Canadian Content: From Woodbine to the Breeders' Cup

With ticket prices soaring in the sports world, fans of horse racing have been treated to a cheap and cheerful summer by a variety of equine stars at Woodbine Racetrack.

Tickets to see the hapless Toronto Maple Leafs range from $34 to $400; the Raptors have nosebleed seats starting at $12, but fans that want to get up close and personal will spend well over $100.

To view the best of horse racing, Woodbine patrons were asked to cough up $0 admission. Parking, free. Those who want a spot near the finish line, mere yards from the infamous E.P. Taylor turf course, are asked to spend nothing more than the energy required to walk up to the rail.

Important race dates such as the Queen's Plate, Woodbine Mile and Pattison Canadian International were all well attended events. Fans who went to the track for the Breeders' Cup Win & You're In races held at Woodbine races were treated to a high-def viewing of many of the competitors in the 2009 Breeders' Cup.

Let's take a look at some of the Canadian connections in the Breeders' Cup, including many who made their name at beautiful Woodbine Racetrack. Pre-Entries for the 2009 Breeders' Cup, to be held November 6th and 7th, can be found here.

LADIES CLASSIC
Careless Jewel, Woodbine-based and Canadian-owned by Donver Stable (Donna and Vern Dubinsky of Sherwood Park, Alberta), is trained by Josie Carroll. Woodbine's own Robert Landry in the irons.

Click on the link to read a full and proper feature published earlier this month, with photos, of trainer Josie Carroll and Careless Jewel.

The curious Careless Jewel looks for a win on Breeders' Cup Friday



JUVENILE FILLIES TURF
Jungle Tale is a Woodbine-based runner, trained by Steve Asmussen who ran a determined second to Bay to Bay in the Natalma Stakes.

Bay to Bay captures the Natalma over Jungle Tale and Elusive Galaxy


In three turf starts, Jungle Tale has won once and boasts two place finishes beaten than a length in both. Last out in the Natalma, Jungle Tale was bested by an excellent local turfer and kept the favoured Elusive Galaxy (Ire) in check.

Please click on the link to view previous entries regarding Jungle Tale on Triple Dead Heat.

Jungle Tale runs a game second to Bay to Bay in the Natalma Stakes


JUVENILE FILLIES

Bickersons, bred in Ontario by Mississauga native Robert Harvey, has been racing lately in California. This Silver Deputy filly broke her maiden at Monmouth in July before going on to a pair of third-place Stakes finishes in the Spinaway at Saratoga and the OakLeaf at Santa Anita. Increasing Beyer figures suggests that Bickersons is an improving sort.

Bickersons chases home Hot Dixie Chick at Saratoga


Biofuel, is a Woodbine-based runner under the care of trainer Reade Baker. The promising two-year-old will be ridden by Queen's Plate winning jockey Eurico Rosa da Silva. Earlier this season, Biofuel captured the $250,000 Mazarine Stakes at Woodbine. If you throw out the lack lustre turf start in the G3 Natalma Stakes, there is much to like about the daughter of Stormin Fever.
Please click on the link to view entries regarding Biofuel on Triple Dead Heat.

The imposing Biofuel takes aim at the camera



JUVENILE TURF
Bridgetown owned by Eugene Melnyk, a native of Toronto, will be ridden by Woodbine's own Robert Landry.

Bridgetown defeated Becky's Kitten in the G3 Summer Stakes


Bridgetown, won the $300,000 Summer Stakes at Woodbine earlier this summer under a masterful ride by Landry. Lightly raced, the son of Speightstown was an impressive maiden winner at Saratoga over Billions Boy who went on to defeat Eskendereya - one who could be favoured in this event. Please click on the link to view entries regarding Bridgetown on Triple Dead Heat.

The beautiful Bridgetown graces the Woodbine walking ring


SPRINT
Fatal Bullet, Canadian-owned by Danny Dion's Bear Stables of Edmonton, Alberta, has a big shot in the BC Sprint. Trained by Reade Baker, the poly-proven prodigy will be ridden by Eurico Rosa da Silva.

Fatal Bullet, including interviews with Eurico Da Silva and Reade Baker, winning the Phoenix at Keeneland


Fatal Bullet won automatic entry in the Sprint courtesy of a hard-fought victory over Cap't Candyman Can in the $250,000 Phoenix Stakes at Keeneland. That effort made up for an off performance on the dirt at Saratoga back in August when Fatal Bullet failed to fire in a race won by Fabulous Strike. The son of Red Bullet will look to improve on his second place finish in the 2008 BC Sprint won by Midnight Lute.

