Last Call is a maiden no more after surging to a 21-1 upset in the CA$508,000 Johnnie Walker Natalma Stakes (G1T) Sept. 17 at Woodbine. The longest shot on the board in the field of eight juvenile fillies, Last Call was purchased by bloodstock agent Donato Lanni for $30,000 at the 2021 Keeneland September Yearling Sale on behalf of owners X-Men Racing 2 and SF Racing, some of the same connections behind Queen’s Plate winner Moira, also trained by Kevin Attard.
Attard attributed the filly’s transformative victory to a change of equipment. After Last Call displayed rankness in her second start, a seven-furlong turf maiden special weight that saw her locked in battle with jockey Rafael Hernandez through the first half-mile, Attard decided to remove the blinkers in an attempt to take the edge off the headstrong filly.
“Blinkers off was an integral part of today’s win,” Attard said. “In her last race, she was pretty rank early and was burning too much energy, and when it came time for go time there wasn’t much left in the tank. Now that she had some time and (race) experience, we decided to take the blinkers off. We worked her without them, tucked in her behind horses, and she handled it all well.”