Last week at Woodbine the track experienced a wide range of weather conditions from extreme heat to sudden storms, heavy rain and on Sunday, June 23, ferocious winds. Okay, so Woodbine is well known for its strong winds, but Sunday was extra windy and that played havoc with the horses, the races and the times of races.
EMMA-JAYNE WILSON had no problem with the wall of wind hitting her in the face into the stretch run as she rode three straight winners to wrap up a big week of six wins. Wilson’s wonderful week ended with victories on Rob Marzilli’s Town’s Warrior (tracking the speed in a claiming race), SEDBURY’S GHOST (two-year-old second-time starter for Yawen Wu, trained by Barb Minshall) and Randy Bharaty’s MIGHTY SEA (loving his return to the grass).
With the wind gusting off and on, it made for interesting race developments and a good deal off off-the-pace winners.
Certainly the star of the show on Sunday was SWIFT DELIVERY, who blew away (pun intended) a field of maiden special weight three-year-olds and upward by 16 1/2 lengths, coming from some eight lengths off a contested pace battle under Patrick Husbands. The way this grey gelding by Not This Time made the slingshot move around rivals on the last turn was impressive, riding the wind waves to the big win. Gary Barber now owns Swift Delivery, having purchased him from D. J. Stable and Mark Casse’s Quintessential Racing through a digital sale in May for $55,000.
The gelding did not show all that much as a two-year-old in four sprints, one time losing at 60 cents on the dollar. But two outings in Florida this winter were a bit better. His time of 1:45.28 for 1 1/16 miles was the not the fastest of the day, but it resulted in a 90 Beyer Speed Figure from Daily Racing Form. Swift Delivery is a Kentucky-bred.
The fastest 1 1/16 mile race of the day was the big money race for Woodbine – the finale that offered a Mandatory Payout of the Super High 5 with a carryover of over $350,000. Some $1.6 million was bet into it and the top 4 were fairly easy to have in some sort of order, but it was fifth-place finish of Fight to the Win who messed up a lot of tickets. LAC MACAZA, at 6-to-1, was the rallying winner in 1:44.37, considerably faster than Swift Delivery.
Under Kazushi Kimura, Lac Macaza won a crowded finish and earned an 87 Beyer Figure. He is trained by Julia Carey for Discovery Racing and Goldie Stables. It was the 6th win in 22 races for the five-year-old gelding.
Overall, wagering on the Woodbine card topped $8 million.
HURRICANE CLAIR won a 1 1/16 mile inner turf race on Sunday and figures to go into the Woodbine Oaks next. The daughter of Silent Name (Jpn) – Hurricane Lorraine by Weather Warning was 3-to-5 in the turf allowance and won by 3 1/2 lengths in 1:48.47, a slow time, but the inner turf was quite soft. Her Beyer Figure of 74 was the best of her career.
Hurricane Clair is owned by David Robotham, Rodney Carpenter and Tony Boogmans and trained by Martin Drexler. Bru-Mel Stables of Helen Bruno bred the filly and she was purchased as a yearling for $35,000 from the consignment of Bernard McCormack’s Cara Bloodstock.
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