AJAX DOWNS – September 4 2017 NORM FILES PHOTO
CHAMPIONSHIPS ON THE LINE AT AJAX DOWNS MONDAY OCT. 9
The $112,000 ALEX PICOV MEMORIAL FUTURITY for 2-year-olds and the 44th running of the $86,000 ALEX PICOV MEMORIAL CHAMPIONSHIP highlight a big card of Quarter Horse racing on Monday with a post time of 12:55 p.m.
The Thanksgiving Monday holiday card also will have a free pumpkin giveaway to the first 100 kids who can then decorate their pumpkin. The Farmer’s Market is also on site.
The card is DAY 27 of the 30 day racing meet which comes to an end Oct. 30.
The payoffs at Ajax are super, don’t be swayed by the tote board, the odds change quickly, as fast as the horses run!
For more on the two big stakes events, please go to Ontario Racing for a preview at www.ontarioracing.com
Thoroughblog is showcasing some of the amazing photos by friend NORM FILES on the site today – you can see his images on his Facebook page. Thank you Norm!
The Ontario bred HAD TO BE IVORY is one of the most exciting 2-year-olds to be seen in Ontario in years. This is his Picov Futurity Trial win with ears pricked. 101 speed index is huge and he is unbeaten in 4 races. He goes for big money on Monday – NORM FILES PHOTO
CHOMPING AT THE BIT, by NORM FIILES (Ms First Lady)
From Monday, Oct. 2
Fans of Quarter Horse Racing love to hear jockey TONY PHILLIPS (TP) come up with his on the spot ‘raps’. On Monday, Oct. 2, TP won on the 10-year-old gelding COLE MINER, the first time he has ever ridden the horse for owner Rick Crispi and trainer Tom Dunlap..
COLE MINER’S win was his 16th in 56 starts and he has earned over $195,000. He is an Ontario bred by Bill Cole and was bred by Mel Romaine.
MARYLAND MAGIC’S victory in one of the featured races at Ajax Downs on Monday was a poignant moment for the Quarter Horse racing industry in Ontario.
The talented colt’s win in the 400-yard allowance race was dedicated to Amber Hicks, recently a new owner in the sport and close friend of the horse’ s owner Milena Kwiecien. Hicks escaped the Las Vegas shooting at a country music concert on Sunday but several people seated next to her at the concert did not survive.
Hicks’ boyfriend, William Taggert and his mother Belinda, attended the races at Ajax on Monday and dedicated the win to Hicks.
“She is a wonderful girl who has always been supportive of Quarter Horse Racing,” said Kwiecien.”She is part of a syndicate with us for another horse and I am hoping to get her more involved.”
Maryland Magic, a stallion prospect for Ontario for Kwiecien, was ridden to victory by Ramiro Castillo, the leading rider at Ajax Downs.
Owner Milena Kwiecien (far left) and her partner Glenn Young along with Belinda Taggart – they won the Picov Derby with LS PRINCE and that 3-year-old is currently in Iowa preparing for the Bank of American Adequan derby final at Prairie Meadows, NORM FILES PHOTO
Jason Pascoe, trainer of Maryland Magic is in the battle for leading trainer along with a host of other horsepeople:
TRAINERS BY WINS
JOE TAVARES 24
JASON PASCOE 22
SCOTT REID 19
BRYN ROBERTSON 17
TOM DUNLAP 16
DON REID 15
The exciting mare MS FIRST PRIZE PEARL won Monday’s featured, 419,000 allowance race, with a super turn of foot at 33- yards. Shortening up from 440 yards did not bother this Oklahoma bred daughter of Ivory James as she stormed to her 4th win in 5 races this year for owners Richard Wincikaby and Don Reid and Kim Ito’s DK Training Centre.
MS FIRST PRIZE PEARL, ridden by Brian Bell is one of several 4-time winners this season so far at Ajax Downs:
Country Boy 123 5 4 $51,626
Ls Prince 7 4 $51,229
Arctic Fame 6 4 $29,512
Had to Be Ivory 4 4 $29,126
Miromar 7 4 $21,719
Ms First Prize Pearl 5 4 $19,562
LS PRINCE, CARNEROS go for riches next Saturday at Prairie Meadows
Ajax Downs’ top 3-year-old LS PRINCE, winner of the Picov Derby and Ajax Adequan Derby Challenge, is preparing for the final of the $180,000 Adequan Derby at the Bank of America Championhips on Oct 14 at Prairie Meadows in Altoona, Iowa.
The Milena Kwiecien owned dark bay, affectionately known as ‘chubby’ qualified for the berth to the final with his Ajax Adequan Derby win in the summer. Trained by Jason Pascoe, LS Prince has won four of his six races this year and is a Texas bred by Louisiana Senator.
The gelding was the first horse ever purchased by Kwiecien at auction; he was a $7,000 (US) purchase in Janaury 2016.
The Kwiecien and Pascoe team also have CARNEROS at Prairie Meadows for the $130,000 John Deere Final for 2-year-olds. Careneros was second in the John Deer Challenge at Ajax but because HAD TO BE IVORY, the winner, did not accept the berth to the final, the Carneros team accepted the trip.
The Oklahoma bred by Prospect to the Top was claimed by Kwiecien for $25,000 in April from a maiden race at Remington Park. He is a one time winner in seven races.
The BANK OF AMERICA CHALLENGE RACES is the ‘World Series’ of Quarter Horse Racing that began in 1993. No horse from Ontario has won any of these races as of yet. For more on the Bank of American Championships please see:
The beautiful 2-year-old from Ajax Downs, CARNEROS, has settled in well at Prairie Meadows for next weekend’s final of the John Deere – photo courtesy of BRYANNE LANGFORD
LS PRINCE tests out the Prairie Meadows surface this week as he readies for the final of the Adequan Derby in Iowa next Saturday – photo courtesy of BRYANNE LANGFORD
