The 2023 Woodbine meeting is underway and while the weather has been grey and gloomy, the racing has been exciting.
Making her first start since early September, the speedy grey mare FOREST DRIFT led all the way through 5 1/2 furlongs at Woodbine on April 23 to take one of the richest races on the day. The second day of the Woodbine season had eight races including race 7 which was a $93,980 allowance/optional race for fillies and mares.
Forest Drift (Missen Mast – Pohdi Pohdi by Old Forester) was beautifully prepared by Hall of Fame trainer Robert Tiller and his team. Owned and bred by 3 Sons Racing Stable, Ltd. Forest Drift was also well ridden by Daisuke Fukumoto, who let the mare relax on the pace as she cleared the field. With challengers coming up the rail and on her outside, Forest Drift kept them at bay to win by a neck over Owen’s Tour Guide in 1:03.47/
Forest Drift, an Ontario-bred, earned over $54,000 for the win, her sixth in 17 career races. She is one of four foals to race for the very fast Pohdi Pohdi, also owned by 3 Sons and trained by Tiller. Her half-brother Aim for the Sky (Sky Mesa) was also in action on Sunday when second in an allowance/optional dash.
Pohdi Pohdi, bred by 3 Sons, is a stakes winner from another 3 Sons filly, stakes-placed Miss Juicey, by Trajectory.
Another hot race on the Sunday card was the sixth race, also an allowance/optional claiming dash at 5 1 2/ furlongs, and it was Gary Barber’s READY FOR A FIGHT who rallied from just off the pace under Sahin Civaci. Trained by Mark Casse, who won two races on Sunday, Ready for a Fight rallied in the 5 path off the turn and drew off to win by two lengths in 1:03.27. Bred in California by Barber, Ready for a Fight is by Boisterous and he has seven wins in 18 races. The six-year-old attracted a claim, too, scooped up for $50,000 by Paul Braverman and Timothy Pinch and trainer John Charalambous.
Race 1 was won on the pace by POPNFIZZ who was well prepared by trainer Catherine Day Phillips and team to bounce back from a dull outing at Turfway Park on March 25. The three-year-old Hard Spun filly, previously trained by Sarah Hamilton, went to the lead under apprentice Sophia Vives and was going smoothly while battling with favoured Not Negotiable. She held off a pair of rallying fillies from the Josie Carroll barn to win the maiden special weight worth $111,000 by three-quarters of a length. Popnfizz had shown good speed in her first three races at Turfway for American owners Rags Racing and Rick Howard but was far back in her most recent, thus her 11-to-1 odds.
HIGHLY FLAMMABLE won race 2, a $40,000 optional claiming race at 5 furlongs, reportedly having been gelded since his last race a year ago. Owned by D J Stable and trained by Mark Casse, the son of Munnings tracked the pace duel before taking off to a 4 3/4 length win in 57.09.
Highly Flammable was one of three winners on the card for jockey Rafael Hernandez.
Coming off a career year, both trainer BEV CHUBB and jockey JUAN CRAWFORD were ones to watch as the season opened and they landed in the winner’s circle on Sunday with the six-year-old gelding CHANCEL, who wore down favoured Light the Lamp in the 5 furlong race for $25,000 claiming. Chancel, owned and bred by LaDona Hudson, is a Kentucky-bred by Temple City and this was his first race since December and third career win. Read about the great year for Chubb and Crawford in the 2023 Sire Book publication.
Sovereign Award winning trainer BRUNO SCHICKEDANZ won two races on Sunday with STORMY SOUL, trained by Martin Drexler, and NAPA SPIRIT (Ire), trained by Mike Dunslow.
The former, an Ontario-bred by Stormy Atlantic, was coming in from good efforts in Florida and he was strong on the speed along the rail under Hernandez. NAPA SPIRIT was the fastest winner of the day as he sizzled 5 furlongs in 56.79. The 4-year-old was a $32,000 claim last fall from trainer Brendan Walsh’s barn and won this $32,000 claiming race under Emma-Jayne Wilson.
Sunday’s finale, the top selection by Canadian Thoroughbred and a 5-to-1 chance, EXCEED, rallied to win the $15,000 claiming race for Colebrook Farms and trainer Patrick Dixon. A five-year-old horse by Ami’s Holiday, Exceed was winning for the second time in his career and first time since 2021.
Wagering on the day was $2.4 million as the fields were small, but on Saturday and Sunday mornings, more than 500 horses had workouts.
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