GROUNDHOG

 

SOVEREIGN AWARD FINALISTS ANNOUNCED

Anderson Farms, Ivan Dalos well represented

 

 

The Jockey Club of Canada will host the 43rd Annual Sovereign Awards Ceremony to honour Canada’s Champions of 2017 on Thursday, April 19, 2018.

Tickets to the 43rd Annual Sovereign Awards Ceremony are $250 each, with tables of 10 discounted to $2,000. Earlybird tickets are also available for a discounted price of $225 until March 15, 2018.

David Anderson’s Anderson Farms in St. Thomas has horses up for five awards and his farm is up for Outstanding Breeder. Anderson bred finalists Wonder Gadot, Inflexibility and Tower of Texas and the mare Loving Vindication is up for Outstanding Broodmare.

And it could be a huge awards night for Ivan Dalos, also up for breeder, is a finalist for owner and horses bred by him are up for many awards; Channel Maker for 3-year-old and Male Turf, Gamble’s Ghost for Older Mare, Ami’s Mesa for Female Sprinter and Older Female, Johnny Bear for Turf Male and the mares Keen Victory and Victorious Ami up for the Broodmare Award.

Dalos, who is featured in this week’s BloodHorse magazine, has never won a Sovereign for top breeder.

The 2017 Sovereign Award finalists are:

Champion Two-Year-Old Filly:
Dixie Moon
Dream It Is
Wonder Gadot

Champion Two-Year-Old Male:
Admiralty Pier
Archaggelos
Be Vewy Vewy Quiet

Champion Three-Year-Old Female:
Daz Lin Dawn
Enstone
Holy Helena
Inflexibility

Champion Three-Year-Old Male:
Channel Maker
Mr Havercamp
Tiz a Slam

Champion Older Female:
Ami’s Mesa
Moonlit Promise
Gamble’s Ghost

Champion Older Male:
Gigantic Breeze
Melmich
Pink Lloyd

Champion Female Turf Horse:
Enstone
Inflexibility
Starship Jubilee

Champion Male Turf Horse:
Channel Maker
Johnny Bear
Tower of Texas

Champion Female Sprinter:
Ami’s Mesa
Jennifer Lynnette
Moonlit Promise

Champion Male Sprinter:
Ikerrin Road
Pink Lloyd
Yorkton

Outstanding Broodmare:
Keen Victory
Loving Vindication
Miss Crissy
Victorious Ami

Outstanding Breeder:
Adena Springs
Anderson Farms Ont. Inc.
Tall Oaks Farm

Outstanding Owner:
Chiefswood Stable
Ivan Dalos
Stronach Stables

Outstanding Trainer:
Josie Carroll
Mark Casse
Catherine Day Phillips
Norman McKnight

Outstanding Apprentice Jockey:
Ridge Balgobin
Brandon A. Duchaine
Rey Williams

Outstanding Jockey:
Luis Contreras
Eurico Rosa Da Silva
Rico W. Walcott

The finalists for 2017 Horse of the Year will be announced on the night of awards ceremony.

The judging for the 2017 Media Sovereign Award categories will be performed by the Journalism Professors at Humber, School of Media Studies & Information Technology, in Toronto. The three finalists in each of the three media categories will be announced on or before March 1, 2018.

 

PIVEN tries for G2 Swale on Saturday for Derek Chin

 

Toronto’s DEREK CHIN will be cheering on his super 3-year-old colt PIVEN on Saturday at Gulfstream Park on another big day of racing at the Florida track.

Piven, trained by top Woodbine conditioner Kevin Attard, comes off a win in the Limehouse Stakes at Gulfstream and  is an exciting sophomore for the local connections.

“He ran to the way he was working. It was a restricted race. This race is going to be a whole different ballgame,” trainer Kevin Attard said. “He’s going to have to step up. I don’t know why not. He’s a young horse; he’s improving. We’re hoping he goes in the right direction.”

Piven had demonstrated talent in his first four career starts on Woodbine’s synthetic surface, breaking his maiden at first asking and placing twice in stakes, before making his dirt debut at Gulfstream Park Jan. 6.

“He had trained well on it back home. I’ve always liked him.” Attard said. “It was a restricted race. He had come here and had a couple of sensational works. It looked like he was adjusting to Florida and Gulfstream, so we gave him a shot in a race I thought was reachable and he confirmed it.”

The Florida-bred son of Prospective, who was purchased for $75,000 at the 2017 April OBS 2-year-olds-in-training sale, will be ridden by Irad Ortiz Jr. for the first time. Jose Ortiz, who had ridden Piven to victory in the Limehouse, has opted to ride Lael Stable’s Tricks to Doo in the Swale.

The race favourite is likely to be STRIKE POWER, who won his debut with a whopping 102 Beyer Speed Figure.

The Gulfstreasm card also has the Holy Bull Stakes, one of the first major Kentucky Derby prep races of the season. Also – Ontario bred QUEEN’S FATE takes part in the Grade 3 Sweetest Chant Stakes. She is an Artie Schiller filly bred by Josham Farms and Yvonne Schwabe.

