FAMILY

HAPPY QUEEN’S PLATE DAY – the festivities begin at 12 – bands, food, fashion contests, pink carpet and lots of cool drinks!

Remember to watch and wager on the great racehorses who will compete for us beginning at 12, 13 races highlighted by the 10th race, the Queen’s Plate – the Toronto Star has selections in the paper today!

Lots of great story lines in this year’s field, I highlight one of them below…

Check out this video, one of dozens of great singles by HEDLEY – Jake and the guys have had 6 great albums..they play tonight at 9 at Woodbine..you just have to dance!

 

 

 

 

 

BROTHER AND SISTER BETTING ALL ON RED

 

Bob Anderson would be proud.

The Hall of Fame Canadian horse racing builder, owner, breeder would hardly be able to contain himself when All On Red walks on to the track for the Queen’s Plate tomorrow. His son David, and daughter Jessica, you see, bred the handsome chestnut colt, a son of a mare then went ‘halvsies’ on five years ago.

“Dad would be so thrilled and proud,” said Jessica Buckley. “He would get so keyed up and excited for these big races.”

All On Red’s mum, Wicked Diva, is the first horse Jessica has ever owned. The colt is the first homebred for her to make the races and he is being considered by many speed figure players as the best longshot to upset the 157th Plate on Sunday at Woodbine.

“The special-ness of this is not lost on me, “said Jessica, who recently returned to Canada and is now the VP Community Relations & Corporate Affairs at Woodbine Entertainment Group. ” I think about Dad all the time and I get emotional just thinking about it.”

David runs his father’s famed Anderson Farms in St. Thomas, ON since Bob passed away suddenly in November of 2010. He bought out his sister’s share of the farm and has built up the operation once again. The 140-acre operation is home to some 25 broodmares and a plethora of Percherons and Clydesdales, which David breeds for showing.

“My Dad bought this farm in 1970, I was born in 1969. I grew up doing all kinds of jobs at the farm: doing stalls, baling hay, preparing yearlings, you name it.”

Bob built Anderson Farms into an internationally respected breeding operation. Hundreds of stakes winners came from the farm and dozens of high-priced young horses were born and prepared in the fields of St. Thomas. He personally created the match-ups of stallions and mares that produced so many top class Canadian-bred thoroughbreds, most notably Alydeed, the 1992 Queen’s Plate and Derby Trial winner.
Alydeed was raced by Kinghaven Farms, owned by Anderson’s good friend David Willmot.

Anderson was also close friends with Rod Ferguson, who owned, bred and raced horses with Bob. They bred and raced champions such as Pinafore Park and Larkwhistle. Even more champions bred by Bob include Bounding Away, who was raced by Bob’s idol, E.P. Taylor, Triple Wow, Prince Avatar, Northern Craze, and the list goes on.

Ascot Knight was a significant addition to the Canadian racing and breeding industry as one of the top stallions. Bred by Bob and sold for $1.4 million at auction, Ascot Knight was an accomplished racehorses but an even better stallion while residing at Windfields Farm in Oshawa. Bob also burst into standardbred racing and bred and racing dozens of top horses.

“I don’t think there were too many other people more passionate about breeding a racehorse than my Dad,” said David. “Every Christmas we would sit down at dinner and talk about horses we had bred that were hopefully going for the Canadian Oaks or the Plate.”

And thus it was a pinch-me afternoon for David three weeks ago when he stood in the winner’s circle with friends John Fielding, Mitch Kursner and Catherine Day Phillips following Neshama’s win, by inches, in the $500,00 Oaks. David had bought a share in the Sligo Bay filly and was the first of the family to win the prestigious race for Canadian-bred fillies.

“It was a surreal moment,” said David. “I felt his presence like you wouldn’t believe. He was definitely watching our filly for us.”

Neshama is by-passing the Plate and pointing to next weekend’s Bison City Stakes but All On Red carries the Anderson family presence into the Plate.

 

David and Jessica purchased the colt’s dam, Wicked Diva, a talented daughter of Jump Stars, from the 2011 Keeneland November sale for $180,000. The mare was in foal to Hard Spun and that 2012 foal sold for $130,000 at auction as a yearling. The mare was bred back to Hard Spun and All On Red arrived.

“He was born on my birthday,” said Jessica. “I got baby pictures of him right away and then saw him a few weeks later. “Then he went to the yearling sale at Keeneland.”

All on Red did not meet his reserve of $100,000 at the sale but David was approached by Rudy Delguidice, a buyer for Dennis and Michael Narlinger who were searching for a Canadian-bred.

“The colt was very immature, “said David. “He had a huge walk to him but he was just inside out, wasn’t really sale-ready.”

Rudy offered us $75,000 for him, I called my sister and we sold him. Otherwise he was going to Catherine Day Phillip’s barn.”

All on Red won his second career start, a maiden race at Aqueduct before he came to Woodbine for a second place finish in an allowance race. He is still a big, green fellow who has learning to do, but he is in the care of Sid Attard, an expert conditioner, and the colt has a bright future.

 

 

 

“It has been a great experience,” said Jessica, a married mother of two who lives in Newmarket, ON. “My brother is really talented at picking out horses for breeding. I am grateful to to have a small part in all the excitement pf the Plate, as well as helping plan the day for the track.”

