From Canada's ocean playground to the Woodbine 'Poly'

Listed at 20-1 in the morning line in Friday’s sixth race, it would be easy to overlook a four-year-old filly by the name of Katya.

Through four races, the stout daughter of Mobil, a Dr. Jalal Hosein homebred, has yet to finish better than eighth.  And yet, her story is intriguing as she is a rare thoroughbred foaled in Nova Scotia.

 

Katya representin' the East Coast!

Katya is trained by 72-year-old John Coryat and the conditioner's journey to training a Nova Scotia-bred bay started in the 1950s at Santa Rosa Park, in Trinidad.

“I grew up in Arima, in Trinidad, and the racetrack was from here to the training track from where I lived,” gestures Coryat, from his tack room in Barn 20 of the Woodbine backstretch. “I always would hear the ‘clack, clack, clack’ of the horses in the morning.  When I played in the savannah in the afternoon, the horses would be on the track and walking around and it all just got to me.”

Even before he became a teenager, a young Coryat found a job working with the horses each morning. 

“I spent some time in the paddock and that was a, ‘no no’, at that time,” grins Coryat. “But, it was the early 1950s and I used to help a guy with a horse each morning, head to school in the afternoon and then back to the track again to help in the evening.”

One morning in particular is burned in Coryat’s memory.

“This one horse was giving trouble after training and the horse had a rope as a shank, so I hit the horse across the shoulder with the rope and put him in the stall,” says Coryat. 

The horse, a rambunctious sort named Gold Candy, didn’t appreciate Coryat’s powers of suggestion.

“When I came back from school in the evening to care for the horse again, he picked me up with his teeth and threw me across the stall,” says Coryat, lifting up his shirt to reveal a nasty scar.

“In those days, I weighed about 80lbs,” says Coryat.  “And when that horse picked me up and threw me in the corner, the other grooms, who were there playing cards, rushed in and helped me out.”

Many years pass and, in 1975, Coryat makes way to Woodbine and embarks on a career in racing working with a number of trainers including Jerry Meyer and Bobby Fisher, eventually taking out his trainer’s license about a decade ago.

 

Coryat and Katya

By chance, the late Daily Racing Form writer Wally Wood stumbled across Coryat on the backstretch one morning and the resulting story, complete with a photo of a young Coryat sitting atop a bale of hay, is published.

The story makes its way into the hands of Dr. Hosein, a native of Trinidad and some ten years Coryat's senior, now practicing medicine in Nova Scotia.

Dr. Hosein, recently in the possession of a young racing prospect, reached out to Coryat and asked if he might remember an old racehorse the Hosein family used to own back in Trinidad named Gold Candy!

“I said, ‘Of course I know him. He’s left his mark on me!’” laughs Coryat.

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Dr. Hosein has his wife, Martha, to thank for getting him into the racing business. 

The couple raises Dutch Warmbloods in Halifax, but one of his wife’s shopping trips brought some new blood to the farm.

“My wife came home from a sale about 14 years ago in the U.S. with two horses. One is still alive, a Dutch Warmblood. The other one was a thoroughbred called Pour Le Sport,” he says.

Pour Le Sport, a granddaughter of Nijinsky, was a useful race horse winning seven of 27 starts while earning some $35,000 racing primarily at Laurel Park and Philadelphia Park.

At Martha's suggestion, Pour Le Sport was bred to Imperial Gold and the resulting foal was an unraced Nova Scotia-bred filly named Eve.

“John used to look after Eve but she never raced,” explains Dr. Hosein. “She had a little chip so we brought her back to Halifax and then bred Eve to Not Impossible and got a filly called Lady Jane.”

Lady Jane put together a pair of seconds and a trio of thirds through 23 races at Woodbine and Fort Erie. 

Eve then went to multiple graded stakes winner A Fleets Dancer and produced a colt, soon gelded, named Don Diego.  He managed one second in 14 starts before retiring to the east coast.

Despite the lack of success, thus far, through 41 starts with his Nova Scotia-bred horses, Dr. Hosein remains enamoured with the sport he came to love in his native Trinidad.

“I love horses but it’s a rich man’s game, you know, and I’m not a rich man,” he laughs. “Still, I love my horses.”

