Passion for Action wins the Cup & Saucer Stakes.
SHOULD BE A HOOT!
83 entries for opening day
The surprise supplement of Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Turf winner (2014) of HOOTENANNY will spice up the Jacques Cartier Stakes on opening day at Woodbine.
Ten races drew 83 entries and certainly the last 3 races on the card will be the ones of most interest: the Jacques Cartier and 2 maiden allowances.
Michael Tabor, Derrick Smith and Susan Magnier’s HOOTENANNY had big plans last year – the 2000 Guineas, but he flopped in his return to Royal Ascot has been ideal for 10 months. The colt did win his career debut on Polytrack at Keeneland and has shown plenty of ability and speed.
From the Thoroughbred Daily News “Down the Shedrow ‘ feature, Ward talked about Hootenanny a month ago:
From the first crop of MGISW Quality Road, Hootenanny boasts quite an impressive international resume for a lightly raced horse. Winner of Royal Ascot’s 2014 Windsor Castle, the Coolmore runner finished second next out when shipped to France for Deauville’s G1 Darley Prix Morny and capped off his juvenile campaign with a victory in the GI Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Turf at Santa Anita (video). A dominant 6 1/4-length winner of his sophomore bow in a Keeneland allowance last April, he was a disappointing 11th when last seen at Ascot in the G1 Commonwealth Cup last June. Hootenanny has been working well over the Turfway Park all-weather since late December, most recently breezing five furlongs in 1:01.40 Feb. 27.
“His shoulder seemed to be bugging him [after Ascot]. He is a really big horse in the front end, so we just turned him out and we gave him five or six months off. He seems to be doing really good.No plans yet for his first start back. He’s training in Kentucky, so he will probably race at Keeneland.”
STACKED DECK will battle for favoritism since he will likely be named Champion Sprinter for 2015 at the Sovereign awards Friday night. His owner and breeder Bruce Lunsford is a great Canadian racing fan – “Woodbine gets the history of the sport” – and Stacked Deck went out last year on a high note with a big win in the Kennedy Road.
The dark bay speedster will be looking to better his 10th place finish in last year’s Jacques Cartier when he experimented with blinkers.
PASSION FOR ACTION, owned and bred by Ben Hutzel, is an improving fellow who has found his niche in sprints. He had a very strong fringe outing at Gulfstream 2 starts ago and is racing fit.
OPENING DAY 2016 – 60 YEARS OF WOODBINE
There are Rolling Daily Double bets and beautiful racehorses setting foot on a light-coloured, fluffy looking brand-new racing surface – welcome to the first day of Thoroughbred racing at Woodbine.
1956 was the year E.P. Taylor opened this mighty track, one of the top 5 in all of North America based on innovation, facilities and racing. It really is one of the best places to race and be a spectator.
With the hope and dreams that go along with every opening day – owners and trainers want to win. jockeys want to win, bettors want to win – there is some tension that won’t go away. Woodbine and some of its horsepeople and many of the Ontario Thoroughbred breeders have been in a battle since the track changed a few race conditions this year. The changes, which does cut into the money available to Ontario sired horses, were met with great blow-back from any number of horsepeople. The local breeders group, the Canadian Thoroughbred Horse Society, is set to meet later this month to discuss the changes and many smaller breeders around the province have said they will not breed horses this spring.
At a time when the horse population is at the critical stage and will be for a couple of years, we need all the horses we can get. The changes in the races by Woodbine were done to try and ensure the horses bred and/or sired in other locales continue to race here. Stables such as Sam-Son, Chiefswood, Roger Attfield, Bill Grah, Mark Casse, Josie Carroll etc. all have a lot of horses who are Ontario bred (not sired) or bred in other countries. These horses need to stay here too.
Getting that balance of horses and keep our local program moving forward is a tricky task.
It is a bone of contention as the season opens but hopefully the groups will all discuss and come to a resolution before too long.
JIM LAWSON TALKS WOODBINE OPENING
TORONTO SUN FEATURE
http://www.torontosun.com/2016/04/06/woodbine-ceo-jim-lawson-has-big-dreams-for-racetrack
SOME HOPE IN ALBERTA…
CALGARY HERLAD – SCOTT MITCHELL
Growing up in the industry, Steve Smith is quite familiar with the ebb and flow of thoroughbred horse racing in this province.
Right now, the president of the Horsemen’s Benevolent and Protective Association of Alberta (HBPA), which represents those within the sport, isn’t quite sure what’s on the horizon.
As uncertainty swirls, the question is obvious: What’s the state of thoroughbred racing in Alberta?
“That’s a difficult question to answer, I guess,” said Smith, a practising veterinarian and horse owner, who was elected president of the HBPA last year. “In my position, we’re taking things one year at a time and I’m pretty satisfied where we are right now for this year. There’s definitely some challenges, but, I think, next year I’m fairly comfortable we’re in pretty good shape. Beyond that, there’s definitely a lot of questions, for sure.”
http://calgaryherald.com/sports/baseball/some-hope-remains-despite-alberta-thoroughbred-racings-uncertain-future