Saturday, Gulfstream Park, post time: 2:30 p.m. EST
SWEETEST CHANT S.-GIII, $100,000, 3yo, f, 1mT
PP HORSE SIRE OWNER TRAINER JOCKEY WT
1. Thewayiam (Fr) Thewayyouare Great Point Stables LLC, Dubb, The Elkstone Group LLC and Bethlehem Stables LLC
2. Andina Del Sur Giant’s Causeway Don Alberto Stable Albertrani Rosario 114
3. Cash Out Street Cry (Ire) G. Watts Humphrey, Jr. Arnold, II Juarez 114
4. Data Dependent More Than Ready Klaravich Stables, Inc. Brown Castellano 114
5. Salsa Bella (Fr) Siyouni (Fr) Dubb, Michael, Madaket Stables LLC and Brown Ortiz, Jr. Bethlehem Stables LLC
6. My Favorite Gift K Tapit Grupo 7C Racing Stable Delgado Jaramillo 114
7. Go Noni Go K Get Stormy Three Diamonds Farm Maker Gaffalione 114
8. Queen’s Fate K Artie Schiller Maxis Stable and Maker, Michael J. Maker Leparoux 114
9. Arabella Bella Skipshot Olympia Star, Inc. Yanakov Reyes 114

Saturday, Gulfstream Park, post time: 1:30 p.m. EST
SWALE S.-GIII, $200,000, 3yo, 7f
PP HORSE SIRE OWNER TRAINER JOCKEY WT

1. Diamond King K Quality Road D. J. Stable LLC, Cash is King LLC and LC Racing Servis Pennington 120
2. Tricks to Doo Into Mischief Lael Stable Delacour Ortiz 120
3. Gotta Go K Shanghai Bobby Lothenbach Stables, Inc. Wilkes Landeros 120
4. Empire Power K Bodemeister Secure Investments Sano Zayas 116
5. Piven Prospective Derek Chin Attard Ortiz, Jr. 120

 

360 NOMINATIONS TO AMERICAN TRIPLE CROWN

Seven Canadian-breds paid up

Good Magic, eFive Thoroughbreds and Stonestreet Stables LLC’s champion 2-year-old Thoroughbred of 2017 and winner of the Sentient Jet Breeders’ Cup Juvenile (Grade I), heads an international roster of 360 3-year-old Thoroughbreds made eligible during the early nomination phase to compete in the 2018 races of the coveted American Triple Crown: the $2 million Kentucky Derby Presented by Woodford Reserve (Grade I), the $1.5 million Preakness (GI) and the $1.5 million Belmont Stakes (GI).

The Chad Brown-trained Good Magic, a son of two-time Horse of the Year Curlin and the Eclipse Award winner as America’s champion juvenile of 2017, is joined on the list of early Triple Crown nominees by accomplished stars that include Ruis Racing LLC’s Bolt d’Oro, whose only blemish in four 2017 races was his third-place run behind the champion in the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile; and Solomini, the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile runner-up owned by Zayat Stables LLC and trained by Hall of Famer Bob Baffert, who teamed in 2015 to send American Pharoah to the first sweep of the Triple Crown races since 1978. One of Solomini’s three losses was a disqualification from first to third in December’s Los Alamitos Cash Call Futurity (GI).

The 2018 Triple Crown will open Saturday, May 5 with the 144th running of the 1 ¼-mile Kentucky Derby at Churchill Downs in Louisville, Ky. The 143rd Preakness, its 1 3/16-mile second jewel, is set for Saturday, May 18 at Pimlico Race Course in Baltimore, Md. The 150th running of the Belmont Stakes, the series’ 1 ½-mile final leg, is scheduled for Saturday, June 9 at Belmont Park in Elmont, N.Y.

Early nominations to the 2018 Triple Crown closed Jan. 20. Each nomination was accompanied by payment of a $600 fee to make the individual Thoroughbred eligible to compete in any or all of the Triple Crown contests. A late nomination period, which requires a payment of $6,000 for each nominated 3-year-old, is now underway and will continue through Monday, March 19.

Canadian-breds nominated for American Triple Crown:

ALTERNATIVE ROUTE – b.c. Tiznow – La Suena by Storm Cat
Owner: Spendthrift Farms LLC and Town & Country Stable. Trainer: Al Stall Jr
Breeder: Bill Graham $265,000 Fasig Tipton March 2yo

READYFORPERFECTION b.c. Perfect Soul – Readyforthequeen by More Than Ready
Owner/breeder: Charles Fipke. Trainer Dallas Stewart

REDOUTE’S LIGHT b.c. Redoute’s Choice (Aus) – Thislillightofmine by Kingmambo
Owner/breeder: Charles Fipke. Trainer: Roger Attfield

SCAT BIG DAD dk.b.c. Scat Daddy – Gauze by Saint ballado
Owners: Joann and Alex Lieblong. Trainer: Richard Mandella. Breeder: Anderson Farms Ontario (ON) $450,00 Keeneland Sept. yearling

