Hall of Fame trainer SID ATTARD won races at Woodbine on Thursday, Friday, and Saturday to up his 2025 total to 27 victories, matching his best previous season in the last six years. The 75-year-old trainer had two chances on Sunday’s card as well, but for the second straight week, the Sunday card had to be cancelled due to weather.
Strong winds and difficult gusts played havoc with the first two races at Woodbine on Sunday. The third race was run after a delay of some 30 minutes, but then the card was cancelled altogether following race 3. Last Sunday, heavy snow led to a cancellation. There is nothing unusual about November and December weather leading to cancelled race dates, but hopefully most of the last month of racing will be completed.
For Attard, he won races for longtime clients Norseman Racing Stable and Lou Tucci last week. SHADOW REALM won a class drop to $25,000 claiming on Saturday for owner/breeder Howard Walton of Norseman. ZIPFIRE won for the second time in her career on Nov. 13, and Tucci’s Dialed In filly was bred in Loretto, ON by Dr. Brian Van Arem. On Friday, Tucci’s classy stakes winner BABBO won a sprint claiming dash.
Other multiple winning trainers during the shortened week including MARTIN DREXLER, who won three to bring his 2025 total at Woodbine to 70, 10 ahead of Kevin Attard, last year’s Sovereign Award-winning trainer.
Leading trainer MARK CASSE and his team won five races last week, including maiden special weight races with two-year-olds VOODOO DOLL, SOUPER CALIBER and LIKELY STORY. The latter became the 13th winner this year for freshman sire Charlatan and the filly is the fourth foal and third winner for her Horse of the Year dam, CAREN. Caren, by Society’s Chairman, is the dam of stakes-placed Curlin’s Candy and she is in foal to champion sprinter Cogburn. Robert Marzilli bred Likely Story, who was a $260,000 yearling purchase by Tracy Farmer at the 2024 Keeneland September sale.
The jockey race continues to be close as RAFAEL HERNANDEZ has a one-win lead over apprentice PIETRO MORAN. Hernandez won four races last week to go to 125 wins, while Moran won six and is at 124. And RYAN MUNGER won races on Thursday, Friday and Saturday, including a thrilling score on the Rick Hiyashi-trained SPEEDY BEAR on Friday when he guided the grey gelding between a narrow opening in deep stretch to win in a photo.
Hernandez, with a staggering 22 stakes wins at Woodbine this season, is ahead by earnings and is seemingly on his way to the Sovereign Award for Outstanding Jockey.
SUNDAY’S three races that were run in difficult conditions included two winners who had significant form reversals. All three winners led all the way. SEMPER LIBER, a two-year-old gelding by Reload, co-owned by breeder Bay Ridge Orchards and trainer Krista Cole, won the 7 furlong maiden $25,000 claiming race after a race-long duel. Semper Liber won by a nose in his second career start, following a last-place finish beaten 16 lengths in his debut outing in October. Three horses battled the length of the stretch in Sunday’s opener into a strong wind.
Race 3 went to IMYOURMEDICINEMAN, who ran a 4 Beyer Speed Figure when beaten 23 3/4 lengths in his debut in the Frost King Stakes. The son of Shaman Ghost, bred by Jon Hyka and owned by Oh Em Gee Stable, led throughout the 1 mile and 70 yard race and won by 2 3/4 lengths. The bay gelding was bet down to favouritism at 3-to-1.
Race 2 on Sunday was won by AMERICAN DECISION, the 30th winner of the meeting for young trainer DEVON GITTENS. American Decision, a grey colt by American Pharoah, was racing for just $10,000 claiming after being claimed for $25,000 two starts ago. Owned by Bernedette Di Fonte and Ron Wiley, American Decision was 6-to-1 in the starting gate and 2-to-1 at the finish.
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