Woodbine’s most recent week of racing began with a host of wild longshots winning and wrapped up with a pair of Ontario-sired stakes for two-year-olds, each race won by smaller-scale owners.
The average win odds on horses at Woodbine last week was in the 10-to-1 range and the strong rail bias from previous weeks was long gone. Instead, a slow surface greeted runners and handicappers last week, favouring stretch runners for the majority of main track races. The inner turf course hosted a few races until the second scheduled grass event was cancelled on Saturday. Three races were taken off the turf Sunday.
The hot names from the week including jockeys ESWAN FLORES, who won six races including three on Sunday, all for trainer Martin Drexler. Flores also rode his first horse for leading trainer MARK CASSE and he brought Champion Turf Male of 2023 LUCKY SCORE from miles behind a crazy pace duel to win an allowance/optional claiming race on Oct. 18.
Lucky Score, still doing fairly well at the age of seven, is a two-time graded stakes winner by Lookin at Lucky, bred in Ontario by James and Janease Everatt and Arika Everatt-Meeuse. Lucky Score has won eight of 30 career races and earned over $756,000. He is owned by Gary Barber, Pantofel Stable and Wachtel Stable.
Jockey JOSE CAMPOS won four races last week including the Grade 3 Ontario Derby on Borealis Trail, DAISUKE FUKUMOTO also won four races, as did RYAN MUNGER.
On October 19 (Sunday), windy conditions kicked off the day before rain set in, making the Tapeta considerably quicker by race 7.
South Ocean Stakes
ZABARTA won her maiden for $25,000 claiming on October 10 for Thomas Knizet’s Tara Horse Farm. The daughter of Knizet’s stallion ABARTA looked good doing it, sweeping around rivals to win in that third career race. Knizet and Tharrenos elected to bring the filly right back in the 7-furlong South Ocean. Zabarta was one of three fillies in the race for Tharrenos, who also had three colts in the Frost King Stakes.
Zabarta did not get much play from the fans, since double stakes winner Souper Diva was odds-on for 6 Deep Stable. That speedy gal did not get the early lead, however, as Tharrenos-trained Hot Stuff Baby zoomed to the front. Souper Diva chased that longshot while stakes-placed Sipping History was very rank and giving her rider Pietro Moran all kinds of trouble.
Zabarta, with young rider Desean Bynoe riding, was parked some eight lengths back along the rail before Bynoe, sensing he was running out of room on the rail path, paused his filly, shifted her out and let her loose. Zabarta flew four wide around fillies and drew off to a seven-length win in 1:24.61.
Bynoe, who rode his first race in Canada at Century Mile in Alberta in 2021, is from Barbados. He won 16 races in 2023 as an apprentice at Woodbine.
“I’m ecstatic,” said Bynoe, who was winning his second career stakes race. “She’s very game. I think she waits on me to ask her and she just goes. So it makes the job a bit easier. The last start, she was being patient and that’s all I was thinking of the whole day, the whole week – just that one kick. I know she’s got it. I was just being patient.”
Tharrenos, despite having started the filly for $25,000 claiming, said he believed in the filly.
“She had a couple of little issues – attitude problems – but I really believe she can do it. She’s getting better.”
The victory by Zabarta was the first stakes win for Knizet, whose farm is in Niagara-on-the-Lake.
“I’m happy for this farm,” said Tharrenos. “They have been trying at it for a few years now. She [Zabarta] showed us a little bit of promise earlier on in the spring.”
Knizet ran his first horse in 2016 and won his first race in 2020. He has stood stallions at his farm including Hyper, Tweet Kitten and Abarta. Abarta’s first foals are two-year-olds of this year. The Grade 2-placed stallion is a half-brother to Grade 2 winner HONOR MARIE.
Knizet has 18 wins as a sole owner. He obtained Zabarta from breeder Cyril Simek.
Zabarta’s dam is ZAZINGA who won the 2014 La Prevoyante Stakes for owners/breeders Steve Owens and Beverly Lewis Owens. Her first foal was the winner Dancing Zazinga
Frost King Stakes
The male split of the Ontario-sired stakes race at 7 furlongs (there was actually one filly entered, Souper Sporty) was won on the pace by Kevin Drew’s RELOAD RALEIGH, trained by Barbara Minshall and ridden by Ryan Munger.
The son of Reload, who broke his maiden second time out with a 65 Beyer Speed Figure, was away from the gate in a bit of a tangle in the Frost King. Munger hustled the chestnut gelding to the lead, but the pair were involved in a multiple horse duel while down on the rail. But the gutsy youngster fended off the early challengers and held off a closing Silver Is Best to win by a head in 1:22.99.
“I’ll be honest – he felt like he was looking for company,” said Munger. “From the top of the lane, he was running on the wrong lead, he was running towards the rail – he just needed company to join him. Once that horse (Silver Is Best) joined him, he was probably going to fight on again.
“You know in high school, you get the jock, the good-looking sportsman, but damn, he’s not smart in class – that is him,” added Munger.
Bred by Jon Hyka of Hillsburgh, ON, Reload Raleigh is from the Awesome Again mare Ice Mint, a 2006 mare who was a winner for Wertheimer et Frere. Ice Mint’s first foal, A Shin Allonsy (Ire), by Sea the Stars, sold for $675,000 as a yearling. The mare’s next foal, by Galileo, sold for over $500,000, and Cavanaugh Park is a stakes producer. Ice Mint produced stakes-placed Seat of Power and was obtained by the Hyka family in foal to Air Force Won. Reload Raliegh is her third Canadian-bred foal.
Owner Drew bought Reload Raleigh from the 2024 CTHS yearling sale for $14,000. Drew’s first stakes winner was Jilli Marie and he also races My Girl Sky. Since his first runner in 2020, Drew has won 11 races.
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