BREAKING – DEVELOPMENT DEAL ANNOUNCED – Woodbine Entertainment Group (WEG) and Trinity Development Group Inc. (Trinity) today announced the companies have signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) for the purpose of developing an integrated entertainment venue at Woodbine Racetrack.
The WEG-Trinity proposal calls for an entertainment venue of approximately 165,000 square feet and seating for up to 5,000 patrons. It would reside adjacent to the current Woodbine Racetrack facility and occupy three to four acres of the Woodbine property. The collaboration is the next step in WEG’s property development vision of an integrated district with multiple forms of gaming, entertainment and horse racing.
“This is an exciting day for Woodbine Entertainment Group and the city of Toronto,” said Jim Lawson, CEO of WEG. “To partner with a trusted, well-respected property development company like Trinity allows the citizens of Toronto, and frankly the entire province, to start to see the possibilities of what we can develop on one of the most attractive pieces of real estate in the GTA.”
Together WEG and Trinity will conduct a procurement process to bring in a world class third party entertainment company to be the manager and operator of the venue. The venue is expected to be used for live performances (i.e. music, theatre, dance) and other forms of live entertainment.
“Trinity Development Group is looking forward to working with an iconic brand like Woodbine Entertainment Group to develop a portion of the 680 acres of prime land on the Woodbine Racetrack property,” said John Ruddy, Executive Chairman of Trinity. “Trinity has a deep history in developing real estate of this quality in high profile locations.”
Trinity is responsible for the redevelopment of Lansdowne Park in Ottawa. After a revitalization project that opened in November of 2014, Lansdowne is a hotbed for businesses and restaurants that drew 1.5 million visitors in its first year of operations.
About Woodbine Entertainment Group (www.woodbineentertainment.com):
With roots dating back to 1881, Woodbine Entertainment Group is the largest horse racing operator in Canada, showcasing world-renowned horse racing at Woodbine Racetrack (Toronto), home of the iconic Queen’s Plate, and Mohawk Racetrack (Milton), host of the storied Pepsi North America Cup. WEG is the leading member of the Standardbred Alliance and the single operator of Teletheatres and Account Wagering, available through www.HPIbet.com, in Ontario. WEG also operates HPItv, a CRTC licensed digital television channel that broadcasts racing into homes across Canada.
Karl Lagerborg from the stall office at Woodbine posted this picture this morning (Tuesday) – the opening of the Woodbine backstretch for 2016:
ISLAND HOPPING – As snow continues to pile up today north of Toronto, our Brampton boy PATRICK HUSBANDS continues to island-hop. One day after riding in Trinidad (and winning), Husbands won a pair of races on the island of MARTINIQUE, oui oui!
Patrick won the Prix de L’ilet Madame on MISS MILY for Bernadette Penelope (video, he won in the last jump) and the Prix Loup Garou for Patrick Penelope on RAIPONCE. The latter is a 4yo filly by Orpen – Patagonian Dream by Mr Greeley.
In that 1600 metre race was a 9yo mare by Holy Bull named Bull Gree.
Carrere de Martinique is an 1800 metre TB turf track and a 1600 metre standardbred track. They race standardbreds on the same card as Thoroughbreds.
Watch Patrick guide Miss Mily to a just-in-time win:
GARY BARBER, TEAM VALOR BUY 75% OF RIKER
Probable champion 2yo in Canada to Mark Casse
Tucci Stables has sold a majority interest in it’s colt RIKER (Include – Desviacion by Unreal Zeal) to the powerful entity of Team Valor and Gary Barber, the sam efolks that bought KASSEOPIA last fall before that colt was 2nd to Riker in the Grey Stakes.
KASSEOPIA ran a nice race in the El Camino Real Derby at Golden Gate on synthetic dirt last weekend and now RIKER seems headed to some big races in the U.S.
Trained by Nick Gonzalez, Riker won all of his races at Woodbine under jockey Jesse Campbell and then he was 6th in the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile behind Nyquist. He was a $60,000 2-year-old in training purchase.
