The forecast is for hot and humid weather on Saturday, September 17 in the Greater Toronto Area and four graded stakes races at Woodbine, including three Grade 1s, will provide plenty of sizzle.
The Ricoh Woodbine Mile (G1), one of the top one-mile turf races in the world and a ‘Win and You’re In’ event for the Breeders’ Cup World Championships on the first weekend of November, has a solid field of 11 including one of the world’s top rated turf milers in MODERN GAMES (Ire).
The Mile is race 9 on Saturday and all four graded stakes races will be run in succession.
The Grade 1 Pattison Summer Stakes for 2-year-olds is race 7, the Grade 3 Seaway Stakes for fillies and mares is race 8, followed by the Mile and the Natalma Stakes (G1) as race 10 on the 12-race card.
No Lasix is permitted in the three Grade 1 Win and You’re in Races.
This is the 35th Woodbine Mile, first run as a race for straight 3-year-olds on the dirt.
Since it was made into a premier one-mile grass race in 1997 when the great Geri won it, the Mile has proven to be a valuable race not just on its own but as a stepping stone to the Breeders’ Cup Mile.
MODERN GAMES will attempt to become the first 3-year-old to win the Mile (since 1997). The Godolphin-owned son of Dubawi won the French 2000 Guineas earlier this year and ended 2021 with a win in the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Turf (G1) when he raced for purse money only.
While Modern Games will be heavily favoured, he has some good opposition. One horse that was not entered, however, was King Edward winner Filo di Arianna, who was one of a couple of speed horses in the race.
Owned by Bonne Chance Farm and Stud R D I, Ivar (BRZ), a two-time Breeders’ Cup Mile participant, brings a record of 6-0-2 from 12 starts into the Mile. Trained by Paulo Lobo, the 6-year-old son of Agnes Gold (JPN)-May Be Now arrives at Saturday’s race off a win in the $100,000 Jonathan Schuster Memorial Stakes at Horseshoe Indianapolis, posting a one-length score in the 1 1/16-mile trek in a track-record time of 1:39.49.
“When he would race in Argentina, he knows very well how to run a mile with one turn,” said Lobo. “It [E.P. Taylor] reminds me a little bit of the course at San Isidro in Argentina, which he used to run on. He’s very accustomed to that, so I believe he will enjoy the course at Woodbine.
“His turn of foot is what comes to mind first for me,” continued Lobo. “He can really put in a powerful late run. Hopefully, there can be some strong early pace and it will set up nicely for him.”
Well-travelled filly Wakanaka (IRE), owned by Team Valor and Gary Barber, took to the E.P. Taylor Turf Course on July 24 and delivered her connections, including trainer Bill Mott, an impressive win in the Grade 2 Dance Smartly Stakes. The 4-year-old daughter of Power (GB)-Storyline (IRE) sports a record of 7-4-1 from 13 career starts.
Trainer Mark Casse, who won back-to-back runnings of the race in 2016 with Tepin and in 2017 with World Approval, will chase his third Mile victory with a pair of runners.
March to the Arch, a 7-year-old son of Arch-Daveron (GER), ran second in the 2020 Mile and was fourth last year. The Live Oak homebred, who has three stakes triumphs on the Woodbine green, is 8-5-4 from 33 starts.
Casse’s other chance for Mile glory comes in the form of Get Smokin, a graded stakes winner in both 2020 and 2021. The 5-year-old chestnut son of Get Stormy-Hookah Lady is 4-5-2 from 20 starts for Ironhorse Racing Stable, BlackRidge Stables, T-N-T Equine Holdings, and Saratoga Seven Racing Partners. This will be the gelding’s first test over the E.P. Taylor Turf Course.
Finest Sound, a 5-year-old son of Exceed And Excel-Amplifier, is chasing his first stakes win for owner-breeder Sheikh Mohammed Obaid al-Maktoum. His resume includes a trio of runner-up finishes in group events, including the Group 1 Jebel Hatta Sponsored by Emirates Airline. The Simon and Ed Crisford trainee has recorded 16 top-three efforts from 20 starts and has posted a win, two seconds and a third in his past four engagements.
Team Valor International’s Homer Screen (BRZ) won five of his six starts in Brazil before heading to the U.S. to compete. The late-closing 6-year-old son of Adriano-Smile Jenny (BRZ) is 5-1-0 from 10 lifetime races. The chestnut, trained by Neil Drysdale, was second, at 28-1, in the Grade 3 American at Santa Anita on June 19.
