With just four weeks until the CTHS Ontario premier yearling sale, September 2 at Woodbine, sales graduates have been winning all over the place in recent weeks.
Last weekend, the two big boys of this year, PARAMOUNT PRINCE and MY BOY PRINCE, won stakes races and both are well over $1 million in earnings. Then there were a slew of maiden winners winning nice purses, all horses bought from the local sale.
BRANDY AND ME had a most impressive career debut on Saturday at Woodbine, blowing by her filly rivals in a 5 1/2 furlong maiden/optional dash worth $73,700. A bay filly owned by Sue Leslie (who named the filly after her beloved dog) and trained by Evette Chartrand-Hoek, Brandy and Me was 35-to-1 and she broke tardily from the gate. Under Jason Hoyte, the filly rallied four wide around the turn and drew off to a 5 1/2 length win. Her time was 1:04.85 for an 80 Beyer Speed Figure according to Daily Racing Form.
Bought by Leslie for $25,000 from the 2023 auction from breeders Keith and Rachael McClelland, Brandy and Me is by the elder statesman Silent Name (Jpn) from the very good racemare Aquinnah, by City Place. Aquinnah has had three other foals to race: nine-time winner Ice Floe, seven-time winner Ernie’s Martini, and two-time winner Professorridesagain.
Also on Saturday, HONOR MY LEGACY, by Yorkton – Niigon’s Legacy by Niigon, won her maiden with a spirited rally from far back. The two-year-old filly was bought for just $8,000 from last year’s sale from breeder Chiefswood Stable. Honor My Legacy is from the family of Piper’s Gift, a top three-year-old filly of this year. Trained by Mike Mattine, Honor My Legacy earned over $36,000 for the win.
ROAD TO GLORY, a two-year-old by Bolt d’Oro – Holy Flame by Pulpit, broke his maiden for Paul Braverman and Timothy Pinch on Saturday and is headed to the Yearling Sales Stakes at the end of the month. Bred by Glenn Sikura and Mario Serrani, Road to Glory was a $20,000 purchase last fall and he is trained by John Charalambous.
Master Steal, Beach Cricket and impressive turf winner YOSHII (Yoshida) are other sales graduates who won last weekend.
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The Seagram Cup (G3) was a super race and Paramount Prince received a 97 Beyer Speed Figure for his gutsy win over Runaway Again. However, the other three days of the racing week has a few odd occurrences and mishaps.
On July 31, 1-to-5 favourite ALLEY OOP JOHNNY, in a field of just five for $7,500 claiming, set pace splits of 26.34. 52.15 and 1:17.17 for 1 1/16 miles, but incredibly was edged out for the win by longshot Armino. There were 8 claims in for Alley Oop Johnny, who is nine years old and will not be able to race at Woodbine after this year. The son of Animal Kingdom, who has been racing this year since January, is now in the 60s range in Beyer Speed Figures. Pat Parente is now the new owner.
The same day, class-dropping KAMASI broke down on the backstretch while setting a slow pace in his $15,000 claiming race. The Bolt d’Oro four-year-old, a homebred for Ballycroy Training Centre and trained by John Ross, won his maiden in nice fashion for $40,000 claiming in June. Kamasi did not survive.
On August 2 (Sunday), jockeys Sahin Civaci and Christoff Douglas escaped injury in a couple of odd events. Civaci, aboard Elgin Park in race 1, had the left rein snap off early in the race and despite trying to steer the horse with part of the bridle, he had no control. Fellow rider Keveh Nicholls, aboard Glaswegian, appeared to try and keep tabs on Civaci and his horse to keep them safe and was carried wide in the process. Civaci eventually fell off as Elgin Park ran erratically.
In race 7, Silent Lee was chasing the pace along the rail in a sprint race for maidens when he suddenly ducked to the right, losing apprentice Christoff Douglas. It was the first start of the year for Silent Lee. Douglas returned to ride the final race on Sunday.
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