Weekend Wrapup - Square Eddie, Woodbine Stakes and Mike Winter's OTTB Wonderful Will

Square Eddie had a rough trip in the Lexington leaving the gate late and then moving for the lead too early. If Square Eddie looked a bit rusty, he should have - it was his first start in three months. Internet peeps and tweets suggest that he's too slow for the Derby even though his Brisnet speed figures are consistently 90+, including a career best 100 figure in the BC Juvenile. Calm down everyone, it's one race off a layoff and he can improve on that. Am I saying Square Eddie will win the Derby? No - that's a job for Friesan Fire, but let's not forget that Square Eddie is a very good horse.

Sometimes I wonder about the speed rating systems of various handicapping outlets. West Side Bernie received a 107 from Brisnet in his loss to I Want Revenge in the Wood. By comparison, Quality Road earned a 103 burning up the track and defeating interweb darling Dunkirk. How many of you are backing West Side Bernie in the Derby over those listed above? It's all situational, I know, but these ratings systems sometimes don't add up.

Advice winning the 2009 Lexington Stakes


The Woodbine weekend was filled with the unexpected as Dancing Allstar "surprised" Smart Surprise to win the G3 Whimsical Stakes by two lengths. Solid betting combo Jim McAleney and trainer Terry Jordan combined to wire the field with Dancing Allstar in a time of 1:09.16.

Woodbine journeyman Na Somsanith picked up a well-earned Stakes win in the Star Shoot on Sunday with Scott Fairlie's Milwaukee Appeal covering six furlongs in 1:10.90. Racing with the leaders early on, Milwaukee Appeal made a wide move on the turn, opened up down the stretch and then Somsanith went to work to stay just ahead of the hard charging Deeveetee. Somsanith and Milwaukee Appeal are on course for the Woodbine Oaks which is a big race in the Queen's Plate Fantasy Challenge. Of note, last year's Oaks was won by Ginger Brew. Both Milwaukee Appeal and Ginger Brew are daughters of Milwaukee Brew. For more details, check out the Woodbine Oaks website.

No surprise at all is the fact that Patrick Husbands is still on top of the jockey leaderboard. Eurico Rosa da Silva and Emile Ramsammy are locked in with eight wins each as veterans Emma-Jayne Wilson and McAleney have yet to show us their best. Expect to see both those riders back near the top of the table before long. Chantal Sutherland has as many show rides (13) as Husbands has wins. Sutherland has been in the money on 25 of 46 starts which shows how hard she's working on each and every mount. It's also good to see Tyler Pizarro off to a good start. There's a lot of up and coming jockeys at Woodbine and Pizarro could be the best of the bunch.



Recently returned Reade Baker strolled straight to the top of the leader board holding off David Cotey and Nick Gonzalez. Steve Asmussen's horses are 2-5-2 in 14 starts and I'd expect to see his name closer to the top as the meet moves forward. Check out Julia Carey - only five starters but two wins and a place. Someone has their horses ready early!



My good friend Wendy Uzelac sent along a link to a story about Canadian rider Mike Winter who is competing in the Rolex Kentucky Three-Day Event. The story details how Winter encountered the OTTB Wonderful Will while working horses at Keeneland. The piece covers a bit of Winter's career and speaks to the development of Wonderful Will as a jumper.
Read the full story here: "Rolex eventer found horse at the track."

Wendy's website, From Racehorse To Showhorse is a must read for anyone involved with OTTBs. I encourage those of you in the horse rescue/retirement community to add Wendy's site to their list of favourites.
Rolex Kentucky Three-Day Event Footage


Last and certainly not least, Alex Brown's Youtube Contest has completed it's first full week of voting. In total the videos have now received 23,397 page views and 1325 comments. Please check out Alex's homepage and then log in to Youtube and vote for your favourite video.