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VICTORIA!  Yes,a long weekend coming up in Canada to celebrate Her Majesty The Queen Victoria’s  birthday. racing will take place Friday through Monday with the Marine, Vigil and Ballade Stakes the headline races. Toss in the Preakness on Saturday and it is a busy weekend…

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The 2015 Preakness Stakes post positions:
Post     Horse     Morning Line odds
1           American Pharoah     4-5
2          Dortmund     3-1
3          Mr. Z     20-1
4         Danzig Moon     15-1
5         Tale of Verve     30-1
6         Bodhisattva     20-1
7         Diving Rod     12-1
8         Firing Line     4-1

 

PREAKNESS TWIST –  MR. Z SOLD, ENTERED INTO PREAKNESS STAKES  

Hall of Fame trainer D. Wayne Lukas reported this afternoon that multiple graded stakes-placed Mr. Z has been sold and entered in the Preakness Stakes.

Brad Kelley’s Calumet Farm purchased Mr. Z from his previous owner, Ahmed Zayat, who also owns Kentucky Derby winner and likely Preakness favorite American Pharoah.

“He is entered with Calumet,” Lukas said. “You always worry about any horse deal until it’s chiseled in stone. We’re dotting all the  I’s and crossing the T’s. They have reached an agreement. I’ve been on the phone negotiating and doing the dialogue. I’m just the messenger in this case.”

Mr. Z arrived at Pimlico Tuesday afternoon with five other Lukas-trained horses being aimed at Preakness weekend stakes. Most recently, the Malibu Moon colt finished 13th in the Kentucky Derby.

“He’s doing well,” Lukas said. “I galloped him over the track this morning and he handled it really well.”

Lukas has won the Preakness six times, most recently with Oxbow in 2013. Oxbow was also owned by Calumet Farm.

“I don’t know that I pushed the sale. The sale just came through conversation and dialogue,” Lukas said. “Mr. Z is a pretty well-bred horse. He might be the best bred horse in the Preakness if you look at it real critically. Brad flat asked me, ‘Would you run him,’ and I said if I owned him, I’d run him.”

Corey Nakatani will ride Mr. Z in the Preakness.

FIRING LINE ‘FIT AND FRESH’ FOR PREAKNESS STAKES

Trainer Simon Callaghan returned to Southern California to tend to his Santa Anita-based stable shortly after he saddled Firing Line for a gutsy second-place finish behind American Pharoah in the Kentucky Derby.

The 32-year-old trainer left Arnold Zetcher’s 3-year-old colt in the capable and trusted hands of assistant trainer Carlos Santamaria and exercise rider Humberto Gomez at Churchill Downs to prepare for Saturday’s Preakness Stakes.

All of the updates on Firing Line’s training have been positive, said Callaghan prior to leaving California to reunite with his Sunland Park Derby (G3) winner at Pimlico Wednesday afternoon.

“Carlos and Humberto have been happy with the way the horse has been training. Everything seems to have gone perfectly between the Derby and now,” Callaghan said. “He seems to have really good energy. He’s seems very happy. He’s showing all the signs you want to see going into a big race.”

Based on his staff’s reports, Callaghan designed Firing Line’s training program for the Preakness. While none of the four Derby starters scheduled to run Saturday will have had workouts prior to running in the Middle Jewel of the Triple Crown,  Firing Line was allowed to open gallop while finishing up his morning trips around the Churchill oval Sunday and Monday.

“We didn’t want to breeze him between the two races. He’s feeling really good and has had lots of energy, so we decided to give him slightly more open gallops just to keep him calm, so he’s not too fresh with not doing any breezes in two weeks,” Callaghan said. “The horse is really fit and fresh going into a big race.”

Firing Line walked Wednesday morning before being vanned to the Louisville airport.

DANZIG MOON GALLOPS BEFORE CHURCHILL DEPARTURE

John Oxley’s Danzig Moon went through his morning regimen at Churchill Downs, galloping 1 ½ miles under exercise rider William Cano, before being vanned to the Louisville airport. The son of Malibu Moon was the only Preakness entrant to train at Churchill.