Square Eddie, an Ontario-bred by Kinghaven Farms, is Canadian-owned by J. Paul Reddam, a native of Windsor, Ontario. A Kentucky Derby contender earlier this year, Square Eddie has fought his way back from injury and is entered in both the $1-million Turf Sprint and the $2-million Sprint. Given the large field in the Turf Sprint, it is more likely we'll see Square Eddie on the main track.

Square Eddie, works 5F in 1:00.20, at Santa Anita on October 24, 2009



TURF
Red Rocks won the 2006 BC Turf for Canadian John P. Reddam. The multiple graded winning horse won notoriety for besting Curlin in the Man o' War Stakes at Belmont.

Red Rocks beats Curlin in the Man o' War Stakes at Belmont


CLASSIC
Einstein was purchased earlier this year by Frank Stronach for his Stronach Stables of Aurora, Ontario. The Brazilian-bred, by Spend A Buck, has proven himself at Santa Anita previously and the mart money could well be on Einstein in the Classic.

Einstein winning the Santa Anita Handicap with ease


Mine That Bird, co-bred in Kentucky by Peter Lamantia of Toronto, is the infamous find of former owner David Cotey. Originally purchased by Cotey for just $9,500, the gelding won several Stakes races at Woodbine including the Swynford and Grey. Mine That Bird went on to win Canadian Champion Two-Year-Old honours.

Mine That Bird breaks his maiden at Woodbine in a claiming event


Mine That Bird was sold to Double Eagle Ranch and Bueno Suerte Equine for $400,000 and under the guidance of trainer Chip Woolley, the former Woodbine gelding won the Kentucky Derby at long odds.

* * *

There was plenty to see and admire at Woodbine in 2009 for fans of thoroughbred racing. Best of luck to all the local connections in their quest to win Breeders' Cup glory.

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.

Moby Makes Some Noise Against Horse Slaughter

Artist and animal rights activist, Moby, recently donated the song Flying Foxes to the Southern California Thoroughbred Rescue. Details on the story were posted by Julie on the Alex Brown Racing Forum

"I reached out to the artist Moby, who some of you may know, he does really amazing soundtrack type music and most of Brego's documentaries have some of his stuff in them. He donated the song Flying Foxes to be used in this film, because Moby is A HUGE ANIMAL RIGHTS ACTIVIST.

I'm asking you, if you are a fan of SCTR, to please watch my video, rate and comment. You have to be signed into YouTube to comment and rate by clicking the stars.....

I sometimes ask myself if I would actually have the stomach to do what Caroline does, go to auctions, network, raise funds, find homes, etc. while having a full time job. So, using my closet film making hobby was the best way I knew how to help out."

Kudos to Julie for stepping up on behalf of our four-legged friends.

Check out the video with Moby's soundtrack below.


Racing fans should check out the Southern California Thoroughbred Rescue WebStore which features all sorts of cool racing memorabilia including photos of Stardom Bound and autographed copies of books by Laffit Pincay and Edgar Prado. All proceeds are allocated to the rescue and rehabilitation of thoroughbred ex-racehorses.

All entries have now been received for the Alex Brown YouTube contest re: Horse Slaughter. The winning video will be determined by the video with the highest total score, on May 10, at Noon eastern time. The score is based on the number of comments, multiplied by the overall rating of the video, and adding the number of page views.

The "leader" as of April 11 is video number 2 with a current score of 3415.5 Obviously the videos that were posted earlier in the contest have an advantage at this stage, but as the next month progresses it's likely that advantage will become less so. Each week over the next month Alex will update the LEADER BOARD.

The videos collectively have garnered 18,000 page views and 922 comments. As we head into racing's most publicized event of the year, the Kentucky Derby, let's make sure we use some of the media exposure to speak out on behalf of the equine athletes we love to cheer and wager upon.

* * *

Our first return starter on the Woodbine Watch List makes a quick trip back to the track. Dick Whittington jumps from his third place finish in a 5F $10K claimer up to a $20K claimer but gets added distance going 6 1/2F. An 11-1 shot last time looks in tough spot but we know from the chart that he finished strongly. Here is the official entry for Friday's fourth race.

A little bit of noise being made in the Queen's Plate Fantasy Challenge this weekend as Square Eddie takes on eleven three year-olds in the Lexington Stakes at Keeneland. The G2 event goes 1 1/16M on the near dirt and Square Eddie is the 9-5 morning line favourite. Roger Attfield's Soul of Nataka will be running in the tenth race at Keeneland taking on a group of maiden fillies.
Keino West is entered in a $72K Allowance on Saturday at Woodbine with Gerry Olguin in the saddle. Parabola worked 6F in 1:14 on Wednesday and is closer to making his first Woodbine start of the season.

