There were familiar names on top of the leaderboard at the end of Sunday’s 13-race season-ending card at Woodbine.
Mark Casse recorded his seventh straight training title and eighth overall, winning 85 races, after notching 94 wins in 2012. Casse recorded a record 119 wins in 2011. Casse also led in the purse earnings category, with $5,447,130 compared to $6,864,988 in 2012.
Robert Tiller, third a year ago, was second with 62 wins improving on his 48 triumphs in 2012 to leapfrog last year’s second-place trainer, Reade Baker who notched 54 wins, compared to 63 last season.
Luis Contreras collected his third consecutive Woodbine jockey title, recording 168 victories, just 27 shy of the 195 wins posted in 2012. Mickey Walls’ classic 1991 record of 221 wins remains the most victories posted in a single meet.
Eurico Rosa da Silva finished with 143 victories to be second improving on last year’s third-place effort of 160 wins. Jesse Campbell finished third in the table with 91 wins. Patrick Husbands, who was second in the standings in 2012 with 167 wins, was injured on May 20 but came back strong at the end of the meet to finish with 89 wins.
John Oxley led all owners at Woodbine once again with $2,235,359 in purse earnings, compared to $2,534,602 in 2012. Sam-Son Farms finished second with $2,173,383, while Bear Stables Ltd., who recorded the most wins with 33 finished third in purse earnings with $1,844,560.
It was Wise Dan ($2.50) who wowed the crowd with a stunning performance to defend his title in the Grade 1 Ricoh Woodbine Mile. Morton Fink’s homebred made it look easy, zipping to victory in the September turf race in track record time of 1:31.75. He then went on to Breeders’ Cup glory for trainer Charles LoPresti, taking the Mile at Santa Anita, stamping himself a major contender to defend his title as the U.S. Horse of the Year.
Midnight Aria ($35.20) delivered jockey Jesse Campbell his first Queen’s Plate, taking Canada’s most famous horse race in July.
Nipissing ($7.10) took the Woodbine Oaks, presented by Budweiser, in June, and finished eighth in the Plate.
Joshua Tree ($15.30) notched his third triumph, and second consecutive, in the Grade 1, $1 million Pattison Canadian International, having previously won the event in 2012 and 2010.
Phil’s Dream had seven wins, three of them in stakes including a memorable victory in the Grade 1 Nearctic, to lead all runners at the 132-day season.
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