The fifth-place finisher in the Kentucky Derby, he has been a true road warrior as a 3-year-old and will be racing at his fifth venue in as many starts for trainer Mark Casse. His only win was a maiden-breaker at Gulfstream in early February, but he finished fourth in the Tampa Bay Derby (G2) and second in the Blue Grass(G1) before trying the Kentucky Derby.

Danzig Moon ran into traffic during his Derby journey.

“I mean that’s one of the reasons we’re coming,” Casse said. “He got knocked around pretty good in the Derby, but he’s a fighter. You always like smaller fields; there’s less horses you have to beat. Normally there’s less traffic in the Preakness, so we’re looking forward to a little smaller field.”

Casse’s son, Norman, has been supervising the colt’s activities in Kentucky. He will be joined by his Canadian-based father at Pimlico on Thursday.

Meanwhile Wednesday morning at Churchill, Charles Fipke’s Tale of Verve, who broke his maiden last time out in a 1 3/16-mile race, walked under tack in trainer Dallas Stewart’s shedrow.

DIVINING ROD: THE NAME GAME

Gretchen and Roy Jackson settled on Divining Rod when naming their Lael Stables’ colt out of broodmare Precious Kitten. The name is connected to top sire Tapit, Gretchen Jackson said.

Long before technology made it easy to see whether water or metals were under ground, a divining rod – a y-shaped stick or rod – was used in dowsing a pseudoscientific attempt to determine where to start digging.

Once the water was found, she noted the next step was to tap into it, or tap it. Gretchen Jackson acknowledged that people have trouble making the connection.

“It’s so hard to name a Tapit,” she said. “It’s not the best name, but if he wins, it will be a great name. The horse makes the name, I think.”

Precious Kitten, a multiple Grade 1 winner purchased from Ken and Sarah Ramsey, has a Medaglia d’Oro yearling and dropped a full sister to Divining Rod in April.

The Jacksons are longtime breeders. Among their many successes was Barbaro, the Kentucky Derby winning colt who suffered catastrophic injuries in the 2006 Preakness.

Divining Rod had a routine morning Wednesday at Fair Hill Training Center in Elkton, Md.

“He’s doing great,” trainer Arnaud Delacour said. “He galloped a mile and a half on the dirt track this morning. It was in perfect condition. I was very happy with everything. He cooled out OK. So far, so good.”

Delacour said that the colt will gallop again on Thursday morning before vanning to Pimlico Race Course.

 

 

CASINO UPDATE:  Woodbine Racetrack employees say ‘get the shovel in the ground’ on casino expansion

By Cynthia Reason

A largely pro-expansion crowd of about 100 people came out to this week’s city-hosted public consultation to discuss the possible addition of live gaming tables to Etobicoke’s Woodbine Racetrack.

The meeting, held at the Etobicoke Olympium Monday night, is part of a broader-based consultation process and study ordered by the city’s Executive Committee in March, to explore the implications of increasing the existing gambling operations at Woodbine from its current 3,000 slot machines.

An idea already rejected by city council in 2013 as part of a larger debate about gaming in Toronto that included the proposed development of a highly controversial downtown casino.

“In essence, what we’re doing now is dusting off that information we had two years ago,” Deputy Mayor Vincent Crisanti told meeting attendees Monday night. “Unfortunately that vote for Woodbine was a very, very tight vote. I think it just got convoluted and mixed up in the major fight, which was the downtown issue.

http://www.insidetoronto.com/news-story/5614095-woodbine-racetrack-employees-say-get-the-shovel-in-the-ground-on-casino-expansion/

 

 

HASTINGS HANDLE UP 13% AFTER SIX DAYS OF RACING

from Derby Bar & Grill newsletter:

After six days of racing at Hastings Racecourse the mutual handle is up 13% over 2014.  We keep track on a day to day basis comparing day 1 against day 1 in 2014 and so on.

A combination of good weather so far and the field size being up by nearly a half a horse per race has certainly helped one would think.

The field size is a very good 7.09 horses per race.  Horsemen seem to have their horses ready to run much early then in the past and the very dry spring probably has really helped.

Sunday there was nearly a 100 workers so one should start to see several more first time starters shortly.