Three Queen's Plate hopefuls made their debuts at Keeneland yesterday. Kellham (Melnyk Stables)finished eighth going 7F. Sam-Son Farms' Eye Of The Leopard took on Robert Harvey's D'oro Diablo in the seventh race with Edgar Prado guiding D'oro Diablo to a third place finish. Eye Of The Leopard ended up eighth, never really getting involved in the action. D'Oro Diablo, who opened up as the favourite, set quick fractions of 22.71, 45.44 and 1:09.88 before being overtaken by Big Top and Don Gato. The result has me wishing I'd added this one to my Queen's Plate stable.

Live thoroughbred racing continues tomorrow at Woodbine. Post time is 1PM.

Weekend Wrapup: El Brujo Achieves Favourite Status For Queen's Plate

El Brujo took a big step forward on Saturday easily defeating My Bad and Bucephalus by more than eight lengths to win the Achievement Stakes. Patrick Husbands took El Brujo to the lead from the outset and fought off all comers through fractions of 22.01 and 44.73 before changing gears at the top of the stretch and blasting off to victory in 1:09.21 for six furlongs.

Bucephalus was closing nicely at the end of this race which suggests that the added distance of upcoming prep races will be quite welcome. For now, El Brujo is very much the leading candidate to win the Queen's Plate until we hear more from the Mark Casse trained Active Duty who broke his maiden in the Coronation Futurity to end his 2008 campaign defeating El Brujo in the process.

Active Duty breezed five furlongs in 1:02.20 on Sunday and should be making his 2009 Woodbine debut in the near future. Patrick Husbands is the listed jockey for Active Duty and Woodbine's leading rider may have some tough choices to make as the season moves forward.

Other notable news over the weekend was a track record set by Dublin Lane for five furlongs in Saturday’s seventh race at Woodbine. Trained by Laurie Silvera, Dublin Lane stylishly broke his maiden in a time of 56.41 winning by nearly ten lengths.

In the statistics department, Patrick Husbands leads the pack with eight wins, three better than Eurico Rosa da Silva and Tyler Pizarro. Newcomer Luis Contreras, riding for Steve Asmussen's stable, has been in the money in six of eight mounts with one win while placing three times. Beth Wyard has managed two wins and a third with just eleven mounts and looks capable of bigger and better.

Jockey Standings


Donald MacRae has taken over the lead in the trainer standings with three wins and one place in six starts. Malcolm Pierce has matched the three wins and has a significant lead in the money department thanks to his stakes wins. Nick Gonzalez' barn got rolling this weekend with three entrants in the Achievement Stakes. It was good to see Reade Baker back in the paddock and he is 2-2-2 in 9 starts so far and will combine for another big season with top jock Jimmy Mac.

Trainer Standings


***

Patena, owned in part by John Sikura and Glenn Sikura of King City, and Dominic Dilalla of Niagara Falls finished tenth in the Blue Grass stakes which was won by General Quarters. This loss leaves Square Eddie as the only hope of a Canadian connection in the 2009 Kentucky Derby. Square Eddie was bred by Kinghaven Farms and will be making one last start before the Derby in Saturday's Lexington Stakes at Keeneland.


General Quarters Wins The Blue Grass Stakes


The Arkansas Derby was won by Papa Clem which now adds a lot of street cred to the form of Pioneerof The Nile and Friesan Fire who have both beaten that one handily in previous events. Papa Clem's connections will claim that a fast dirt track is an advantage for their horse but it's hard to ignore how easily Pioneerof The Nile (synthetic surface) and Friesan Fire (sloppy surface) dusted that one.

Papa Clem Wins The Arkansas Derby


The Kentucky Derby field will start to take shape over the next two weeks. The field is limited to 20 starters and should more than 20 enter the race, the field is determined by graded earnings. The one exception to the rule is Mafaaz who qualifies automatically having won the Kentucky Derby Challenge Win And You're In event overseas.

The following graded earnings chart was posted by the Thoroughbred Times and shows that popular choice Dunkirk currently sits 21st on the list. His connections will wait patiently for an opening. Three spots are open due to injuries to Stardom Bound, Big Drama and Capt. Candyman Can, however, there are still a few chances for other horses to make some graded money including the Lexington, Withers and Derby Trial. It is expected that Mafaaz will not entertain the Derby.