Moments after early favorite Brown Panther was a last-minute scratch from Sunday's Grade 1, $892,351 Canadian International, Sir Evelyn de Rothschild's Hillstar single-handedly rescued British fortunes on the Woodbine turf. Hardening into 6-5 favoritism, the Sir Michael Stoute charge stormed from off the pace under a typically well-judged ride by Ryan Moore.
Brown Panther, the 2-1 morning-line favorite, was vying with Hillstar for that honor approaching post time. But in a display of excessive eagerness, Brown Panther dumped jockey Richard Kingscote and took off on a galloping tour of the E.P. Taylor turf course. He was finally apprehended, at about the same time his withdrawal was announced.
Hillstar, left as the sole British hope, now ranked as the undisputed class of the field. The son of Danehill Dancer would soon justify that position, and in the process, flatter his Breeders' Cup Turf-bound stablemate, Telescope.
In the opening strides, The Pizza Man went forward accompanied by War Dancer through a quarter in :25 1/5 seconds on the good turf. The latter eased back to stalk, however, and Reporting Star moved up alongside The Pizza Man. On the backstretch, Reporting Star took over and established fractions of :50 1/5 seconds, 1:15 1/5 and 1:40, tracked by The Pizza Man.
All the while, Moore had Hillstar perfectly spotted in fifth, and asked him to improve his position on the far turn. When The Pizza Man dismissed Reporting Star at the top of the stretch, Hillstar was already on the premises to launch his challenge. The favorite swept by decisively to put the race away. Big Blue Kitten rallied, but too late, and Hillstar held him at bay by three-quarters of a length. After negotiating 1-1/2 miles in 2:29, Hillstar returned $4.50 to win.
Dynamic Sky closed from last to nip The Pizza Man for third. Next came Suntracer, Reporting Star, War Dancer, Pyrite Mountain and the tailed-off O'Prado Ole.
"I was out a little bit too early," Moore said, "but he was fine and plenty and it was going to take a good horse to get by him. Like Brown Panther, he [Hillstar] was the best horse in the race and just felt we would keep it as simple as we could.
"I am sure the boss [Stoute] had this race as a target from a long way out and it was always something we had in the backs of our minds if things were going well. I moved a bit too early today but he was the best horse, and we kept it straightforward again."
Moore also commented about losing his main opponent, Brown Panther.
"Coming here we thought we could beat him," the champion rider said. "He beat us at Chester [in the May 9 Ormonde] but there's always a horse race. It was just very sad for the connections. You bring the horse all the way over here and unfortunately something like that happened. Fortunately the horse looks like he's OK though."
Brown Panther, and Kingscote, were none the worse for wear.
"Just before the break, the horse got wound up and unfortunately he got me off," Kingscote said. "When I got back on, I tried to keep him relaxed and as soon as I let go he bolted. There wasn't much I could do after that. He's never done that before. He sometimes dances about and gets on his toes, but he's never been that extreme."
"It's very disappointing," said Tom Dascombe, trainer of Brown Panther. "Well done to the winner [Hillstar] and the connections of Caspar Netscher [another British raider who won the Nearctic Stakes later on the card]. It wasn't our day today."
Hillstar's first top-level victory improved his record to 15-4-6-1 and made him a millionaire with $1,192,134 in earnings. Successful in his stakes debut in last summer's King Edward VII at Royal Ascot, he was third to course record-breaker Novellist in the King George VI and Queen Elizabeth. Hillstar was not as effective cutting back in trip for the Juddmonte International and Champion Stakes, checking in fourth and sixth, respectively.
Making his 2014 bow in the March 29 Dubai World Cup, Hillstar never got involved and trudged home 14th of 16 on the Tapeta. He has been a model of consistency since returning to the British turf. Hillstar reeled off four straight second-place efforts in the May 9 Ormonde (to Brown Panther), the June 21 Hardwicke (to Telescope), the July 10 Princess of Wales's and the August 9 Rose of Lancaster. He scored his first win of the season last time out in the September 20 Arc Trial at Newbury, and made it two in a row here.
Hillstar was bred by Southcourt Stud in Great Britain. He is the second major winner produced by his dam, stakes heroine Crystal Star, who is also responsible for multiple Group 2-winning English highweight older mare Crystal Capella. Crystal Star, a Mark of Esteem mare, is herself a half-sister to Group 3-placed stakes scorer Waila. This is the further family of French classic victress Rose Gypsy, Group 1 hero Sasuru and Grade 1-winning millionaire Tuscan Evening.