitely seems to prefer sprinting at this point in his career.
“He had a really good winter at Turfway Park. I think that really brought his confidence up, and that sort of translated to what we're seeing now.
“He’s always gritty and determined in all his races. He tries really hard for us every time and leaves it all on the racetrack. He’s a super athlete.”
Field for the $150,000 Bold Venture Stakes (Race 8)
Post – Horse – Jockey – Trainer
1 – Victory Achieved – Patrick Husbands – Mark Casse
2 – Junior Hot Shot – Jose Campos – John Ross
3 – Old Chestnut – Pietro Moran – Martin Drexler
4 – Ice Chocolat (BRZ) – Sahin Civaci – Mark Casse
5 – Playmea Tune – John Velazquez – Josie Carroll
6 – Simcoe – Rafael Hernandez – Katerina Vassilieva
7 – I’m A Gambler (IRE) – Flavien Prat – Kevin Attard
8 – Twin City – Keveh Nicholls – Stuart Simon
Dave Briggs, for Woodbine
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