Photo Essay: New Start/Finish Lengthens The Stretch For Woodbine Harness Racing

Friday evening brought perfect weather to sit outside and enjoy a night out in the fresh air at Woodbine. The grandstand was full of punters enjoying a cold beer on the first properly warm night of the meet and there was exciting live racing with a few new twists and turns as Woodbine has decided to shift the start/finish lines for the last seven programmes of its current Standardbred racing meet.

The new configuration will see the start and finish points situated 235 feet further down the stretch from its previous spot. Despite the extended homestretch that now spans some 1,215 feet, Friday’s action saw a continuation of front-end speed dominance."Randy Waples piloted Think Gold past the new finishing pole in the first race over the new configuration but remains convinced that Woodbine is a speed track. “I haven’t really found that much of a difference, “said Waples. “You still have those two tight turns to get around. The inside horses have an advantage on the turn, the outside horses have to work a lot harder to get there. I suppose it’s a little bit different but I haven’t really sensed it yet.”

Waples Leads The Pack Into The First Turn


Westway won Friday’s second race for driver Phil Hudon. Hudon believes, “the first quarters are going to be cheaper. I think you’ll end up seeing more flow. The first turn comes a bit quicker and you can make your moves down the backside.”

Hudon Likes The Potential For Movement In The Backstretch


Hudon was one of many drivers taken in by the still marked old finish pole. “In the first race I thought I was done at the first wire and hanging on for third but ended up eighth,” said Hudon. While heading for home in the first race, Waples admitted, “I was driving for the first wire and thought I had lots of horse left and suddenly I realized it was the second wire I had to go to. It does take some getting used to.”

If You See The Finish Line, Keep Going


Trainer Benoit Baillargeon watched his four year-old trotter Saqqara Dream put up a 1:53.3 career best effort in the sixth race taking full advantage of the speedy track. Reflecting on the new track conditions, Baillargeon stated, “the first quarter is a little slower, but its still the horse that is in front that controls the race. This is a speed track for the front horses, I call it the biggest half-mile track in the world.”

According to Bruce Murray, WEG’s Vice-President of Standardbred Racing, the changes have been made to improve racing for the fans. “The ultimate goal is to improve the flow of racing at Woodbine," said Murray. While it is too early to determine the effects of the new parameters, it still does seem that horses on the lead coming into the stretch were at an advantage.

Some drivers are hoping for even further changes. Jody Jamieson stated, “I’m hoping from a driver’s standpoint that they move the post further down and get a longer stretch.” While his counterpart Waples has an idea of his own, “If I had my wish,” said Waples, “I would wake up one day and find out we get to race on the mile track here. No matter what they do, we’re still going to have to deal with two tight turns and that’s the big obstacle in front of us. If you can get to the front you can steal fractions.”

How Low Can You Go? Jody Gets Aerodynamic


WEG officials, along with the ORC, will assess the results of this trial period and consider making this configuration permanent in time for the return of harness racing this fall on October 8. The final date of the Woodbine Spring meet is Monday, April 27. Mohawk’s Summer meet begins Thursday, April 30.

Woodbine Scoreboard Spells Out The New Distance For The Fans

All Okay After Horrific Accident At Woodbine

Harness racing fans watching Monday night's fifth race at Woodbine, the $55,400 Ontario Boys Pacing Series final, witnessed a freak eight-horse accident when Warp Speed mis-stepped in third position just before the half and tumbled to the ground taking out the remainder of the field.

The race was moving evenly enough into the backstretch as Randy Waples and Dinner Guest burst from fourth position into the lead with eventual winner Windsun Twister sitting comfortable in second when the chaotic mishap occurred. From third position, Warp Speed, under a drive from Mario Baillargeon, fell suddenly on his side causing a chain reaction as a shocked track announcer Ken Middleton called, "and he (Warp Speed) is down, look out. We've got a massive pileup in the backfield as Warp Speed just dropped." With a bit of quick thinking, Middleton advised that a loose horse was now racing the wrong way in the safety lane towards the paddock, before going on to call the remainder of the race.

It was a surreal stretch run as just two horses made their way towards the finish line and Luc Ouelette moved Windsun Twister comfortably out of the pocket to overtake Waples on the spent Dinner Guest. There's a startling moment as Waples is overtaken, when he looks over his shoulder to see who might be coming, followed by a hard double take as Waples realizes that there is not a single horse chasing him. Both drivers crossed the wire looking across the backstretch seemingly in shock at the events that just unfolded without their knowledge.



Thankfully all eight horses involved in the pileup have come out of the incident healthy but for a few scrapes and bruises.

Drivers Roger Mayotte (Shiny Mach), Robert Shepherd (Rust Belt), Mario Baillargeon (Warp Speed) and Chris Christoforu (Hemingway Hudson) were injured in the accident though it appears that only Mayotte and Shepherd were seriously hurt. According to Trot Insider, Mayotte has suffered a broken shoulder and Shepherd has a possible broken leg.

If you have a HorsePlayer Interactive account, you can watch the race by logging in and clicking to view the replay of Monday night's fifth race.