Also there is two – two year old races in the in the condition book for next weekend. A open two year old race for May 23rd and a fillies on May 24th. Both race are over the nursery course at about 3 1/2 furlongs.

 

Recent BRITISH COLUMBIA-BREDS WINNERS, from Sire Powered Results at Daily Racing Form

(Beyer Figures are at the end of the notes)

Quatre Cat 3/F (BC), Abraaj – Four Girls, by Foxhound
Breeder: Rob McDonald | Trainer: Sylvea Gregory | Owner: Carmichael, Stuart and May and Gregory, David and Sylvea Stakes – Ross McLeod S., HASTINGS RACECOURSE (CAN), Race Number: 4 | D-Fast | Dist: 6.5f | Time: 1:16.88 | Purse: $50,000 | Beyer: 79
05/03/2015
More Info
Brass and Gold 6/H (BC), Sungold – Always Brassy, by Dixieland Brass
Breeder: Mr. & Mrs. R. J. Bennett | Trainer: Barbara Heads | Owner: Bennett, Russell J. and Lois
Allowance Optional Claiming – HASTINGS RACECOURSE (CAN), Race Number: 6 | D-Fast | Dist: 6.5f | Time: 1:16.71 | Purse: $25,000 | Beyer: 80

05/03/2015

Cederberg 3/G (BC), Rosberg – In From the Cold, by American Chance
Breeder: John D. Gunther | Trainer: Troy Taylor | Owner: North American Thoroughbred Horse Company, Tom, Peter and Taylor, Troy Stakes – Jim Coleman Province S., HASTINGS RACECOURSE (CAN), Race Number: 7 | D-Fast | Dist: 6.5f | Time: 1:16.32 | Purse: $50,000 | Beyer: 85
05/02/2015
Similkameen Luke 4/G (BC), The Lady’s Groom – Poppy’s Joy, by Vying Victor
Breeder: Russell Brooker | Trainer: William Konyk, Jr. | Owner: William Konyk, Jr.
Maiden Claiming – HASTINGS RACECOURSE (CAN), Race Number: 3 | D-Fast | Dist: 6f | Time: 1:11.50 | Purse: $10,000 | Beyer: 79

 

BEAR AT LAST, WEST VILLAGE supplemented to Queen’s Plate

 

 

BEAR AT LAST, 3rd in the Wando Stakes and a son of Marchfield and recent turf maiden winner WEST VILLAGE were the two supplemented horses to the latest Plate payment.

West Village, owned by Gary and Mary West, is trained by Wayne Catalano and he won a 1 mile grass race at Churchill Downs earlier this month with a 77 Beyer Speed Figure.

Several Plate contenders will compete in Saturday’s MARINE STAKES including AMI’S FLATTER and SHAMAN GHOST. There is also an allowance race coming up on Sunday that some Plate hopefuls will be eyeing.

The latest payment for Queen’s Plate nominees (56)

Ami’s Flatter
Ault
Battleofburlington
Bear At Last *
Billy’s Star
Breaking Lucky
Brooklynsway (f)
Chiricahua Signal
Conquest Boogaloo
Conquest Curlinate
Conquest Harlanate (f)
Conquest Typhoon
Danish Dynaformer
Danzig Moon
Decision Day
Dyna’s Recoleta (f)
Ekati Sonet
Electric Sound
Entwistle
Field of Courage
Gilded Kingdom
Golden Spear
Grand Bili
Gray Phantom
Hammerstein
Java’s Bourbon
Kingsport
Masquerade Party
Mc Culley
Mercer Island
Midnight Trace
Milwaukee Mist
Mist
More Than Shirl
Needle in the Hay
Ninth Symphony
Nipigon
Olympic Bid
Pat Daddy
Phil’s Cocktail
Portree
Pulpego
R U Watchingbud
Ransom The Moon
Scorch
Sea to Sea
Season Ticket (f)
Shaman Ghost
Shez a Masterpiece (f)
Shot for Shot
Sleeping Giant
Sweet Grass Creek
Tancook (f)
Town Called Malice
Unbridled Juan
West Village *

* denotes supplement
(f) denotes filly

 

AJAX DOWNS OPENS 46TH SEASON – 28 race dates are on Sundays, holidays and later,  Mondays