The Canada Day Racing Festival at Woodbine on June 29 was rich with great racing including five graded events. Despite a deluge of rain that began the night before but finally ended early in the race day, the track was busy with fans. The day also included the presentation of the Avelino Gomez award to a worthy Canadian-based or born jockey who has made significant contributions to the industry; this year it was Gunnar Lindberg, a top rider and now a head steward. And the Jockey Club of Canada hosted its Annual General Meeting, bringing out dozens of breeders for the race day.
One of the stars of Saturday was King’s Plate winner PARAMOUNT PRINCE (Society’s Chairman), who has made a seamless transition to age four and now is a graded stakes winner for owners Mike Langlois and Gary Barber. The rugged chestnut gelding, trained by Mark Casse, sauntered to a handy win in the Dominion Day Stakes (G3) under Patrick Husbands at 1 1/8 miles, defeating fellow Ontario-bred Stanley House. Confirming that he simply is too tough to pass when he gets the lead to himself, Paramount Prince earned a career-best Beyer Speed Figure of 94 for a time of 1:49.35 over a speed-favouring track.
Bred by Ericka Rusnak, Paramount Prince is 11-5-2-3 with $749,810 in earnings. His dam Platinum Steel is a half-sister to the stallion Army Mule, sire of Stanley House.
The Dominion Day was one of three stakes wins for the Mark Casse team on Saturday (Josie Carroll with Sabatini and Brendan Walsh with Implicated won the Selene and Nassau, respectively).
FILO DI ARIANNA (BRZ), the champion Male Turf Horse and Sprinter in Canada in 2022, was happy to be home as he won the Highlander Stakes (G2), his eighth career win in 16 races. The eight-year-old is four-for-four on the Woodbine turf. Owned by Gary Barber, Wachtel Stable and Peter Deutsch, Filo di Arianna came to Casse in 2021, won a seven furlong turf race in 1:19.97, but was not seen again for almost a year.
In his championship season he won the Connaught and King Edward Stakes, both Grade 2s. He then went winless in his next six races until Saturday. However, the handsome chestnut was racing against arguably the best sprinter around in Cogburn in his last two races south of the border. He earned a 101 Beyer Figure for his Highlander win.
Casse also won the Grade 3 Marine with King’s Plate hopeful Essex Serpent (89 Beyer Figure), owned by Conrad Farms (see separate post on this site). PATRICK HUSBANDS rode two of the stakes winners as he continues his march to 400 stakes wins at Woodbine.
The Casse stats for stakes are stunning; at Woodbine he has won 13 of the 18 added-money races. In North America, he has sent out the winners of 27 stakes, tied for second with Brad Cox and just two stakes wins behind Chad Brown:
Trainer Starters / Starts / SWs / 2nd / 3rd / Earnings / Win %
1. Chad C. Brown 125 / 71 / 29 / 17 / 17 / $8,601,165 / $68,809 / 23%
2. Brad H. Cox 106 / 52 / 27 / 23 / 16 / $8,188,928 / $77,254 / 25%
2, Mark E. Casse 115 / 56 / 27 / 11 / 20 / $2,954,737 / $25,693 / 23%
3. Steven M. Asmussen 149 / 71 / 22 / 22 / 23 / $6,185,033 / $41,510 / 15%
4. Michael J. Maker 97 / 49 / 18 / 13 / 8 / $3,176,775 / $32,750 / 19%
Better to be lucky
Sunday’s sixth race, a turf sprint on the inner course, was a roughly-run race that resulted in 24-to-1 shot TRUEBELIEVE getting up to win for Centennial Farms (Niagara) and trainer Ravendra Raghunath. The $40,000 claiming/optional dash saw a contested early pace with Bold Reload just off the rail, Jazz Hands driving up inside and Aim for the Sky pressing wide. Trouble began when Light the Lamp and jockey Pietro Moran had to steady into the turn, eventually clipping heels and causing a chain reaction that saw old timer Shekky Shebaz check right out of the race, taking Courageous Copper with him.
In the stretch run, Moran, who was lucky to stay on Light the Lamp, was right back in the thick of the race and drove to the inside to split rivals but in the process, caused Jazz hands to check out. Truebelieve and jockey Eswan Flores avoided all the kerfuffle and was up to win over Aim for the Sky who was a nose ahead of Light the Lamp. Incredibly, nine-year-old Sheky Shebaz came on for fourth.
Jazz Hands, judged guilty of causing the problems on the turn, was disqualified from seventh and placed eighth and then Light the Lamp was later disqualified from third and placed behind Jazz Hands, eighth.
True Believe, a seven-year-old stallion, won for the second time this year, doubling his career win total. The son of Nephrite was in the Queen’s Plate four years ago.
Winners!
Trainer DAVE COTEY and jockey SKYE CHERNETZ broke through for their first win of the season with stretch-running HELLUVA HOLIDAY on Sunday.
Bob Tiller won two races on Sunday, both for owners 3 Sons Racing – Three Sonny Sideup and Maximum Fifty.
The week was good for trainer MATT DOUGLAS, who won two races, one for longtime owner George Bigliardi, who greeted his filly Stolen in the winner’s circle in a $23,500 claiming race on Thursday.
MIKE DUNSLOW sent out his first winner of the year as ECHO SEVEN won on Friday for owner Bruno Schickedanz and LORNE RICHARDS’ first starter of the year was the debuting STEALIN’TIME for owner True North Stable (Keith Johns). That filly, by Twirling Candy from Holy Flame, broke very slowly in the 5 furlong maiden special weight but blew past rivals to win against the speed bias.
Bred by Hill ‘n’ Dale Farms and Gabe Grossberg, Stealin’time was Richards’ 424th career winner as a trainer.
Jockeys EMMA JAYNE-WILSON and KAZUSHI KIMURA won five races last week.
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