The Friday, September 9 card at Woodbine was a typical weekday day of racing with mostly claiming types but plenty of interesting events to handicap. Followers of a long season of racing at any one track often encounter a time in the season when there will be horses coming off short layoffs or runners ready to have some vacation time.
At this time of year bettors will encounter huge class-droppers, many more switching from a steady diet of grass racing and getting back to Tapeta and still others, from perhaps smaller stables, who have been racing too high all year and are getting some class relief. Bettors have to do a lot of deep digging to uncover some of these longshots.
This past Friday’s card was like that as longshots popped up everywhere, leaving handicappers perplexed while the few longshot players had a heyday.
The day began with 1-to-5 shot WESTERN TROUBLE, a well-bred Into Mischief gelding seemingly looking like the winner in the opener. The gelding was dropping from $30,000 claiming to just $7,500 and while his habit of hanging late in his races was well known, he had run well enough against so much better to think that he would finally break through for a win. It wasn’t the case as the gelding glided up to the lead late on the turn, engaged the 17-to-1 mare Let’s Have Fun, and then could not put her away.
Let’s Have Fun is no slouch in short dashes. She won in May and then had time off before returning on Aug. 25 when second by a neck. Perhaps her freshness was a factor.
Race 2 was a 5 furlong turf sprint for low-level claimers and there was another big dropper, Take It Easy, and a mare coming off a big win, Swirling Candy, who was 2-to-5. The latter was quickly in a pace battle with My Final Trick but was running the same race as she did when she won on July 28. But the mare drifted well off the rail turning for home and that allowed 46-to-1 shot MI TORMENTA to dart through and win. The winner had tried grass just once early in her career and was 11th. But it was the 3rd win for the filly in 2022 and each time she has been at long odds.
In race 4, a collection of maiden fillies at 7 furlongs had a surprise winner in TENPENNY NAIL, 9-to-1, whose turf outings this year paled in comparison to her Tapeta runs. With a slight class drop and the move back to the main track, this filly broke through for her maiden score, reeling in a slowing favourite who had a clear lead in the stretch run.
SILENT GUROO‘s 13-to-1 bomb in race 5 was a head scratcher. A recent winner for $7,500 claiming on Tapeta in front-running fashion, this mare had blinkers on for this turf sprint (her last 2 wins came without blinkers) for $15,000. She was coming off a 13-length loss in the Fort Erie slop 10 days ago but somehow raced to the lead and kept going to beat favoured Danger, who found the six furlong distance too short.
After 9-to-5 favourite Haddassah faded to last in a turf allowance race, race 7, opening the door for a fresh HOMBRE to win, the last race was the icing on the cake for was truly a ‘freaky’ Friday.
C C’S KINGDOM, who had flashed speed in two previous races but faded far back each time, was dropped from $15,000 to $7,500, had the blinkers off and zoomed to a front-running score at 11-to-1. The 8-to-5 favourite in the race, Tragically Funny, who had closed ground so well in his Aug. 26 outing (off a nine-month layoff) was always far back and perhaps that return race had taken a toll on him.
What will next Friday have in store for bettors? It’s probably a good idea to handicap outside the box for these lower level races as we enter the final quarter of the 2022 season.
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