Jessica will be watching the Plate from the Royal Box, the enclosed area where the Lieutenant Governor of Ontario, Elizabeth Dowdeswell, will watch with Woodbine CEO Jim Lawson and others.

Should All on Red be in contention for a Plate victory in deep stretch, this writer suggested she step away from the other dignitaries in the box in case the arms start flying.

“I have to try and be subdued for sure,” she laughed.

 

WOODBINE WRAP – FRIDAY JULY 1

with files from Woodbine media

“I remember the first Dominion Day Handicap I came to, I was about 16 and Frost King won it. I loved that horse. I would never have dreamed to have a horse in the

race, never-mind winning it. Anybody thinking about racing should get involved.” – Stephen Chesney

 

 

MELMICH, expertly piloted by Eurico Rosa da Silva, rallied last to first to capture the featured $156,000, Grade 3 Dominion Day Stakes on Canada Day at Woodbine.

Last of five for most of the mile and one-quarter contest, while War Dancer, under pressure from defending Dominion Day champ Red Rifle, led the field through fractions of :25.30, :49.52 and 1:13.64, Melmich moved to challenge the leaders turning for home and surged past for a commanding 1 1/2-length win. The final time was 2:04.06. Breaking Lucky, the 2015 Prince of Wales champ, rallied for place over Scuba.

The winning Beyer Figure was 99 on a track that was producing slow times for most of the day.

Da Silva believes the slow time may have been hampered by conditions.

“The wind is blowing very hard so it’s very difficult to say if this is the real time. For me, they were going good,” said da Silva. “My horse was relaxed and he was there for me any time I needed him. The longer he goes, the better he is.”

Trained by Kevin Attard, the five-year-old Wilko chestnut arrived at the 1 ¼-mile Tapeta route from an even third-place run in the Grade 2 Eclipse Stakes while making his seasonal debut. The talented gelding won six of eight starts in 2015 including added-money victories in the restricted Elgin Stakes and Grade 3 Valedictory Stakes, a 1 ¾-mile marathon.

“He was coming off a six-month layoff and the track he ran on that day was very tiring,” said Attard of the Eclipse effort. “He’s had some good works in the interim and we’ve been pointing for this race since the beginning of the season.”

The victory was a special one for Stephen Chesney who co-owns Melmich with Cory Hoffman. The duo acquired Melmich through the claim box for $20,000 on September 26, 2014 and the gelding has since won nine times.

“I remember the first Dominion Day Handicap I came to, I was about 16 and Frost King won it. I loved that horse,” recalled Chesney. “I would never have dreamed to have a horse in the race, never-mind winning it. Anybody thinking about racing should get involved.”

Melmich, bred in Ontario by Andy Stronach, banked $90,000 in victory while improving his record to 10-5-2 from 22 starts.

He paid $6, $3.40 and $2.40, combining with Breaking Lucky ($4.40, $3.50) for a $19.10 (5-4) exactor. A 5-4-2 triactor (Scuba, $3.40 to show) was worth $49.70.

 

NOHOLDINGBACK BEAR SETS TRACK RECORD

Mr. Will Wong captured NOHOLDINGBACK BEAR sizzling to the wire in the prep for the Bold Venture Stakes on friday at Woodbine, 6 1/2 furlongs in a track record 1:14.44, good for a 101 Beyer Speed Figure. The track was slow, the wind was fierce but this BearStables fellow, trained by Mike DePaulo, won in a hand ride. He was a $25,000 purchase and is by Put It Back.

 

 

Internal Bourbon prevails in Zadracarta

Trainer Roger Attfield will be looking to saddle a record ninth Queen’s Plate winner when Shakhimat goes to the post on Sunday, and the Hall of Fame conditioner got his long weekend off to a good start when Internal Bourbon upset Friday’s $100,000 Zadracarta Stakes, at Woodbine.

Internal Bourbon rated off the pace of 3-5 favorite Southern Ring in the Zadracarta, a seven-furlong turf race for Ontario-sired fillies and mares.

But, Southern Ring began to weaken off fractions of :22.96, :46.17, and 1:10.32 and was passed by Internal Bourbon and Charming Delilah almost in unison with a furlong to run. Internal Bourbon won the battle to prevail in 1:22.96 but Charming Delilah battled on very gamely to miss by just a neck.

Under rider Alan Garcia, Internal Bourbon lay farther off the pace than usual.

“That was the plan, if there was a legitimate pace,” said Attfield. “The main thing with her is she doesn’t need to go to the lead too soon. She’s lost a number of races going to the lead too soon, and we finally got it all worked out that she doesn’t do that. (Garcia) rode her really well.”

Conquest Strate Up closed on the outside to finish third while Southern Ring faltered to fourth. Rounding out the order of finish were Copper Kitten, Pengally Bay and Clarkston Hope. Green Doctor was scratched.

Internal Bourbon, a homebred 4-year-old filly who races for Chuck Fipke, was recording her first stakes win in the Zadracarta and her second straight win after capturing an open first-level allowance at 6.5 furlongs on the turf.