ETOBICOKE, Ontario – The 50th anniversary of Secretariat’s triumphant final start in the 1973 Canadian International will be celebrated at Woodbine on Sunday, and an exhibit honoring his achievements has been on display this week. The historic Grade 1 turf event returns from a one-year hiatus with a $750,000 purse at the shortened distance of 1 1/4 miles, which is right up the alley of favored English raider Nations Pride. Trained by Charlie Appleby for Godolphin, Nations Pride has an impressive résumé. He won back-to-back graded races for 3-year-olds in the summer of 2022 in New York, the Grade 1 Saratoga Derby Invitational and the Grade 3 Jockey Club Derby Invitational. He took the Group 3 Dubai Millennium going about 1 1/4 miles in February at Meydan before finishing a lapped-on third there in the Grade 1 Dubai Turf, a $5 million event over about 1 1/8 miles. Off a four-month layoff in his last outing on July 30, Nations Pride beat German Derby winner Fantastic Moon going about 1 1/4 miles over yielding ground in a Group 1 fixture in Germany. Fantastic Moon subsequently won the Group 2 Prix Niel before ending up 6 1/4 lengths back in 11th in the Group 1 Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe, also at Longchamp. Assistant trainer Chris Durham said Nations Pride and Godolphin’s E.P. Taylor Stakes contender With The Moonlight both settled into Woodbine nicely this week. :: Bet the races with a $250 First Deposit Match + $10 Free Bet and FREE Formulator PPs! Join DRF Bets. “They shipped in last Sunday and both have been loving the surroundings,” Durham said. “We’re hoping for a big run. He’s had a little break and Charlie has been planning on these races. This is his time of year when he seems to do well. He’s versatile with the ground. He can go on anything.” Appleby has compiled an incredible record at Woodbine, scoring with eight of 11 starters, all in Grade 1 company. With Lasix added, he sent out Godolphin’s Walton Street to romp in the 2021 International with an impressive 110 Beyer Speed Figure. Royal Champion is the other European shipper in the eight-horse field. Like Nations Pride, he’s making his first start with Lasix. Trained by Roger Varian, Royal Champion has started three times this year in England. He ended up fifth in his season opener in the Group 2 Huxley Stakes at Chester in May, subsequently won the 1 1/4-mile Wolferton Stakes in workmanlike fashion at Ascot, and has been idle since finishing a flat third in the York Stakes on July 29. The runner-up in the Group 2 York, My Prospero, returned to win the Foundation Stakes as the heavy favorite at Goodwood. Former European Adhamo ships in from Saratoga off a wide-closing third behind Set Piece and Santin in the Grade 1 Arlington Million at Colonial Downs, his first start of the year. In 2022, Adhamo captured the Grade 1 United Nations at Monmouth Park with a 104 Beyer while on Lasix. Trainer Chad Brown is putting him back on the diuretic for the first time since that race on Sunday. Palazzi will try to give Woodbine’s perennial leading trainer Mark Casse his first Canadian International score. Victorious in the 2021 Texas Turf Mile at 3, Palazzi was mired in a slump before putting together a three-race win streak this summer. After trailing on the backstretch, he took the 1 1/4-mile prep for the International, the Grade 3 Singspiel, after closing inside favored Rockemperor in the stretch and then holding him off in the final furlong. Casse said Palazzi has improved dramatically since being gelded after Gary Barber purchased him for just $35,000 at the Keeneland November sale. :: Get Daily Racing Form Past Performances – the exclusive home of Beyer Speed Figures “He was a pretty good horse at 3 and then he went off form,” Casse said. “He’s doing good now. Sometimes, those gelded horses take a little while [to come around], and I think that’s what happened with Palazzi.” Trainer Mike Maker, no stranger to success at Woodbine, sends out Starting Over and Dynadrive. They ran one-two in the Sept. 9 Colonial Cup Stakes, with Dynadrive finishing a troubled second. Completing the International lineup are locals British Royalty and English Conqueror. ◗ There are three other stakes on the superb 11-race card – the Grade 1 E.P. Taylor, the Grade 2 Nearctic, and the $200,000 Algonquin. Post time is 1:15 p.m. :: Want to learn more about handicapping and wagering? Check out DRF's Handicapping 101 and Wagering 101 pages.