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Katya will leave from Post 8 in Friday’s sixth race and Coryat is hoping to see a much-improved filly.

“She’s training very well,” says Coryat. “I got her last year in September and I didn’t have much time with her. It takes time to develop a horse, but I rushed her into a few races last year as she was a three-year-old maiden and I thought she started to show a little promise.”

 

Cotyat's a long way from Santa Rosa!

Adding bluntly, “It did not quite work out as I would like.”

After a winter in Ontario, Katya has come back to Woodbine a mature filly.

“She was still backward mentally last year, but I have the same exercise rider (Alex Hou) this year and we both have noticed a vast improvement mentally and physically with her. In our opinion, she’s in good shape and the way she’s training is very encouraging.”

Even if Katya doesn’t come good first time out off the layoff, racing under champion rider Todd Kabel, Coryat will continue to work hard with his lone trainee.

“She’s non-descript, an unknown,” admits Coryat. “But, at my age, 72-years-old, one horse keeps me active. It’s my physiotherapy and it keeps me thinking. If she shapes up to be a nice horse, that would be a plus, and if she doesn’t that’s okay too. Right now I’m enjoying it and savouring it.”

Katya’s  20-1 on the morning line, and she might be double that come post time, but if the Ontario-sired miss, by way of Nova Scotia, finds her way to the winner’s circle there will be no one happier than Dr. Hosein.

“If she wins,” laughs Dr. Hosein, still surprised at the smattering of attention for his star filly. “I want you and John to lead her in.”

Betting Woodbine: Speed and conditioning prevails early in the meet

Woodbine’s 133-date meet bursts from the gate on Saturday, a card highlighted by the $150,000 Star Shoot Stakes, and many local handicappers will be shaking off the rust after a long winter’s rest, trying to take advantage of Woodbine’s new continent-low 14.95% win takeout.

Last year, U.S-based trainer Wesley Ward dominated the opening day card with three wins and a third from four starters.  Those impressive numbers were actually a regression from 2011 when Ward won with five of his six opening day starters.

 

Horses are back on the track at Woodbine

Taking a look back at the 2012 meet, a whopping 54 of the first 100 winners were winter raced and/or trained or prevailed making their second start of the meet.

Clearly, selecting horses with winter conditioning, is one angle bettors can take when trying to find a winner.

Bettors that take note of the work tab at the bottom of the past performance chart, should pay careful consideration to horses that breezed in Florida over the winter at Palm Meadows (PMM), Payson Park (PAY) and Ocala Training Center (OTC) to name a few prominent training facilities

Woodbine-based trainers that took a string of horses south for the winter include: Paul Attard, Tino Attard, Roger Attfield, Reade Baker, Ian Black, Mark Casse, Carolyn Costigan, Mike DePaulo Mark Frostad, Rachel Halden, Brian Lynch, John Mattine and Malcolm Pierce.

Malcolm Pierce, who compiled a record of 9-5-7 from 38 starts at the Fair Grounds winter meet, is hoping his horses will have an advantage when the race distance increases beyond six furlongs.

“I don’t have that many sprinters, but I see they've written some longer races in the first condition book which suits us very well if those races will fill,” said Pierce. “We should have a little bit of an edge early on conditioning over horses that didn't go away for the winter.  Obviously, the Attfield, Frostad and Casse horses will be as fit as mine, but for the locally trained horses we should have an edge until they catch up to us.”

Pierce sends out the winter-trained Part the Seas (2-1) in Saturday’s third race.

While Ward, who will saddle just two starters on opening day (the coupled entry of Barisoff and Krazy for Kaya), is clearly a threat to continue his winning Woodbine ways, handicappers need not focus only on the former Eclipse Award winning apprentice rider turned trainer.

Tiller's horses working on the training track

Through the first 100 races of 2012, Bob Tiller won seven times with horses that trained their way up to the meet solely in Ontario.

“I've always been of the opinion that horses, and people, need a rest,” said Tiller. “A lot of two-year-old horses, turning three-years-old, need that break. They need those two months off.”

To get a head start on the meet, Tiller started up some of his string at Paul Buttigieg’s farm which has its own training facility.