Mighty Heart, two-time (2020-21) Canadian Horse of the Year, will look to get back to his winning ways in the Mile. Trained by Canadian Horse Racing Hall of Fame inductee Josie Carroll, the 5-year-old son of Dramedy-Emma’s Bullseye has contested nine consecutive graded events, winning the Grade 2 Autumn last November at Woodbine. The one-eyed bay, bred and owned by Larry Cordes, is 6-2-5 from 20 starts.
A five-time winner, along with two thirds, from 12 starts, Shirl’s Speight rhymed off three straight trips to the winner’s circle from January 15 to April 15, capped off by a gutsy nose nod in the Grade 1 Makers Mark Mile. Under the tutelage of dual Hall of Fame trainer Roger Attfield, the 5-year-old son of Speightstown-Perfect Shirl won his debut, a 7-furlong race over the E.P. Taylor Turf Course, on July 4, 2020, by eight lengths.
Local hero Town Cruise, a 7-year-old son of Town Prize-Candy Cruise, wired last year’s field in the Woodbine Mile, delivering Brandon Greer, who trains, owns, and co-bred with his father Terry, the biggest win of his career. The chestnut gelding has fashioned a record of 6-2-1 from 17 career starts. Daisuke Fukumoto, aboard for last year’s 8-1 victory, gets the call on Saturday.
Owned by Bruno Schickedanz and trained by Norm McKnight, War Bomber (IRE), a 4-year-old son of War Front-Sun Shower (IRE) rolls into the Mile off an 18-1 upset in the Grade 3 main track Seagram Cup on August 14 at Woodbine. The bay gelding, claimed by Schickedanz for $25,000 last August, brings a mark of 5-0-1 from 11 starts into Saturday’s race.
-with files from Woodbine Media
$1 MILLION RICOH WOODBINE MILE (Grade 1) – Race 9
Post – Horse – Jockey – Trainer
1 – Mighty Heart – Justin Stein – Josie Carroll
2 – Ivar (BRZ) – Joe Talamo – Paulo Lobo
3 – Wakanaka (IRE) – Manuel Franco – William Mott
4 – Finest Sound (IRE) – Andrea Atzeni – Simon Crisford
5 – Modern Games (IRE) – William Buick – Charles Appleby
6 – Shirl’s Speight – Emma-Jayne Wilson – Roger Attfield
7 – Homer Screen (BRZ) – Joe Bravo – Neil Drysdale
8 – Get Smokin – Rafael Hernandez – Mark Casse
9 – War Bomber (IRE) – Sahin Civaci – Norm McKnight
10 – Town Cruise – Daisuke Fukumoto – Brandon Greer
11 – March to the Arch – Patrick Husbands – Mark Casse
$500,000 JOHNNIE WALKER NATALMA (Grade 1) – Race 10
Post – Horse – Jockey – Trainer
1 – Cairo Consort – Antonio Gallardo – Nathan Squires
2 – Collecting Flatter – Justin Stein – Josie Carroll
3 – G Laurie – Manuel Franco – Graham Motion
4 – Last Call – Rafael Hernandez – Kevin Attard
5 – Adora – Patrick Husbands – Mark Casse
6 – Wickenheiser – Luis Contreras – Kevin Attard
7 – Courtly Ro – Kazushi Kimura – Kevin Attard
8 – Star Candy – Declan Carroll – Mark Casse
$500,000 PATTISON SUMMER (Grade 1) – Race 7
Post – Horse – Jockey – Trainer
1 – Mysterious Night (IRE) – William Buick – Charles Appleby
2 – Ninetyfour Expos – Rafael Hernandez – Mark Casse
3 – Appraise (IRE) – Manuel Franco – Chad Brown
4 – Chiseler – Patrick Husbands – Barbara Minshall
5 – Sammy Stone (S) – Declan Carroll – Catherine Day Phillips
6 – Philip My Dear – Kazushi Kimura – Kevin Attard
7 – Stayhonor Goodside – Sahin Civaci – Mark Casse
$150,000 SEAWAY STAKES (Grade 3) – Race 8
Post – Horse – Jockey – Trainer
1 – Beyond Mybudget – Declan Carroll – Mark Casse
2 – Emmeline – Justin Stein – Mike Mattine
3 – Nazuna (IRE) (S) – Sahin Civaci – Mark Casse
4 – Hai Bobbi (S) – Leo Salles – Abraham Katryan
5 – Souper Sensational – Patrick Husbands – Mark Casse
6 – The Grass Is Blue – Manuel Franco – Graham Motion
7 – Hazelbrook – Jason Hoyte – Lorne Richards
8 – Dreaming of Drew – Kazushi Kimura – Barbara Minshall
9 – Lady Speightspeare – Emma-Jayne Wilson – Roger Attfield
10 – Golden Vision – Rafael Hernandez – Tino Attard
More from Canadian Thoroughbred:
