BREEDERS’ CUP WEEK!
Woodbine sprinter Sharp sensation out of Turf Sprint
**Watch the draw today at 1 p.m. at Keeneland.com, Classic drawn at 5:30
The best in the world will be racing on Friday and Saturday at Keeneland in the first ever Breeders’ Cup to be held at that famous racetrack.
Canadian fans have some horses to root for and how about the American Pharoah and Beholder showdown in the Classic?
In talking with Woodbine trainers Barb Minshall and Martha Gonzalez, who are sending RIKER, SKY MARSHAL and STACKED DECK to the Cup today, it is hard not to get caught up in the thrill of a horse in the Breeders’ Cup.
CATCH A GLIMPSE goes for Jeff Begg, Mike Ambler and Greg Land, some fine Ontario horsepeople who team up with Gary Barber with the 2yo filly who runs in the Juvenile Filly Turf.
Stakced Deck meets Something Extra in the Turf Sprint but Jim and Susan Hill’s Sharp Sensation has been withdrawn.
Nick Gonzalez, trainer of the undefeated Riker for Tucci Stables, is already at Keeneland has reported that racing crowds last week were packing the the track to the point that “you could not move”.
Should be interesting for fans and folks this weekend.
You can watch live training this week here – http://www.keeneland.com/racing/breeders-cup-workouts-live-coverage
GRAND ARCH WORKS
Jim and Susan Hill’s Grand Arch (Arch) worked a half-mile over Keeneland’s good turf course Sunday in :50.80 (video) ahead of Saturday’s GI Breeders’ Cup Mile.
“I thought that was a nice piece of working considering how far out the ‘dogs’ were this morning,” trainer Brian Lynch said. “He is as good as we can get him.”
Grand Arch, coming off a wins in the Oct. 3 GI Shadwell Turf Mile and Aug. 15 GII Fourstardave S., covered the first quarter-mile in :26.60 and finished the move with a :24.20 final
quarter.
“We didn’t want him to do too much today,” Lynch said of the 6-year-old, who worked a half in :51.60 on the dirt last Sunday.
“This is a horse that doesn’t need to take his track with him. There was a little cut in the ground for the [GII] Fourstardave and the Shadwell as well as his [allowance win] here in the
spring.
LIAM’S MAP – smooth workout for Dirt Mile
WOODBINE WEEKEND SUNDAY STAKES RACE RE-CAPS (with files from Woodbine Entertainment Media)
BILL GRAHAM bought back his filly Tiz Imaginary from a yearling sale, had to with draw her from a 2yo sale, and now she is an unbeaten stakes winner..WOODBINE PHOTO
Windhaven Farms’ homebred Tiz Imaginary, with Luis Contreras up, drew off in mid-stretch to take the $150,000 Fanfreluche Stakes at Woodbine, one of two added-money features on Sunday.
The field for the 35th running of the six furlong stake over Polytrack for Ontario-bred two-year-old fillies was reduced to five after Marilyns Last Love was a morning scratch.
Sent postward the 9-2 fourth choice, despite impressively winning her debut on October 4, Tiz Imaginary, after breaking in front, tracked favoured Get Rhythm through fractions of :23.37 and :46.14. The pair turned for home as a team but Tiz Imaginary, a daughter of Tizway-Imaginary Gold, edged away at the sixteenth pole to register a handy two length score over a closing Holy Flame, while Get Rhythm faded to third, another length further back. The final time was 1:10.53.
She earned a 73 Beyer Speed Figure according to Daily Racing Form.
The filly was bought back by Bil lGraham for $50,000 as a yearling from the Keeneland Sept, sale.
“She broke well and was a couple (of lengths) in front right away,” said trainer Mike Doyle. “The idea was that she would follow somebody and I’m glad it worked out that way. She ran a helluva race. She seemed to improve from her last race.
“She’s very nice, very easy to train. She was in the sale in Florida and she got hurt. She had the joint fastest time at the two-year-old sale in April. We had to take her out. She had a little chip in her knee. It was a really simple little operation and she came back very well. If everything’s okay, we’ll run one more time, (in the) Glorious Song (November 21) or the Lassie (November 28).”
Doyle also had Crumlin Spirit in the stake, but she faded to fourth.
Tiz Imaginary returned $11.90, $5.30 and $2.70, combining with Holy Flame ($4.10, $2.40) for a $36 (5-2) exactor. A 5-2-4 (Get Rhythm, $2.30) triactor was worth $97.20.
GLENVILLE GARDENS with Emma-Jayne Wilson aboard, made his turf debut a winning one, taking the co-featured $102,800 Labeeb Stakes Sunday at Woodbine.
After stalking pacesetter Star Contender through fractions of :23.11 and :46.20, Glenville Gardens moved to challenge, got to the front in early stretch and despite drifting, still prevailed by a comfortable two and one-half lengths over Money Talker, with Ami’s Holiday just a half-length further back in third. The final time over a ‘yielding’ E.P. Taylor Turf Course was 1:36.44.
Glenville Gardens put up a career best Beyer Figure of 93.
The Labeeb, named for the winner of the 1998 Woodbine Mile, was reduced to five starters after the scratches of the Roger Attfield-trained pair of Tower of Texas and Are You Kidding Me, the morning line favourites, as well as Peyton, due to the turf condition.