Kudos to the track officials for quickly managing what could have been a difficult incident. Triple Dead Heat hopes that all participants in the race recover fully and swiftly.

Out With The Old, In With The New

There was much to celebrate as the Woodbine harness campaign came to a close on December 29th. This past year saw the emergence of Somebeachsomewhere, Woodbine hosted a brilliant OSS Superfinals and local drivers Jody Jamieson, Randy Waples and Paul MacDonell proved once again to be among the best in the business.

I was on hand to cover the final of the Niagara Pacing Series for Down The Stretch newspaper, as well, with only one night remaining to add to 2008 stats, many horsemen were watching closely to see if a winner could be decided between leading trainers Benoit Baillargeon and Rob Fellows who entered the evening tied with 95 wins each.

My trips to watch harness racing at Woodbine inevitably end up in ridiculous weather. Look at the snow gusting across the light poles on the back stretch.



Benoit Baillargeon poses with Come Onalonglisten - this horse was in the lead approaching the top of the stretch, only to be blown off-stride by 60MPH winds turning for home.



I had the opportunity to interview Somebeachsomewhere driver Paul MacDonell who is up for an O'Brien Award as Top Driver. Since "The Beach" is now retired, I asked MacDonell about horses to look for next year and he said, "It’s early yet, but I had a couple nice two year old winners in the OSS Superfinals with Elusive Desire and Point of Honour...they’re two that could be something to see next year."



As the trainers and handlers readied their fillies for the Niagara Pacing Series, trainer Rick MacNeill of pre-race favourite Windsong Esperanza took a moment to pose for the camera.



The imposing Paper Cut stands tall ahead of the feature event



Gottogetoutmore, one half of an entry with her speedy stable mate, Rip Rockin' Lady, was frisky in the paddock waiting for her friend to arrive, but did allow me close enough for a quick hello.



Here's a focused Rip Rockin'Lady staring me down, just daring me to approach.



The race went off without a hitch and Windsong Esperanza took the lead fighting through quick fractions in difficult conditions. Driver Todd Buter took cover in fourth spot with Rip Rockin' Lady and waited for his opening second over, smartly drafting in behind Signal to take a run at Windsong Esperanza in the stretch. In the last jump, Rip Rockin' Lady was up to win by the narrowest of margins.

Part-owner Lynette Buter, all smiles, after the race with a muddy Rip Rockin' Lady




I also spoke to Lynette's son, driver Ty Buter, who admitted he wasn't confident he could catch Windsong Esperanza down the lane saying, "I knew it would come right down to the wire and my mare just kept digging."



All in all, a good night for the Buter family!

While a full and proper write-up will appear in Down The Stretch, it can be reported that Benoit Baillargeon and Rob Fellows ended up in a tie for the trainer lead. Full stats are posted below.

I look forward to my next trip out to Woodbine where I will be equipped with snow pants, umbrella and hurricane repellent!

DRIVERS Sts 1st 2nd 3rd $Won Win% UDRS

Jody C Jamieson 1666 282 255 212 6,919,236 16.9 .297

Richard Zeron 1793 260 250 184 5,578,343 14.5 .257

Randall W Waples 1847 248 231 231 5,995,306 13.4 .245

Mario J Baillargeon 1665 185 204 204 4,504,314 11.1 .220

Mark J Macdonald 1399 185 167 175 5,330,488 13.2 .240

Paul Macdonell 1453 173 148 149 5,982,798 11.9 .210

Luc R Ouellette 1359 172 132 153 3,935,805 12.7 .218

Michael J Saftic 1570 156 178 171 3,965,418 9.9 .199

Jack G Moiseyev 1344 120 152 186 3,472,416 8.9 .198

Jason J Brewer 1209 116 99 130 2,552,461 9.6 .177

Roger F Mayotte 1062 102 101 84 1,917,387 9.6 .175

TRAINERS Sts 1st 2nd 3rd $Won Win% UTRS

Benoit O Baillargeon 680 95 89 79 2,340,917 14.0 .251

Robert Don Fellows 669 95 75 89 1,869,358 14.2 .249

Casie Coleman 450 80 76 59 2,609,504 17.8 .315

Kevin P McMaster 546 75 50 58 1,276,714 13.7 .224

Anthony Montini 273 58 39 28 951,311 21.2 .326

Jonas L Stutzman 313 53 41 29 740,333 16.9 .273

Robert A McIntosh 335 52 49 33 2,476,378 15.5 .269

It Was A Dark And Stormy Night...On Some Beachsomewhere

T'was a dark and stormy night, and amongst the swirling winds and driving rain ran many a standardbred through mucky limestone on the path to riches and glory in one of eight Ontario Sires Stakes Super Finals.



The evening began well enough as I dressed warmly and posed for paparazzi with celebrity race horse, Goodtimes. The 17 year-old gelding lived up to his name many times over the course of his career, winning in excess of CDN$2M including the 1999 Maple Leaf Trot.


My mission on this frigid evening with Down The Stretch editor Peter Gross, was to track down Paul MacDonnell - the driver of harness superstar Somebeachsomewhere. After a long trek through surprisingly sloppy polytrack we found MacDonnell in the backstretch stable preparing for what would be a very successful night.