SCRAPPER b.c. Orb – Lynnette by Johannesburg
Owner: Sumaya Us Stable. Trainer: Todd Pletcher. Breeder: Christine Hayden $600,00 OBS March 2yo

TELEKINESIS b.c. Ghostzapper – Intentional Cry by Street Cry (Ire)
Owner: Stonestreet Stables. Trainer: Mark Casse. Breeder: Bill Graham.
$470,000 Keenland November weanling

WONDER GADOT dk.b.f Medaglia D’Oro – Loving Vindication by Vindication
Owner: Gary Barber. Trainer: Mark Casse. Breeder: Anderson Farms Ontario
$325,000 OBS April 2yo

 

SUMMER STAKES and HIGHLANDER up to Grade 1

The Jockey Club of Canada recently announced changes to the Graded Stakes and Black-Type Calendar for 2018. The Graded Stakes Committee meeting was conducted by Committee Chair, Ross McKague and accompanied by all Committee Members as well as the attending race advisors, Jason Teague, Stuart Slagle, Steve Lym, Tim Lawson, Paul Ryneveld and Tom Cosgrove.

After reviewing the NARC figures for all Graded and Listed races in Canada, the Committee determined that the following races would be upgraded in 2018:

The Summer Stakes will be upgraded from G2 to G1
The Highlander Stakes will be upgraded from G2 to G1
The Royal North Stakes will be upgraded from G3 to G2
The Trillium Stakes will move from Listed Status to G3

Along with the upgrades, the Speed to Spare Stakes did not receive sufficient RQS numbers in 2017 and therefore will lose its Black-Type status in 2018, disqualifying it from Listed Status.

The RQS numbers, which take into account factors such as quality of field, can change each year thus, races can go in and out of black-type classification frequently.

The Jockey Club of Canada Graded Stakes Committee evaluates and reviews the Graded Stakes in Canada annually and determines whether races should be upgraded, downgraded or remain the same. The Committee bases their decisions on the cumulative NARC ratings for five consecutive years.

For complete information, visit the Jockey Club of Canada‘s website.

 

THIS FILLY DID NOT GET ANY BIDS at NEW ZEALAND AUCTION

Bet you have never seen this in the sales ring

“‘An athletic, precocious type, good stride – plenty of bounce, if a shade frisky.” – Rob Waterhouse

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-5337039/Female-streaker-cartwheels-NZ-horse-auctions.html

 

 

 

159TH QUEEN’S PLATE LOGO

To commemorate the iconic Queen’s Plate, Woodbine Entertainment’s Creative Services Department, headed by Creative Director Ken McConnachie with the support of Graphic Designers Joseph Cantin and Szabi Apro, have unveiled a sharp new logo boasting the traditional colours of royal blue and gold highlighted by a celebratory flourish of the winning rider.

“We’re proud to unveil this energetic new logo which captures the intensity and athleticism of our great athletes, both equine and human, while maintaining the important connection to the regal history of this event,” said McConnachie.

Merchandise featuring the new Queen’s Plate logo will be available in the Woodbine Racetrack Gift Shop, located next to the Canadian Horse Racing Hall of Fame at the west entrance of the racetrack.

The Queen’s Plate, the first leg of the Canadian Triple Crown, is the centrepiece of the three-day Queen’s Plate Festival, which kicks off on Friday, June 29 with live racing, the fashionable Hats & Horseshoes Party presented by Stella Artois, and live music including a concert by three-time GRAMMY® Award-winning country music superstar Brad Paisley.

Saturday’s Queen’s Plate excitement will be capped by a post-race concert to close out the day with additional artists to be announced. The Festival will continue on Sunday, July 1 with free Canada Day celebrations and fun for the whole family.

The Queen’s Plate, first contested in 1860, is North America’s oldest continuously-run stakes event. The filly Holy Helena won the 2017 edition of the $1 million race.

Tickets can be purchased through Ticketmaster.ca.

FESTIVAL PASSES & ACCESS

General Admission Festival Passes are $45 and provide access including general admission to the Brad Paisley concert, Queen’s Plate, Hats & Horseshoes Party presented by Stella Artois, and post-race concert.

Paddock Party Festival Passes are $75 and provide all of the above, plus a concert pre-party with live racing and entertainment, exclusive access to the beer garden for concert viewing, and admission to the Paddock Party for the Queen’s Plate.

Premium Festival Passes will be available for $350 and provide the ultimate country music fan experience. Passes offer all the benefits of the Paddock Party Festival Pass, plus exclusive access to premium hospitality tents for both the Brad Paisley concert and the Queen’s Plate, including gourmet food and alcoholic beverages, valet parking, and grandstand seating on race day.

Grandstand Festival Passes range from $45 – $120 and include general admission to the Brad Paisley concert, the pre-concert party, and a reserved grandstand seat for Queen’s Plate. Queen’s Plate grandstand seating is limited.

Fans can visit QueensPlate.com for the latest updates on the spectacular Queen’s Plate Festival.