JAKE says Merry Christmas!
Thank you to all the wonderful horses we watched and wagered on
And their dedicated caretakers on the ground,
It was the Year of the Horse
And in Canada, we had some of the best horses around
Lexie Lou was certainly the queen
With her Oaks and Plate scores,
Then she was second to the magnificent ‘Chrome
Leaving all of us wanting even more
Thoroughblog is here to keep up to date with news
It is fun to write about all the hard working friends,
And cheering for all of you every day
Well the fun never ends
We miss those who we lost this year, too many for sure
It is a passionate and emotional biz,
For now, many of you are in warmer climes
The rest of us hope for a smooth winter, so far it is
Wishing you and yours and the horses
All the best through the holidays and beyond,
For myself I hope to continue to write (and do TV)
About this great sport of which I am fond.
Merry Christmas
ALL WE WANT FOR CHRISTMAS..
As we sit down to enjoy our friends and family during the holidays, those of us who make a living in horse racing in Canada and Ontario are hoping for a healthy and prosperous 2015 for our horses.
Backstretch workers hope for that next good horse, the one they groom, or walk or ride. Owners and trainers too. Most of us are idle for now, watching some racing in Florida and other tracks, going on trips or catching up on reading and movies. February will come soon enough for horsepeople and then it is not too terribly long until racing begins again in April.
Lottery integration is the big one on the Christmas list for horse racing. It’s a long and slow process (see story below). Attracting people to come out to the races and ejoy the spectacle while placing some bets is another Christmas wish. Everyone can get involved with this – promote the sport to people you meet.
“Every racetrack operator, every horseman’s group, every breeder should be thinking of ways to interact with the public to make them interested in our product so that we don’t have the OLG shaking their finger at us saying, ‘Well you’re just living off us. No one likes or cares about your product.’ – Sue Leslie, president HBPA, OHRIA
GUELPH MERCURY FEATURE -President of horse racing association asks for patience
Guelph Mercury
By Dave Briggs
As critical talks continue to establish a new gambling product that will integrate Ontario’s horse racing industry and the Ontario Lottery and Gaming corporation — and drive revenue for both — the woman leading the charge on behalf of horse racing is appealing for patience.
Sue Leslie, the president of the Ontario Horse Racing Industry Association said Wednesday afternoon that she is encouraged with the dialogue between a subcommittee of her group and the lottery corporation, despite the “tedious” nature
read more…
HORSE-RACES.NET YEAR IN REVIEW
The major races of 2014, the top horses and horsepeople and those we lost..
http://www.horse-races.net/library/2014-review.htm
LYNCH WAS ALERTED TO HIS POWER
Brian Lynch traveled to Australia recently, his homeland. One of things he brought back was POWER ALERT (AUS). The 4-year-old grey gelding impressed in his North American debut for Lynch, who also owns the colt. Lynch purchased the 4-year-old gray gelding after getting a tip about the horse from his brother. After making 13 starts in Australia, winning just twice, Power Alert, who previously had trouble with bleeding during his races, immediately took to an American racetrack, as well as the addition of Lasix. After pressing the pace early, he closed with a flourish in the stretch to score by 1 ¾ lengths over Bye Bye Bernie and Great Attack in the five-furlong contest. The final time was :59.94; he paid $19.20 to win.
“I always had it in the back of my mind that he had a lot of speed,” Lynch said. “I had only ever worked him with company once, because I couldn’t find any company good enough to work with him after that. It was a pleasant surprise today. I thought he might want to run a little bit father, but it was a good field of older horses, and I think he did it very nicely. I’m very happy with him.”
CASSE STABLE getting going again
There has been a bit of a quiet time for the Mark Casse stable in recent weeks as Del Mar closed and Los Alamitos opened but Santa Anita is opening and the Casse runners are also in action in Florida. On Sunday at Gulfstream, the stable had a winner from its only starter:
TROPICAL PARK DERBY, $75,000, GPX, 12-20, 3yo,
1 1/16mT, 1:40 1/5, fm.
1–SKY FLIGHT, 116, c, 3, by Sky Mesa 1st Dam: Cordoba (SP, $104,427), by Unbridled
2nd Dam: Russian Flight (Ire), by Siberian Express
3rd Dam: Rozala, by Roberto
($80,000 yrl ’12 KEESEP). O-John C Oxley; B-Aaron Sones & Beverly Sommer (KY); T-Mark E Casse;
J-Jose Lezcano. $43,245. Lifetime Record: 4-3-0-0, $105,445.