(Peter Gross with Somebeachsomewhere driver Paul MacDonnell.)

After the interview, we stood patiently in the barn for the arrival of Somebeachsomewhere - and as we waited a certain young filly by the name of Belka Hanover took notice.


(Belka Hanover flirting with the press.)

This charming three year old filly was more than happy to pose for photos and with the permission of her lovely handler, I attempted to ask Belka Hanover a few questions. After a nuzzle of her nose and a bit of a chin scratch, the filly decided she was in good hands and took three big steps forward and slapped a kiss on my ear. At odds of 70-1, Belka finished eighth but showed enough early speed that I think we may meet again in a winner's circle sometime soon.


(Belka Hanover offers up a tip for the seventh race.)

While our attempt to meet the harness racing horse of the year was fruitless, ahead of us was a night of great food and better wagering in the comfy confines of Woodbine's Post Parade Lounge. As part of a story for Down The Stretch, we were wagering on behalf of the Ontario Standardbred Adoption Society and managed to raise several hundred dollars thanks to some choice exactor betting. The full story will appear in our next issue.

The card was chalk full of hot favourites who won six of eight OSS races to make the public look very wise. Looking wiser still, was MacDonnell who won FOUR OSS races on the night, each worth a cool $300,000. The most exciting of which was Somebeachsomewhere's commanding front running romp through sleet and wind to wire the field by eleven lengths in front of a roaring Woodbine grandstand. As his racing career comes to an end all too soon, Somebeachsomewhere will only have run once at Woodbine, but I will be able to tell my friends that I was there to see it happen - and I made ten cents on the deal!


Somebeachsomewhere will have to fight off Deweycheatumnhowe for horse of the year honours, but there is no doubt in Paul MacDonnel's mind who the better horse is and he told us as much just hours before race time -"Somebeachsomewhere is the horse of a lifetime."

My Week At Woodbine

On Thursday night, I visited Woodbine's new $11.5M Harness Paddock and Retention Centre - a building whose sole purpose seemed to be blocking the view of the start of seven furlong races. After my visit, I can now appreciate the magic of this new building. On approach, the building rises before you like a cathedral and perhaps a different soul purpose as the backstretch towers provide heavenly lighting. The stable itself houses hundreds of standardbreds readying for the evening's races and the building literally hums with excitement.


(Triple Dead Heat in need of a haircut.)

My task for the evening was to snap photos of Down The Stretch editor Peter Gross wearing Randy Waples colours for the next edition of our paper. We spoke with driver Jody Jamieson who helped us out by providing a horse and bike for Peter as props. Jamieson, with over 4,000 career victories, has won every important race you can name including the Little Brown Jug and the North America Cup - it was great that he took care of us despite a busy card.

On Saturday I watched the races from Woodbine's sixth floor press box and met track announcer Dan Loiselle, who on introduction declared, "Sure...Triple Dead Heat. I've read that, good stuff!" I nearly fell off my chair. Loiselle is a gentleman, full of stories and always smiling. It took some time for me to adjust to listening to Loiselle speak without looking at my program to see which horse might be surging to the wire. The man's voice could make a public reading of the Rules of Civil Procedure exciting.

A nice day of wagering was capped by an exactor of Shut It Down to win the Frost King Stakes at 11-1 on top of Wildcat Fashion for a $109.50 payout. Tyler Pizarro celebrated his brilliant ride with a series of fist pumps. Shut It Down had never been further than two lengths behind the hot favourite Mean Green in two previous outings and was sitting on a big race. Mean Green bounced to finish fourth.

A great weekend was topped off by meeting Sandy Hawley and Laffit Pincay Jr. The two legends spoke at length on Saturday at Woodbine and then made their way on Sunday to Greenwood Teletheatre to do it all over again. A big crowd showed up to both events for the chance to meet a four time Queen's Plate winner (Hawley) and a Kentucky Derby winner (Pincay Jr.)

(15,980 wins - Pincay Jr., Triple Dead Heat and Hawley.)

I surprised both jocks by showing up with a program from the 1988 Rothman's International won by the filly Infamy.



In 1988 I was 14 and already a big racing fan. International Day brought the best jockeys from all over the world to the track and the opportunity for a starstruck kid to collect a few autographs. Some of the legends riding that day included Ray Cochrane, Robbie Davis, Eddie Maple, Angel Cordero Jr., Chris Antley, Jose Santos as well as Hawley and Pincay Jr.

At first Laffit was certain he was not in Toronto for that race, but Hawley pointed to his now 20 year-old signature on River Memories and it all started flooding back. I didn't get to meet Hawley on International day, but Sunday he took the time to sign the program for me while shaking his head in wonder at the names of jockeys he competed against.

To meet heavy hitters like Hawley and Pincay Jr is the equivalent of a baseball fan meeting Joe Dimaggio and Hank Aaron. The energy created by the two friends will do far more to bring the public back to the track than any number of television screens in distant teletheatres.

Well done Woodbine. With some racing luck, next year's Woodbine Oaks day might co-incide with a Legend's Race - and hopefully make a few new fans for a sport where the average age of attendees is 45 and rising.