“We get ours going early at Buttigieg’s, by the 15th of January, so they're started early and we try to have some ready early,” said Tiller. “Florida is a good thing for some horses, but its not the, ‘be all end all’.”

TRAINER STANDINGS AFTER FIRST 100 RACES

Trainer	Wins
Baker	7
Tiller	7
Carroll	5
Doyle	5
Ward	5
Casse	4
Ensom	4
Fairlie	4
Buttigieg	3
Cappuccitti	3
Griffith	3
Lynch	3
Attard, Tino	2
Banach	2
DePaulo	2
Gonzalez	2
Pierce	2
Vassilieva	2
Many others…	1

Putting the right horse in the right spot is a key to Tiller’s success year round.

“We try to have them ready early if they have speed. You have to have the right horse for the right race,” said Tiller. “Horses with speed that are dead fit, or raced the year before, they're going to fit into the proper conditions.”

Tiller, cautiously optimistic, has already pegged a couple young horses with potential.

“I've learned not to get too excited about horses until they run,” started Tiller. “But, we have a couple of three-year-old maidens that are unraced, that I know can run and I expect them to show up in the winners' circle.  I’ve got a horse called Langstaff, a three-year-old gelding that I like. He can run. And we have a nice filly named Born to Be Queen.”

Born to Be Queen is listed at odds of 6-1 in Saturday’s ninth race, while Langstaff is listed at odds of 3-1 in Sunday’s finale.

Leroy Trotman, assistant trainer to Reade Baker at Woodbine, believes that winter fitness is the key component to getting a quick start to the meet.

“From a trainer’s point of view, you need to find those fitter horses from Florida,” said Trotman. “But, don't overlook some of the Canadian horses that wintered here.  Some trainers will have their horse ready early, for example, Tiller had horses training at Buttigieg’s farm.”

 

Leroy Trotman

The key to finding a locally trained horse that is ready to run opening weekend can be found on the work tab.

“We had our first horse, Tiny Bear, reach five furlongs yesterday (breezed in 1:02.60 on April 1), and she was at The Thoroughbred Center (TTC) in Kentucky,” said Trotman.  “All my local horses are only doing quarters (quarter-mile breezes) right now. If there are any horses to run right now, they’ll be coming from Florida and Keeneland.”

Tiny Bear (3-1) will take on the Ward entry in Saturday’s second race.

Trotman also believes that handicappers making their way down to the paddock before the race could reap huge benefits opening day, simply by playing horses that look ready.

But, how do we know which horses look ready?

“You’re looking for a nice healthy coat, to start,” explained Trotman. “You can see how well a horse wintered, even if he still has that long coat, if you can see the shine in his coat and a spark in his eye.  It’s important to see a horse that has wintered well.”

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Racing style is another key factor in finding a winner early in the meet.  With the majority of races at the front of the condition book listed at six furlongs and under, gate speed is key.

Last year, only 17 of the first 100 races were won with horses employing a closing style - - and 10 of those 17 winners came when the distance increased to six furlongs or more.

Style	Wins
Front Runner	35
Pace Presser	32
Stalker	16
Closer	17

The vast majority of winners came from horses with the ability to race gate-to-wire (35 winners) or pressed the pace (32 winners) of the front-runner.

Horses who stalked from mid-pack picked up 16 wins in the opening 100 races.

For those handicappers that like to focus on the pilot, leading rider Luis Contreras led the way with 12 wins from the first 100 races, followed closely by Emma-Jayne Wilson and Eurico Rosa da Silva with 10 wins each.

Contreras, like many of the top mounts he will steer on Saturday, is also winter raced. 

The native of Mexico has already picked up 16 wins in 2013 including a recent Grade 3 score with Regalo Mia, at Gulfstream Park.

 

Luis Contreras in the winner's circle

In addition to staying fit, riding south of the border also helps Contreras get first call on a number of top horses that raced or trained over the winter, such as Leinan (8-5), the morning-line favourite in Saturday’s Star Shoot Stakes.

And don’t let anecdotal evidence of the rider’s particular strengths sway your opinion.