The bay colt had a 3 furlong workout on Jan 31 in 36.20 and on Feb 9 prepped 4 furlongs in 48.03 breezing, both at Gulfstream Park.
Lou Tucci and Carlo Tucci keep 25% of the colt. Lou confirmed to Thoroughblog that since the Kentucky-bred colt has few options for races at Woodbine as an American-bred and that the offer was “too good to turn down”, the decision to sell made sense.
Tucci also added that the stable is full of 2-year-olds for 2016 and they may be shopping at the upcoming 2yo sales in Florida once again.
NYQUIST PASSES FIRST 3-YEAR-OLD TEST – Speedball sizzles, still unbeaten
NYQUIST from 2015, by Kelley Carlson, courtesy horse-races.net
The son of Uncle Mo from the Forestry mare Seeking Gabrielle topped out at 89 in Beyer Figures in 2015 (no Beyer for the San Vicente win yesterday) and needs to prove he can handle 9 and 10 furlongs and better horses…
ART WILSON/LOS ANGELES DAILY NEWS
ARCADIA >> The superlatives came rolling in for 2-year-old champion Nyquist on Monday after the unbeaten colt ran his record to 6-0 with a 1 1/2-length victory in the $200,000 Grade II San Vicente Stakes at Santa Anita.
The race shaped up as a match race between Nyquist and Exaggerator, both making their 3-year-old debuts, and the two talented colts didn’t disappoint the Presidents Day crowd on a warm afternoon when the winner, off at 2-5, held off his challenger in a duel that lasted the length of the stretch.
“Goodness gracious. Anybody not a believer in Nyquist now, that was an awesome race, to set those kinds of fractions and still finish in close to track-record time for a 3-year-old in February,” said Keith Desormeaux, who trains Exaggerator. “Wow! Hat’s off to Nyquist.”
The final time was 1:20.71 — the third-fastest for the San Vicente in the 63 years the race has been run at seven furlongs.
Nyquist had the worst of it, too, breaking from the rail in the five-horse field and sitting just off pacesetter Sheikh of Sheikhs through an opening quarter of 22.50. Nyquist led by a head after a scorching half-mile in 44.49… read more:
KENTUCKY DERBY POINTS
Rank Horse Points Owner(s) Trainer Non-Restricted Stakes Earnings
1. Nyquist 30 Reddam Racing LLC (J. Paul Reddam) Doug O’Neill $1,700,000
2. Mor Spirit 24 Michael L. Petersen Bob Baffert $336,800
3. Mohaymen 20 Shadwell Stable (Sheikh Hamdan bin Rashid Al Maktoum) Kiaran McLaughlin $514,830
4. Sunny Ridge 18 Dennis A. Drazin Jason Servis $505,600
5. Exaggerator 16 Big Chief Racing LLC (Matthew W. Bryan) Keith Desormeaux $980,000
6. Flexibility 15 Klaravich Stables Inc. (Seth Klarman) & William H. Lawrence Chad Brown $232,500
7. Brody’s Cause 14 Albaugh Family Stable (Dennis Albaugh) Dale Romans $500,000
8. Greenpointcrusader 14 St. Elias Stable (Vincent Viola), MeB Racing Stables LLC &
Brooklyn Boyz Stables (Mary Ellen and Anthony Bonomo) Dominick Schettino $369,300
9. Swipe 12 Big Chief Racing LLC (Matthew W. Bryan) Keith Desormeaux $597,130
10. Mo Tom 12 G M B Racing (Gayle Benson) Tom Amoss $188,326
11. Collected 11 Speedway Stable LLC (Peter Fluor & K.C. Weiner) Bob Baffert $105,000
12. Airoforce 10 John C. Oxley Mark Casse $444,080
13. Suddenbreakingnews 10 Samuel F. Henderson Donnie Von Hemel $410,000
14. Cocked and Loaded 10 Richard Ravin & Patricia’s Hope LLC (Vince Foglia) Larry Rivelli $280,840
