With Approval

With Approval (May 9, 1986 – June 21, 2010) was a Thoroughbred racehorse who won the Canadian Triple Crown in 1989 under jockey Don Seymour.

He inherited his gray coat from his sire Caro, an Irish-bred stallion who raced in France and was later imported into the United States.

Passing Mood, who was also the dam of Belmont Stakes winner Touch Gold, received the 1989 Sovereign Award for Outstanding Broodmare.

With Approval is just one of several outstanding horses descended from Cool Mood, a stakes-winning daughter of Northern Dancer who was inducted into the Canadian Racing Hall of Fame in 2014.

Believing the colt would not quickly recover from the injury, Attfield did not enter With Approval in the prestigious Coronation Futurity.

Instead, he gave the horse some extra time and With Approval made his first start on the turf at Woodbine on October 9, winning by two lengths.

[1] With Approval was then shipped north to Woodbine Racetrack to begin prepping for the Queen's Plate, finishing second in the Queenston Stakes on May 14 to Domasca Dan.

"He was a very proud horse but very frustrating early in his three-year-old year when Domasca Dan beat him in the Queenston," recalled Willmot.

On the dirt he was a tricky horse to ride so Donnie (jockey Don Seymour) learned very quickly that he had to wait until very late in the race to take the lead with him or he would do what his grandsire (Buckpasser) did.

"[6] In the second leg of the Canadian Triple Crown, the Prince of Wales Stakes at Fort Erie Racetrack, With Approval was again the favorite.

Domasca Dan inched back into the lead but With Approval kept closing, pulling ahead in the final strides to win by a head.

To raise interest in the series, the Bank of Montreal introduced a $1 million bonus in 1989 to any horse who could sweep the three races.

Attfield was optimistic about With Approval's chances, feeling that the colt would improve when switching from the dirt surface on which he had won the first two legs of the Crown to the turf course over which the final race, the Breeders' Stakes, is run.

Kinghaven Farms, Roger Attfield and Don Seymour also earned Sovereign Awards for outstanding owner/breeder, trainer and jockey respectively.

[11] After a long layoff, With Approval returned to the racetrack on March 7, 1990, finishing sixth in an allowance race at Gulfstream Park.

He raced in third place for the first mile then moved to the lead on the final turn, drawing away down the stretch to win by 1+1⁄2 lengths.

[15] He then finished second behind El Senor in the Sword Dancer Handicap on July 28 before winning an allowance race at Woodbine on August 18.

After trailing early, With Approval took the lead coming down the stretch but was then caught by French-based In the Wings in the final strides.