Woodbine's 70th Opening Day; Star Shoot and Brooke Bays

Newly-turned three-year-old fillies will sprint 6 furlongs in the opening day feature at Woodbine, April 26, the $125,000 STAR SHOOT STAKES, the 70th edition of the race introduced at GREENWOOD in downtown Toronto the year E.P. Taylor opened Woodbine. The Star Shoot was then run at Fort Erie Racetrack from 1967 to 1975 before it came to the Rexdale track.

The first of 128 racing days at Woodbine has nine races and 59 entrants, down from the 71 who raced on opening day a year ago.

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The 2024 human stars are back. Jockeys SAHIN CIVACI, who won his first career title, and RAFAEL HERNANDEZ, already a Woodbine champion, won 310 races combined in 2024 – that is 28% of all the races run at Woodbine last year.

The top three trainers MARK CASSE, MARTIN DREXLER and KEVIN ATTARD won 270 races combined in 2024, almost 25%.

The big names are in action on opening day, but there are new faces also.

Apprentice BROOKE BAYS, who is from Evansville, Indiana, is represented by well-known agent Tony Micallef who has booked mounts for Irad Ortiz, Jr., Alan Garcia, and Rajiv Maragh among others.

“Brooke Bays is very talented and she has all the tools,” said Micallef. “I think she fits good here at Woodbine and that’s why I brought her.”

Bays began her career at Churchill Downs in 2022 and won her first race in 2023 at Horseshoe Indianapolis. She had her first full year in 2024 riding at Presque Isle Downs and ended the year at Tampa Bay Downs.

Bays rides races 1, 3 and 5. She will be one of numerous apprentice riders at the meeting including Pietro Moran, Austin Adams and another newcomer, Xarel Forde.

Jeff Strizel is booking mounts for AFFRIE WARD, who rode at Northlands Park in Alberta in 2011 and his homeland of Barbados. He has been at Woodbine exercising horses for Kevin Attard and Dale Desruisseaux.

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As for the Star Shoot, the race is often termed as an initial prep for local fillies for the Woodbine Oaks, run in late July, but the Star Shoot is an open race and it tends to attract some speedy American fillies. In fact, only three Canadian-breds have won the race in the last 20 years.

However, eight Star Shoot winners have gone on to later win the Oaks, the most recent being MILWAUKEE APPEAL in 2009.

There were 30 nominations to the Star Shoot, but just five of those entered the race and another one, Brindi (Ire), was supplemented.

Woodbine’s perennial leading trainer MARK CASSE has a tough twosome in the Star Shoot in Ontario-bred WINTERBERRY (Frosted) and CHARLOTTE’S HEART (Authentic).

Winterberry, owned by D J Stables LLC and bred by Anderson Farms, won her debut last year by more than 5 lengths before trying the boys in the Grade 1 Summer Stakes. She faded to sixth in that race. She came right back and won the Glorious Song Stakes over Charlotte’s Heart, but was fifth in her finale in the Shady Well. Patrick Husbands rides.

Charlotte’s Heart and Sahin Civaci meet for the first time. This filly also won her debut, but it was in a turf sprint at Saratoga. She was flying into second in the Glorious Song before she was eased up in the Grade 3 Mazarine Stakes at a route distance. Charlotte’s Heart is owned by Live Oak Plantation.

One of hottest trainers in the U.S. right now, BRENDAN WALSH, has sent up SALT (Tapit), who raced for Kevin Attard at Woodbine last year. Salt, owned by X-Men Racing IV, Madaket Stables et al, won her maiden in a 6 furlong turf dash at Woodbine, was fifth in the Catch a Glimpse Stakes and fourth in the Mazarine. Her lone race for Walsh was a sixth in the one mile Cincinnati Trophy at Turfway Park in February. Pietro Moran will ride.

American trainer KELSEY DANNER has entered two fillies, the aforementioned Brindi and LISTEN AND LEARN. The former won her maiden on Tapeta at Turfway in January and was recently fourth behind the good Bourbon Memory in the Serena’s Song Stakes. Sofia Vives will ride. Listen and Learn comes off her maiden win on Mar. 22 at Turfway and Rafael Hernandez will ride. Social Code, a debut winner for CamHaven Farm and trainer Steve Flint, completes the field with Jason Hoyte riding.