Algonquin Stakes winner Chircop hoping he and is cousin can deliver a one-two punch at the Breeders’ Cup

By Steve Buffery

Shortly after winning the Grade 3 Algonquin Stakes on Oct.3 at Woodbine Racetrack with his two-year-old filly Mrs D, trainer Steve Chircop walked on to the track to wait for his horse to return as she galloped out past the finish line.

“Somebody came and hugged me from behind and I had no idea who it was,” said Chircop.  “And then, sure enough, I turned around and it was him and that was very special.”

‘Him’ being Chircop’s fellow trainer and cousin, Kevin Attard, whose own filly, Go for Launch, finished second in the Algonquin after being run down in the stretch by Mrs. D. Go for Launch, who had won the Bolton Landing Stakes at Saratoga on Aug.26, was the 1/2 favorite heading into the Algonquin, while Mrs. D went off at 7-1. In winning his second-ever graded stakes, Chircop was naturally over the moon, though beating his cousin by half a length in a $250,000 event like the Algonquin came with mixed feelings.

“We’re very close and he’s a mentor to me,” said Chircop of his cousin Kevin Attard, who is one of the leading trainers in Canada and has earned a reputation as one of the rising conditioning stars in North America. ““If I can’t win, I will cheer for him. Obviously, I want to beat him but if I can't win, I always want to see him do well.”

Chircop’s dad and Attard’s mom are siblings and the cousins have known each other essentially forever. Both, it seemed, were destined to work in thoroughbred horse racing. Chircop’s dad, Godfrey, owned horses while Attard’s father, Tino, had been a leading trainer at Woodbine for years, winning the 2026 Puss N Boots Cup at Fort Erie.

“As a kid, I grew up working for his father and working for him. They’re about the only two people I’ve worked for at the race track,” said Chircop. “I used to live with them in the summer time and through work and stuff we’ve always been close.

“Ironically enough, Kevin actually broke Mrs D,” said Chircop. “In fact, the first time Mrs D ever had a saddle on was with Kevin. So, he played a role in developing that horse. I send him all my babies because he does an amazing job. That’s where a lot of success with the babies comes from, he does such a good job with them that it allows them to be ready early. And Mrs D is a prime example. It’s obvious the program and the way he gets the horses ready makes our job a lot easier.”

“And if I have issues with horses, sometimes I don’t know an answer, he’ll come look at a horse for me and give me a suggestion. I obviously value him as a trainer and it’s nice to be able to go to somebody and ask for a second opinion,” Chircop added.

Chircop said that before the start of the Algonquin, he and Attard talked about how cool it would be if both of their fillies put in a good performance and ended up together at the Breeders’ Cup, Oct.30-31in Keeneland. Though the Algonquin is not a Breeders’ Cup ‘Win and You’re In’ event, both Chircop and Attard have both begun the process of trying to get their horses pre-selected for the big event. Last year’s Algonquin Stakes winner, Cy Fair, won the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Turf Sprint in her next race.

“That would be a dream come true,” said Chircop. “But it’s going to basically come down to their selection committee because she doesn’t have any points, she’s raced exclusively at Woodbine on Lasix and they don’t rate those races. So, the fact that last year’s Breeders’ Cup Sprint winner won the Algonquin, they made it a grade 3 and we’re hoping that will pull some merit towards the selections. Plus, the horse hasn’t done anything wrong. She’s run four times, she’s won a graded stakes and she’s placed and run third in two other stakes.”

Attard, of course, is no stranger to the Breeders’ Cup, having won the unofficial world championship of horse racing in 2004 with his star mare, Moira.

“I’m a big fan of horse racing and I adore the Breeders’ Cup,” said Chircop. “In previous years, I’ve been living vicariously through Kevin watching his horses at the Breeders’ Cup. And to have the chance to do it possibly, would be a dream come true. And I don’t think we’re going there just to participate in a race. I think we have a legitimate horse and I think we’ve got as good a chance as anybody. It would be fantastic if we both got selected. That would make it extra special. It would probably be a surreal experience that’s for sure.”

Mrs D - bred in Kentucky by Dixiana Farms LLC and owned by JDLP Holdings, Inc. (Joe De Marinis) - was a $200,000 purchase picked out by renowned Canadian horseman Donato Lanni, and is 2-1-1 in four career starts this year. Her sire is Grade 1 winner Bolt d’Oro. Chircop, who won the Grade 2 Sky Classic Stakes in 2011 with Kara’s Orientation, said that while Mrs D was deemed a longshot by the betting public ahead of the Algonquin, she was never a longshot in his mind.

“This horse works as good as you could ever see a horse possibly work. And we went into that race pretty confident,” said the Mississauga native. “Obviously, there were good horses in the race, including an undefeated horse (Go for Launch), but they kept mentioning that it was an upset. To us, we thought we had as good a chance as anybody.”

Chircop said he knew from “the get-go” that Mrs D was destined for big things.

“I told the owner before she ran that ‘I think we’ve got something special here,’” he said. “She trains very average. She’s not a flashy horse when she trains, but when she works, she’s a different animal. She’s a very easy horse to be around. She’s very kind, she listens to the rider. She’s easy to train.”

Being a Kentucky bred, Mrs D won't qualify for any of Canada’s classic races as a three-year-old, such as the King’s Plate or Woodbine Oaks, but Chircop is bullish about what his talented filly might accomplish in the future.

“For sure. Last year we were blessed to have the best Ontario-sired two-year-old on the grounds in Souper Diva and right now I believe Mrs D is the best two-year-old on the grounds at Woodbine and I’m hoping, depending on what happens, that she’s in the running for Champion Two-Year-Old because I think she’s that quality of a horse,” said Chircop, who has 324 victories in 2,674 career starts (324-345-355) with $9,896,539 in earnings.

Chircop is excited about Mrs D’s potential, but, being a trainer, it is always a cautious optimism.

“Horse racing is so up and down, it’s really race by race,” said Chircop. “There’s 99 ways to lose a race and one way to win.”

Chircop is 25-24-35 in 211 starts in 2026 and also won the Victorian Queen Stakes with Stunningly Perfect on Sept.13