In the TROPICAL PARK OAKS, SAVE THE PARK, a Woodbine runner for Brerton Jones, ran a smart 4th for trainer Reade Baker. The filly stayed in mid-pack and rallied wide to be just 1 lengths from the winner, Sandiva, from the Todd Pletcher barn. The race was worth $75,000.
Canadian bred SHE AIN’T BAD won an allowance race on Saturday at Penn National by 3/4 of a length at 4 to 1. The Ericka Rusnak-bred filly, by Where’s the Rig – She Ain’t Much by Phone Trick won the 6 furlong race in 1:11.23 for Rock Nottom Ranch and trainer Sandee Martin.
COMING UP AFTER CHRISTMAS:
Friday, Santa Anita Park, post time: 6:30 p.m. EST
MALIBU S.-GI, $300,000, 3yo, 7f
PP HORSE SIRE JOCKEY TRAINER WT
1 Conquest Two Step Two Stp Slsa Talamo Casse 118
2 Chitu K Henny Hughes Rosario Baffert 118
3 Indianapolis Medaglia d’Oro Stevens Baffert 118
4 Rprettyboyfloyd K Bluegrass Cat Baze Breuer 118
5 Pimpernel K Elusive Quality Garcia Baffert 118
6 Midnight Hawk Midnight Lute Espinoza Baffert 118
7 Tamarando Bertrando Leparoux Hollendorfer 118
8 Shared Belief Candy Ride (Arg) Smith Hollendorfer 123
9 Diamond Bachelor K War Front Prat Biancone 118
10 Frensham Square Eddie Gutierrez O’Neill 118
Saturday, Gulfstream Park, post time: 4:57 p.m. EST
W. L. MCKNIGHT H.-GIII, $100,000, 3yo/up, 1 1/2mT
PP HORSE SIRE JOCKEY TRAINER WT
1 St. Albans Boy Giant’s Causwy Lanerie Rubley 115
2 Unitarian Pulpit Velazquez Pletcher 117
3 North Slope Elusive Quality Ortiz Jr McLaughlin 118
4 Calvados (Arg) Snipewalk Lezcano Correas IV 115
5 Fixador (Brz) Crafty C. T. Saez Caramori 113
6 Slumber (GB) K Cacique (Ire) Rosario Brown 117
7 Manchurian High The Daddy Saez Kurtinecz 115
8 Greengrassofyoming K Quest Goncalves Tomlinson 114
9 Avie’s Quality K Elusive Quality Rios Carroll 114
10 Rapscallion K Speightstown Valdivia Jr Motion 115
11 Royal Blessing Kitten’s Joy Lopez Maker 116
12 Midnight Aria K Midnight Lute Contreras Gonzalez 116
13 Divine Oath K Broken Vow Castellano Pletcher 116
14 Margano Dynaformer Leparoux Delacour 117
AE Developer K Dynaformer Leparoux Delacour 114
AE Dashing David (Ire) Lemon Drop Kid Hernandez Joseph Jr 114
Friday, Santa Anita Park, post time: 6:00 p.m. EST
MATHIS BROTHERS MILE S.-GII, $200,000, 3yo, 1mT
PP HORSE SIRE JOCKEY TRAINER WT
1 Patriots Rule Tribal Rule Perez Diodoro 118
2 Red Outlaw Tribal Rule Maldonado Miller 118
3 Ashleyluvssugar Game Plan Trujillo Eurton 118
4 Alert Bay K City Zip Baze Wright 120
5 Sawyer’s Hill K Spring At Last Garcia Mulhall 118
6 Tonito M. K Rock Hard Ten Bejarano Hollendorfer 120
7 Heart to Heart English Chnnl Leparoux Lynch 120
8 Louisiana Flyboy Fusaichi Pegs Gryder Koriner 118
9 Home Run Kitten Kitten’s Joy Talamo Hofmans 118
10 Long On Value Value Plus Smith Mott 123
11 Awesome Return Decarchy Desormeaux Puype 118
12 Talco (Fr) Pivotal (GB) Van Dyke Sadler 118
AE Cool Samurai First Samurai Espinoza Shirreffs 118
AE Play Hard to Get Purim Nakatani Kruljac 118
