The battle for leading jockey at Woodbine for 2025 by wins is a nail-biter, with RAFAEL HERNANDEZ in front of apprentice PIETRO MORAN by just two victories heading into the last seven race days.
Moran has been leading for most of the season and the champion apprentice from last year is set to win that Sovereign Award again. And odds are in his favour to have more wins than journeyman Hernandez, since he rides 200 more horses than his rival. However, Hernandez’s 24 stakes wins at Woodbine this year, an astounding total, has given the rider his best season ever by purses and likely the Sovereign Award for Outstanding Jockey.
Sunny morning solitude: Exercise rider Kayla Pizarro during an early morning work. (Jeff Bowen photo)
One of the biggest stories of the year is the rise of trainer DEVON GITTENS, who has been in Canada for 13 years, began training in Winnipeg, and is in his second season of training at Woodbine. The 40-year-old from Barbados had nine wins at Woodbine last year and has 38 this year, putting him ahead of Hall of Fame trainer Josie Carroll. Gittens trains predominantly for leading owner Bruno Schickedanz.
Gittens is headed to New York this weekend with a string of horses that will be stabled at Belmont Park and race at Aqueduct racetrack.
Trainers DALE DESRUISSEAUX and DANNY YU have had big years by wins and/or earnings.
One the horse front, in addition to the season’s leader earner MANSETTI, the King’s Plate winner who could be named Canadian Horse of the Year, a couple of plucky, Ontario-sired mares deserve mention.
MAXIMUM FIFTY (Souper Speedy) is the winningest horse at Woodbine to this point, with six victories for Frank DiGuilio Jr. and trainer Bob Tiller and Mad Dog Racing and Martin Drexler. Maximum Fifty’s three-year-old sister, Maximum Forty, was an impressive debut winner this fall.
LITTLE TEDDY took control of Ontario-sired races on the grass, winning two stakes and four races for York Tech Racing Stable. The Frac Daddy four-year-old was also placed in two Ontario-sired stakes on the Tapeta.
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Elsewhere, Ontario-sired and -bred FULL SCREEN (Big Screen – Lyndenshire by Langfuhr) posted a 100 Beyer Speed Figure for his win on the dirt at Aqueduct on November 20 at 1 1/8 miles. Making his third start since being claimed by trainer Brad Cox for owners Sandford Goldfarb and partners, Full Screen won the $100,000 optional claiming/allowance race by 6 lengths in 1:47.41. The dark bay was claimed for $100,000 in July.
Full Screen was bred by Dr. John Brown’s Spring Farm and he had won six of 35 races and over $591,000.
Full Screen’s 100 Beyer Figure is the third highest Beyer for an Ontario-bred horse in 2025 behind the late Patches O’Houlihan (108) and Simcoe (103).
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