What a weekend so far for Canadian racing – STORMY LORD, MARKETING MIX and NORTHERN PASSION, all winning on the grass – we do make some nice turfers!
WILL A LOCAL WIN THE WOODBINE MILE??
LORDY LORDY, what a day for Canadian-breds!!
STORMY LORD came out of the Play the King Stakes and won the Governor’s Cup at Parx Racing yesterday with a 91 Beyer Figure. Big win for the Kinghaven colt by Stormy Atlantic, Justin Stein rode for Ian Black…
Hmm, does that make Riding the Riding and Grand Adventure look even better in the WOODBINE MILE today??
The latest book on Barbaro is by Alex Brown who is at Woodbine today to sign and sell copies, with a portion going to LONGRUN!
CANADIAN-BRED IS ‘IN’ – WOODBINE MILE TODAY’S BIGGEE
Turf said to be on soft side by riders
Just like her aunt Ginger did years ago, NORTHERN PASSION flew to a NATALMA STAKES – Grade 3 win yesterday at Woodbine and now she’s in the Breeders’ Cup – the Breeders Cup Juvenile Fillies Turf, althought this gal is a good one. A debut winner, she pushed the good Tu Endie Wei to the limit in the Debutante Stakes.
Yesterday, with Luis Contreras on board for the 3rd straigth race, NOrthern Passion zippd up the inside and blew away a solid field with an 85 Beyer Figure for 1:35 flat on turf.
Even better, she’s an ONtario bred from the strong lineage intriduced by the late MEL LAWSON. Surely Jim Lawson was cheering home Northern Passion yesterday and she is an exciting one to watch.
The winner is by First Samurai and is the first foal of A Touch of Glory, a daughter of Gleaming Glory, dam og GINGER GOLD, who won the Natalma.
NORTHERN PASSION was a $95,000 yearling at Keeneland and then a $220,000 2yo buy by John Oxley.
FINALE won the Summer as expected but he had to work hard to beat EXCAPER from the Ian Black barn. That race went in 1:35.51 and was an 80 Beyer Figure.
“He didn’t leave the gate very good,” said Velazquez. “I actually hit
the door and the iron went all the way to my foot. I had to break and
get a position where I wanted to be and place my feet back where they
were supposed to be. After that, he took me very well the first part of
the race. At the quarter pole, I thought he was going to finish a
little better than what he did. I think he was having a hard time with
the grass. It was a little bit on the soft side and he was running at
the other horse (Excaper), but he didn’t have that quick spurt out of
him.”
Despite struggling somewhat with the footing, the veteran jock is
certain his horse, who is 0-for-2 on the dirt, has a green hoof.
“He’s a much better horse on the grass by far,” said Velazquez. “He
seemed to struggle on the dirt and not get a good grip on it. He was
spinning his wheels on it, and once he got to the grass he’s been
incredible, so why change it.”
Thoroughblog thinks he’s the RIGHT ONE – M. Burns photo
WOODBINE MILE ANALYSIS
Hey COURAGEOUS CAT is the best turf miler in North America and all he needs to do is handle the Woodbine grass and it’s unusual shape (long stretch run) to beat this group -it’s that simply.
So, depending on what odds you get, you might just want to stick with him. I Would say 2 to would be low enough.
As for the ones I am looking at for a bit more value – I like the powerful late running RIGHT ONE and am a bit interested in Side Glance and Dance Dance as the Euro’s.
The Play the King Stakes looks a bit better today (see above), so maybe the guys from that race look better too.
The lack of a strong pace is what I see, so if Kara’s Orientation guns it, then that makes tings interesting. I think if he guns it, he will get tired late.
The picks
RIGHT ONE
COURAGEOUS CAT
SIDE GLANCE
GRAND ADVENTURE
RAGOZIN SHEETS ANALYSIS
Sheets say COURAGEOUS CAT is most likely winner…
http://www.thoroughbredtimes.com/racing-news/2011/09/17/ragozin-insider-woodbine-mile.aspx
MARKETING MIX – Wonder Where winner, wins Grade 3
bred by SEAN FITZHENRY in Ontario!