However, it still remained a well-matched group of three-year-olds and upward, as evidenced by the toteboard, with Money Talker and Ami’s Holiday the co-choices at 2-1.
Claimed for $40,000 out of a winning race in September by trainer Sid Attard for Janice Attard, the lightly-raced Glenville Gardens has now won two-in-a-row for his new connections. It was also his second stakes win after taking the Display last year as a two-year-old when trained by Josie Carroll for owner-breeder Eugene Melnyk.
“Sid said, just let him run his race,” explained Wilson. “On paper it didn’t look like the pace was going to be too quick. I just let him be happy where he wanted to be.
Just stayed head and head with (jockey Gary) Boulanger (riding Star Contender) as long as I could.
“He was looking up at the grandstand pretty good, but sometimes you’ve just got to let them run. I knew I was clear. From the first step out the doors, I could tell my horse was handling it (the turf) quite nicely. I was pretty happy with that.”
Glenville Gardens, a Kentucky-bred gelded son of Street Cry and the only three-year-old in the race, earned $60,000 for the win, his fourth victory in only eight career starts, and, as the longest shot on the board at 6-1, paid $14.70, $6.50 and $3.10, combining with Money Talker ($3.90, $2.40) for a $67.10 (6-7) exactor. A 6-7-2 (Ami’s Holiday, $2.20) triactor was worth $193.50.
Big Jackpot Hi-5 payout Sunday at Woodbine
A U.S. customer playing the Woodbine Thoroughbred card through Prairie Meadows used a $480 ticket to score a U.S.$263,239.96 payoff in the Jackpot Hi-5 on Sunday.
The Jackpot Hi-5, which offers a 20-cent minimum and a low takeout of 15%, requires horseplayers to select the first five finishers in exact order on the last race of the programme.
The winning sequence for Race 11, which featured Ontario-sired allowance class horses, was 5 (On Draft) / 6 (Blow Over) / 8 (Badjeros Boy) / 4 (I Deliver) / 2 (Low in the Forest).
The racing fan constructed the cashing ticket as follows:
1st 2,5-9
2nd 2,5-9
3rd 2,5-9
4th 2,4-10
5th 2,4-10
More from Sunday
Trainer KEVIN ATTARD won the first race with Sea of Silence for Elizabeth and Gorden Lickrish and that put him at 38 wins for the year, a tie for 2nd with Nick Gonzalez.
Sea of Silence has won 3 straight races and he was claimed by owner Larry Falloon.
Race 2- First time starter J EDGAR, bred by Rolph Davis and Robert Tiller, trained by Tiller, won his debut at 5 furlongs for maiden 2yos, Ontario-sired. The flashy fellow by Old Forester from Victoria’s Destiny was ridden by Patrick Husbands who barely moved on the gelding.
The time of 58.14 was good for a 67 Beyer Figure.
A promising youngster who won on Sunday was CRESCENT DRIVE, a Eugene Melnyk bred son of Flower Alley who won this 1 1/16 mile race for owner Steve McDonald and trainer Darwin Banach. The colt is Kentucky bred and he rallied wide to win in 1:45.5, a 69 Beyer Figure.
Other stuff
Woodbine stakes winner HAMPSTEAD HEATH was third in the Spider John Stakes at Gulfstream West on Sunday for Joey Gee Thoroughbreds.
..
Condolences to friends of DISCREET DISGUISE (Discreet Cat) who broke down in race 8 at Woodbine and was put down. The filly was making her 12th career start in the maiden claiming race and she had been placed 4 times…
Wagering on Sunday at Woodbine was a hefty $4.1 million…
Twenty-four races days left at Woodbine and the handicapping, picking winners, betting is very difficult. There are plenty of horses in the races and they are seemingly coming from everywhere: Fort Erie, Presque Isle etc.
Most published handicappers had no more than 4 winners on Saturday and Sunday combined as longshots continue to rule.
HASTINGS PARK WRAPS UP
Awards night is Dec. 3 for Hastings Park’s champions – Richard Yates offered Deby Bar and Grill newsletter a summary of the standings..
The jockey race was not much of a contest the last third of the season as leading rider Richard Hamel separated himself from the field on his way to 74 wins and a 19 race margin over runner-up Pedro Alvarado who won 55. Keishan Balgobin was third with 41 wins, two clear of Antonio Reyes in fourth. Amadeo Perez rounded out the top five with 33 victories.
Mike Anderson won his first Hastings training title after racking up 34 wins, seven more than the 27 his sister Barbara Heads had. Troy Taylor and Craig MacPherson tied for third with 22 apiece. Pat Jarvis who finished the year on the upswing tied with Philip Hall for fourth with 17 wins. Dino Condilenios, Anita Bolton and Mark Cloutier were next with 15 apiece.
Russell and Lois Bennett led the owners with 19 wins. Swift Thoroughbreds Inc. had 15 to finish second. Mark DeDomenico LLC and North American American Thoroughbred Horse Company, Inc. won 11 to take third. Doug Clyde had an outstanding season with 9 wins in 29 starts, good for fourth.