“If you told people Luis won the most races out of the first 100, they'd be shocked, because people don't equate him to being a speed rider,” said Tony Esposito, agent for Contreras. “But, a good rider will win at every distance.”

Jockey	Wins
Contreras	12
Wilson	10
Da Silva	10
Husbands	9
Stein	8
Olguin	6
Moran	5
Rios	5
Campbell	4
Bahen	3
Callaghan	3
Moore	3
Pizarro	3

And while fitness is clearly paramount for both horse and rider when it comes to handicapping Woodbine early in the meet, a few helpful hints can also be attributed to breeding.

The offspring of the late Bold Executive, a perennial leading sire of the past two decades, tallied eight of the first 100 winners of the 2012 meet.

Another local stallion, Old Forester, boasted five winners from the first 100 races - - so get to know your speed influences early in the meet.

Sire	Count
Bold Executive	8
Old Forester	5
Speightstown	3
Where’s the Ring	3
Belong to Me	2
Dance To Destiny	2
Half Ours	2
Harlan’s Holiday	2
Not For Love	2
Philanthropist	2
Roar of the Tiger	2
Seeking The Best	2
Survivalist	2
Many others tied with…	1

Woodbine’s 10-race opening day card goes to post at 1 p.m.  Watch and wager on all the racing via HorsePlayer Interactive.

Attfield joins Casse on the Kentucky Derby trail

Perry Lefko, a winner of four Sovereign Awards as a turf writer, interviewed trainer Mark Casse this morning on his internet show, Be My Guest.

Casse spoke at length about the ups and downs conditioning Kentucky Derby hopefuls Uncaptured and Dynamic Sky, as well as filly Spring in the Air.

Uncaptured

“It’s a great position to be in. It’s such a tough road to get there, so when you can have two (Derby prospects), it’s always better than one,” said Casse. “At this point in time, if we could get one there happy, healthy and ready to go, we’ll be very happy.”

Lefko was quick to bring up the Canadian angle, noting that both Uncaptured and Dynamic Sky are Canadian-bred and that Casse has a rare opportunity to take a run at both the U.S and Canadian Triple Crowns.

“The Queen’s Plate is a big point on our radar and we don’t want to lose track of that,” agreed Casse. “We have a filly, as well, that’s a Canadian-bred (Spring in the Air) and she’s getting ready to run in the Ashland. She’s already a Grade 1 winner (Alcibiades) and she could run in the (Kentucky) Oaks. She’s also a Canadian Oaks filly and possibly a Queen’s Plate filly as well.

“We have an abundance of really good Canadian-breds this year and that’s nice to have. It speaks volumes to what’s going on in Canada recently, how these horses are able to go out and compete, not just in Canada, but in the world against the best there is.”

Lefko brought up a pair of Canadian greats, Sunny’s Halo and Northern Dancer, as examples of horses that made an impact competing at the highest level.

Northern Dancer, of course, is the only horse to have won both the Kentucky Derby and the Queen’s Plate and Casse noted that Oxley, who won the Derby with Monarchos in 2001, would like to join E.P Taylor in that exclusive club.

“Mr. Oxley is excited and wants to win the Kentucky Derby again, but he wants to win the Queen’s Plate as well,” said Casse.

Dynamic Sky (photo by Melanie Casse)

Getting to the Derby is no easy chore. Casse accomplished that feat last year with Prospective, another Oxley charge, only to see the Malibu Moon colt clip heels as the field of 20 burst from the gate.

“Prospective was a long shot, but he came up to the Derby as good as a horse could do. He was training great and seemed to get over Churchill Downs well,” recalled Casse. “He broke from the gate, went 100 yards, and the grey horse came over on us and our horse clipped his heels. It took all Luis (Contreras) could do to stay on him and not fall off. Our day was done, 100 yards out of the gate, after years of preparation.”

Granted, with some 35 years in the business, Casse knows that racing luck comes and goes.

“Some days you lose those types of races, some days those are the types of things that help you win them,” said Casse.

Charting a path to Churchill Downs for Uncaptured, a winner of six starts as a juvenile, has been difficult as the star colt endured a bruised foot, and then a second hoof issue, delaying his eventual three-year-old debut to last Saturday’s Spiral Stakes, at Turfway.

