Tracks throughout Canada have opened the backstretch and training tracks and while the weather continues to be unpredictable everywhere, April and May will bring the return of racing to this country.
Hastings Racecourse in Vancouver opens on April 30, Century Mile in Nisku, Alberta opens May 12 and Assiniboia Downs begins on May 22.
Training has started at Hastings Racecourse. (NIGEL REID PHOTO)
Woodbine’s 2023 season is tentatively scheduled to begin on April 22 although discussions are still ongoing between Woodbine and the HBPA about race dates. The stakes schedule is pending.
Meanwhile, there are plenty of Canadians doing big things this winter. Woodbine’s leading rider KAZUSHI KIMURA, who drove from Woodbine to Santa Anita in December to try his skills at the big California meeting, won a Grade 1 on Saturday.
Riding Gold Phoenix, one of four horses for trainer Phil D’Amato in the Grade 1 Frank E. Kilroe Mile, Kimura saved ground to the top of the lane and roared home on top to win by a neck while getting one mile on turf in 1:34.45.
Well beaten in the Grade I Breeders’ Cup Turf at Keeneland going a mile and one half on Nov. 5, Gold Phoenix was off at 10-1 and paid $23.60, $9.60 and $6.40.
A five-year-old gelding owned by Little Red Feather Racing, Sterling Stables, LLC, and Marsha Naify, Gold Phoenix, who was ridden for the first time today by Kimura, had won the Grade II Del Mar Handicap three starts back on Sept. 3 and notched his first Grade I victory today.
“This horse hadn’t run since the Breeders’ Cup and it’s the first time I’ve ridden him. I just wanted to get a good position at the break and maybe we’ll get lucky and finish second or third. I was sitting right behind Joe Bravo (Cabo Spirit) and at the three-eighths, I was looking for a good position. He was looking around and once we hit the lane, we saw the opening between horses and he exploded. This is my third Grade I win, my first at Santa Anita.”
Moon Landing Has Solid Run in John Battaglia
Ontario-bred MOON LANDING (Nyquist – Fragrance, by Malibu Moon) earned an 84 Beyer Speed Figure according to Daily Racing Form for his fourth-place finish in the $150,000 John Battaglia Stakes at Turfway Park on Saturday evening, March 4. Trained by Kevin Attard for American owners eFive Racing, Robert LaPenta and Madaket Stables, Moon Landing, a debut winner in November at Woodbine, was fourth in a 7 1/2 furlong turf race at Gulfstream on Jan. 14 before heading to the Tapeta at Turfway.
Sent off at 13-to-1, Moon Landing and jockey Walter Rodriguez broke from post 11 and were four-wide around the first turn and well back of a very fast pace. Around the final turn, Moon landing was sent to the lead while 5 wide, he grabbed the advantage into the stretch but the last horse to move, Congruent, had a better timed rally and won. Moon Landing wound up fourth beaten 4 1/2 lengths, half a length from second place. That puts the bay colt, a $200,000 Keeneland September yearling purchase, at the top of the charts for the August 20 King’s Plate.
He earned 4 Kentucky Derby points. Moon Landing, bred by David Anderson and Rod Ferguson is by Nyquist, who won the Kentucky Derby. His fam Fragrance, also bred by Anderson and Ferguson, was a sprint winner at Woodbine. Second dam Nadeshiko was also a sprinter but is a half sister to $3 million earner Imperative, a graded stakes winner at route distances.
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