Woodbine has a brand new racing surface, TAPETA, and horses and riders got to try it out Friday morning in the first training session held on the new all-weather strip. Created by Michael Dickinson, Tapeta (means carpet in essence) is one of several all-weather surfaces that arose a decade ago along with […]

REMEMBER HIM?             ‘MUFFIN’ TOPS FILLIES AT THE MARCH OCALA 2-YEAR-OLD SALE – SESSION 1 A 2-year-old bay filly bred in Ontario was the most expensive filly at the first session of the Ocala Breeders’ Sales Company’s March 2-Year-Olds in Training sale and it is fascinating to trace the history […]

JOHN CALHOUN    Woodbine’s close community lost a dedicated horseman on Monday when JOHN CALHOUN passed away. John not only owned and bred and trained horses for decades, starting more than 3,000 horses, but his own family lines have given horse racing some wonderful horsepeople. Calhoun’s recognizable pink and white silks were seen frequently during […]

                                  FORT ERIE RELIEF but ELISSA BLOWE leaves for OLG Fort Erie Post By James Culic FORT ERIE – With the recent unveiling of Ontario’s provincial budget for 2016, a bit of welcome news the horse racing industry had […]

  Over at CLASSY LANE TRAINING CENTRE, decimated by fire that caused the death of some 30 horses early in the new year, the new barn is going back up (photo by Renée Kierans)         TERRIFIC TEPIN  – 107 Beyer, course record “She is older, smarter, and more relaxed. She doesn’t have […]

Glorious weather in southern Ontario has returning horsepeople at Woodbine in sparkly spirits. Sunny days and sunny ways my friend. The Tapeta track will open for training either on Friday the 18th or Friday the 25th of March – the season begins April 9   RIKER UNVEILED         Canada’s probable 2-year-old champion […]

    SUNDAY SPEED AT WOODBINE SKYLANDER GIRL, a multiple stakes winner for Alex Patykewich, worked 3 furlongs in a blazing 34 flat on Sunday morning, the fastest of 48 horses to work the distance on the fast training track dirt. PHIL’S DREAM, the champion sprinter in Canada in 2013 and earner of $948,000, is […]

      SUNDAY MORNING Some interesting horse races on Saturday and another Kentucky Derby hopeful emerges for the mighty Shadwell Stable. SHAGAF won the Gotham at Aqueduct but the race was slow (87 Beyer Figure) and not visually impressive from any standpoint. He has a way to go to get to his stablemate MOHAYMEN […]

  It’s Saturday and that means more great racing from around the world – from New York, to Florida to California to Barbados! News, photos and picks for some races on today’s Thoroughblog… BARBADOS SANDY LANE GOLD CUP – listen at http://horseracingradio.net/ $200,000 about 1 1/8 miles, turf *PAST PERFORMANCES FROM BRISNET….http://horseracingradio.net/sites/default/files/BARCUP2016.pdf..(*BARBADOS RUNNING LINES ARE MISSING […]

SOVEREIGN AWARD MEDIA FINALISTS ANNOUNCED   Horsemen’s Benevolent and Protective Association’s initiative TALKIN HORSES earns nomination in first full season. A wide variety of media outlets is represented in the nominations for Writing, Broadcast and Photo.       TALKIN HORSES, which had a pilot season in 2014 of 10 episodes and a 21 show […]

  It’s March 1, 2016 – 40 days until racing begins at Woodbine for 2016 Around the world, Thoroughbreds of all ages are busy.     In Ontario, the training has been steady at various centres such as Global Equine Racing at Kelynack Farms in Milton, ON. A set trains on the turf track there […]

DRF PUBLISHES EARLY BEYER FIGURES- Gulfstream Saturday MANHATTAN DAN 89 – Texas Glitter Stakes, 5 fur turf, Bear Stables’ Noholdingback Bear was 2nd X Y JET 105 CATHRYN SOPHIA 98 CATCH A GLIMPSE 87 HEART TO HEART 104 MOHAYMEN 95           Put on a great card of racing and they will […]

                Happy Saturday, it’s Fountain of Youth day! MOHAYMEN, looking for more Kentucky Derby mo-mentum; CATCH A GLIMPSE gets things started; Canadians in some stakes races..watch and wager on some nice races today Here are the Thoroughblog selections:   NOHOLDINGBACK BEAR could get things going in a nice […]

Happy Friday – ONTARIO HORSE RACING gets little Boost in Budget on road to planning for the future..Gulfstream revving up and wagering and handicapping is the focus this weekend – let’s bet!           BUDGET INCLUDES HORSE RACING PARTNERSHIP EXTENSION PLAN While the internet lines continue to buzz away with thoughts and […]

**Thursday – catch CALIFORNIA CHROME in Dubai as he preps for the World Cup next month – he races at 12:55 today; Canadians are in action on big card at GUlfstream Saturday; Barbados Gold Cup entries draw, Excaper retired and more!   CHROME SET TO SHINE AT 12:55 P.M. from LAURA KING, RACINGUK.COM   Chrome […]