“It’s a little nerve wracking,” said Casse. “Nothing has gone right for Uncaptured since he won the Kentucky Jockey Club. It’s been one problem after another, but right now he is approaching the top of his game.”

Casse was pleased with Uncaptured’s strong second-place run on Saturday, when defeated 1 ½-lengths by Black Onyx.

“I’m really excited and very pleased with his performance on Saturday. Yes, he got beat, but he had so many things thrown at him,” said Casse. “If he can come out of that, and so far the last few days out at the track he looks like the old Uncaptured, you’re going to see a bigger and better horse in his next start.  If things keep going the way they are going, Uncaptured will be at the top of his game on the first Saturday in May.

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Joining Casse on the Kentucky Derby trail is Hall of Fame trainer Roger Attfield who sends out Are You Kidding Me in Saturday’s Grade 1, $1-million Florida Derby, at Gulfstream.

Are You Kidding Me in the Woodbine walking ring

Owned by his breeders Ron Kirk, John Bates, Mike Riordan, Aaron Sones et al, Are You Kidding Me broke his maiden sprinting on the Woodbine ‘Poly’ in July and followed that score up with a half-length win on the turf over Nancy O.

Are You Kidding Me, out of Sweet Awakening, a half-sister to Grade 2 Illinois Derby winner Recapturetheglory, then tried his luck in a pair of graded events, finishing second in the Grade 2 Summer Stakes, on the E.P Taylor Turf Course; and fifth, defeated less than three lengths, in the Grade 1 Breeders’ Futurity, at Keeneland.

Attfield entered the Kentucky-bred son of Run Away and Hide in the Grade 2 Swale Stakes (March 2), at Gulfstream, for his three-year-old debut, but scratched the colt after drawing post 12.

The colt found a more favourable spot a week later at Tampa Bay Downs, in a 1 1/16-mile turf allowance, finishing a closing second, defeated just a nose, to Grade 1 Breeders' Cup Juvenile Turf runner-up Noble Tune.

On Saturday, Are You Kidding Me will make his first dirt start in the 1 1/8-mile test, while also looking to pick up his first points in the new Kentucky Derby points system.

A win (100 points) or place (40 points) would likely be enough to propel Attfield’s talented colt into the Kentucky Derby starting gate.  Finishing third (20 points) or fourth (10 points) would require Attfield to find one more race for the bay.

To earn those points, Are You Kidding Me will have to better last year’s two-year-old champion, Shanghai Bobby, as well as Grade 3 Holy Bull winner Itsmyluckyday and Fountain of Youth champ, Orb.

Are You Kidding Me drew Post 9 in Saturday’s 10-horse field and is listed at odds of 15-1.

FIELD FOR THE FLORIDA DERBY
PP/ Horse/ Jockey/ Trainer/ Odds
1 / Shanghai Bobby/ Rosie Napravnik/ Todd Pletcher/ 5-2
2 / Pick of the Litter/ Jesus Castanon/ Dale Romans/ 6-1
3 / Itsmyluckyday/ Elvis Trujillo/ Eddie Plesa Jr./ 2-1
4 / Pontiff/ Alan Garcia/ Dale Romans/ 30-1
5 / Frac Daddy/ Corey Lanerie/ Kenny McPeek/ 20-1
6 / Orb/ John Velazquez/ Shug McGaughey/ 3-1
7 / Indy's Illusion/ Rajiv Maragh/ Barclay Tagg/ 20-1
8 / Merit Man/ Kent Desormeaux/ Bob Hess Jr./ 15-1
9 / Are You Kidding Me/ Jose Lezcano/ Roger Attfield/ 15-1
10 / Narvaez/ Paco Lopez/ Augustin Bezara/ 20-1

Straight from the horse's mouth

Trainers will often compliment a rider as having good hands.

It’s a compliment 31-year-old exercise rider Briar Perkins has heard quite often at the track - - not just for her work aboard a horse, but also for the art she creates with her nimble fingers.

After a morning spent steering two-year-old horses through their paces in the sand ring on the Woodbine backstretch, Perkins was keen to show off her artistic side.

Fifty Proof...in pendant form!