15. Discreetness 10 Xpress Thoroughbreds LLC (Dwight Pruett) William “Jinks” Fires $246,153
16. Frank Conversation 10 Reddam Racing LLC (J. Paul Reddam) Doug O’Neill $199,000
17. Riker 10 Team Valor International (Barry Irwin), Gary Barber & Tucci Stables (Carlo & Lou Tucci) Mark Casse $182,375
18. Vorticity 8 Matthew Schera James Lawrence II $150,000
19. Rated R Superstar 6 Radar Racing LLC (Paul Parker) Kenny McPeek $80,200
20. Kasseopia-GB 6 Team Valor International (Barry Irwin) & Gary Barber Graham Motion $46,809
21. Toews On Ice 4 Mike Pegram, Karl Watson & Paul Weitman Bob Baffert $228,900
22. Whitmore 4 Robert V. LaPenta, Harry T. Rosenblum & Southern Springs Stable (Ron Moquett) Ron Moquett $120,000
23. Tom’s Ready 4 G M B Racing (Gayle Benson) Dallas Stewart $66,670
— +Tusk 4 Flaxman Holdings Inc. (Stavros Niarchos) Graham Motion $40,250
— +Gordy Florida 4 Dream Walkin Farms Inc. (Toby Covel aka Toby Keith) Kenny Smith $31,111
24. Uncle Lino 4 Tom Mansor, Purple Shamrock Racing & Gary Sherlock Gary Sherlock $30,000
25. Let’s Meet in Rio 4 Juddmonte Farms (Prince Khalid Abdullah) Bob Baffert $23,000
SUDDENBREAKINGNEWS charges into Derby picture
By Jennifer Holt
Oaklawn Media Relations
HOT SPRINGS — Samuel Henderson’s Suddenbreakingnews (Mineshaft – Uchitel by Afleet Alex) made headlines Monday when he rallied from last in the 14-horse field to win the $500,000 Southwest Stakes (G3) by 2 ¾ lengths over Whitmore in front of a Presidents’ Day crowd of an estimated 22,500. He completed the 1 1/16 miles in 1:45 over a track rated good after overnight rain.
The victory under jockey Luis Quinonez gave the gelding some revenge after a photo-finish loss in his last start and stamped the son of Mineshaft as a leading contender for the Rebel Stakes in March and later 3-year-old races. As the winner, he earned 10 points towards eligibility in the Kentucky Derby and is now 13th on the leaderboard of 20 Derby hopefuls.
Making his first start of the year, Suddenbreakingnews broke from post 13, leaving Quinonez few options other than dropping to last rather than risk going wide on the first turn of the 1 1/16th-mile course.
“That’s the good thing about Luis,” said trainer Donnie K. Von Hemel of his veteran rider. “Even when you have a plan that doesn’t work out, he has the experience to still get it done.”
Whitmore made a similar late run to finish second while American Dubai pressed the pace set by before fading to third, 3 ¼-lengths back.
California shipper Collected also faded after pressing the pace, settling for fourth as the 5-2 favorite.
“This horse ran such a nice race today,” said Quinonez. “We stayed behind everyone, which helped my horse relax and it kept us out of trouble.”
Suddenbreakingnews paid $10.20, 4.40 and 3.20 as the third-choice while coupled in the betting with Synchrony, who finished sixth. Whitmore paid $4.80 and 3.80 with American Dubai returning $7.40 to show.
Siding Spring, who led the field through the first six furlongs, finished fifth. He was followed by Synchrony, Smarty Jones winner Discreetness, Z Royal, Cutacorner, Gordy Florida, Bird of Trey, War Stroll, Luna de Loco and Torrontes.
The winner now has three wins from six career starts, finishing second on his other three losses. He has earned $443,032. Von Hemel indicated the $900,000 Rebel seemed “likely” for the gelding’s next start March 19 at Oaklawn.