“Check this out,” she smiles, arm extended, pushing a glistening tooth adorned by a horse with a familiar white blaze in my direction.  “It’s Fifty Proof...and it’s carved out of one of his old tooth caps!”

Sure enough, neatly carved out of enamel and expertly painted on a discarded cap, was a pendant bearing the likeness of the graded stakes winner.  

It’s a special creation for Perkins, not only for the effort she put into the charm, but also for the time she spent with the horse.

“Fifty Proof was my big horse last year,” recalls Perkins of the massive chestnut gelding, who captured the Sir Barton Stakes after more than a year away from the races. “I galloped him into that race.  He’s one of many I ride for Ian Black including Excaper, Stormy Lord, Really Sharp and Incredicat.”

Perkins, who studied art at the University of Guelph before the call of the racetrack beckoned, loves climbing aboard Fifty Proof.

“I feel guilty charging Ian for it.  He’s one-of-a-kind that horse,” she laughs.

And even though Perkins has a slight frame, she has no trouble handling the powerful gelding.

“He aims to please. He wants to do right, but he has his tricks,” she admits. “He doesn’t like horses coming right at him, so he can pull a quick wheel on you.  And he can get strong. He likes to tell you when he’s feeling good. But truly, he is a gentle giant who just wants to be a good boy most of the time.”

Briar and filly Pied A Terre

Perkins started galloping for Gail Woods after leaving university and continued gaining experience by spending a year at Keeneland riding for Diane Perkins - - no relation.

She learned quickly, and why wouldn’t she after a childhood spent on horseback?

“I grew up on a farm. I was on a horse before I could walk,” she laughs. “I was in pony club and in two world championships for mounted games - - which are relay races on horse back, jumping on and off of them and sword racing at targets, fun stuff!”

Granted, riding at the track is a little more physical.

“It takes its toll on your body,” she admits. “There’s also stress to getting on good horses like that. You worry about messing things up by going too fast.  There’s a lot of responsibility.  At first, I didn’t always notice other riders going by too close, but as soon as I started riding these horses, I became much more aware of my surroundings.  You want to take care of these horses as best you can.”

And now, having established herself as a regular gallop girl for Black, Perkins is keen to make a little money moonlighting with her art.

It all started a couple years ago when a friend found a cap in a feed tub and passed it on to Perkins. After turning the object around in her hands a few times, the budding artist came up with the idea of making jewelry.

Just like riding a horse, it took a little while for Perkins to master the craft. 

Fortunately, she was gifted a bucket of caps by Dr. Brian Van Arem, an equine vet who collected deciduous teeth to hand out to students after lectures, to practice her jewelry-making skills.

“The first ones were rough and primitive, but I’ve honed the technique over the past two years,” she says. “I use very small paint brushes and I have a Dremel tool for carving. It takes a lot of patience, especially for the carving, because enamel is really hard to work with. It can be very time consuming to get all the layers down.”

An array of designs...

Perkins now spends more time than she cares to admit each night carving, painting and shaping horse teeth into works of art.  

As she perfected her technique, she’s managed to create a variety of shapes including a shamrock, heart and butterfly out of the discarded dentistry.

Word spread quickly on the backstretch of Perkins handiwork, and she is now taking on a number of custom orders from owners and trainers wanting a keepsake that’s not only of their horse, but from their horse.

Ranging in price from $75 - $150, Perkins has found a niche market and she’s busy enough that she’ll soon launch her own website, branded with the perfect company name - - Straight From The Horse’s Mouth.

Briar guides a 2yo chestnut in the sand ring...

While she waits for her art business to take off, Perkins will continue to focus on riding horses and also re-training a Weather Warning gelding, named Rocket Warning, which she co-owns with her boyfriend.

“The horse is a problem child.  He’s got a lot of talent but he’s his own worst enemy,” she explains. “He’s a bit of a stress case, so he needs to be in a small barn where he can get a lot of attention, which we can provide. Hopefully, he’ll pay us back”

For Perkins, who doesn’t mind putting in the time to help a horse come good, it's just one more task worth sinking her teeth into.

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I'll be sure to publish a link to Briar's website once established...for now, if anyone is interested in getting in touch with Briar, leave a comment below or send me an email.