today – UNBRIDLED JUAN is back in Ontario and could be racing this weekend! Queen’s Plate updates and lots of preakness notes
CONQUEST CURLINATE – image by Allan Hardy
QUEEN’S PLATE NEWS –
UNBRIDLED JUAN has arrived in TORONTO
Exciting Stronach colt may appear Sunday at Woodbine
THOROUGHBLOG has updated its TOP 10 LIST FOR THE QUEEN’S PLATE and today I have included a list of leading WOODBINE OAKS contenders.
The Oaks will be run on JUNE 14, the Plate is JULY 5
TOP 10 LIST – Plate – https://canadianthoroughbred.com/thoroughblog/
In the news for the Plate, CONQUEST CURLINATE, one of several major Plate contenders for trainer Mark Casse, will race in the PETER PAN STAKES on Saturday at Belmont Park. Only 5 horses are in the race which will run as a the 3rd event on Saturday:
Peter Pan S. (gr. II) Belmont Park, Saturday, May 09, 2015, Race 3
1 1/8m Dirt $200,000 3 yo 2:22 PM (local)
PP Horse Jockey Weight Trainer
1 Wolf Man Rocket (KY) Irad Ortiz, Jr. 120 Bob Baffert
2 Madefromlucky (KY) Javier Castellano 116 Todd A. Pletcher
3 Conquest Curlinate (ON) Shaun Bridgmohan 116 Mark E. Casse
4 Two Weeks Off (KY) John R. Velazquez 116 Todd A. Pletcher
5 Tiz Shea D (KY) Jose Lezcano 116 William I. Mott
CONQUEST CURLINATE comes off a 95 Beyer Figure when 2nd beaten a neck in the Illinois Derby. The grey colt does not have much early speed himself and not much pace to run at in the Peter Pan.
Casse trainee DANZIG MOON is still on the list for the Preakness Stakes but the colt may not participate and instead prepare for the Plate.
Casse reported that CONQUEST TYPHOON is fine after his 11th place finish in the American Turf on Derby day and said that his performance was puzzling.
Next Saturday’s MARINE STAKES at Woodbine will bring together a bunch of Plate prospects including DANISH DYNAFORMER (Charles Fipke, Roger Attfield) with perhaps Nipigon, Decision Day and other big names.
SHAMAN GHOST, owned by Stronach Stables, is a possibility for the Marine as he returned to Woodbine for trainer Brian Lynch and had a workout on Monday. The Ghostzapper fellow is a fast improving colt but currently under the shadow of his fleet stablemate UNBRIDLED JUAN, who was scratched from a race at Churchill Downs on Saturday and is also at Woodbine, working Monday as well.
There is an allowance race coming up Sunday at Woodbine that figures to feature Plate hopes such as Unbridled Juan.
ONTARIO HORSE RACING – NEW WEBSITE HAS SOMETHING FOR EVERYONE
Have you checked out this new website for OHR?
From Quarter Horse racing to Standardbreds to Thoroughbreds, all the news and features you need to enjoy and help friends and family learn about racing.
http://ontariohorseracing.ca/Industry-News-Notices/News.aspx
PREAKNESS STAKES – POSSIBLE FIELD
Post Horse Trainer Dosage Jockey
American Pharoah Bob Baffert 4.33 Victor Espinoza
Bodhisattva Jose Corrales 1.53 Trevor McCarthy
Carpe Diem Todd Pletcher 1.83 John Velazquez
Competitive Edge Todd Pletcher 3.00 John Velazquez
Danzig Moon Mark Casse 3.44 Julien Leparoux
Divining Rod Arnaud Delacour 2.73 Julien Leparoux
Dortmund Bob Baffert 2.38 Martin Garcia
Firing Line Simon Callaghan 3.00 Gary Stevens
Materiality Todd Pletcher 2.33 Javier Castellano
Mr. Z D. Wayne Lukas 3.00 Ramon Vazquez
PREAKNESS NOTES – Barbaro’s owners have starter
DIVINING ROD, by Tapit – Image by Amber Chalfin
Lael Stables’ Divining Rod, winner of the Lexington (G3) April 11 at Keeneland, remains on target to make his next start in the $1.5 million Preakness (G1) Saturday, May 16 at Pimlico Race Course.
Lael owned the late Barbaro, who broke down in the Preakness.
Based at the Fair Hill Training Center in Elkton, Md., trainer Arnaud Delacour said Monday that the son of Grade 1 winner Tapit is doing well and expected to challenge Kentucky Derby (G1) winner American Pharoah in the Middle Jewel of the Triple Crown.
“The horse is doing very well. He breezed on Saturday and right now I am leaning toward the Preakness,” Delacour said. “I think he’s great. I don’t want to jinx myself, but at the moment he’s doing very well. He has matured quite a bit and he understands more now what’s going on.”
Second by a neck in the Sam F. Davis (G3) and third in the Tampa Bay Derby (G2) this winter, Divining Rod rated off the pace before drawing away to a three-length victory in the 1 1/16-mile Lexington, his first stakes win.
“The race in the Lexington was a very good confidence booster for him,” Delacour said. “I think he put it all together, that he needed to relax and finish, and I think that really helped him.
Divining Rod has had two works at Fair Hill since the Lexington, both five furlongs, including a breeze over the dirt track in 1:00.80 on Derby day, second-fastest of 18 horses.
“He started nice and easy, he was relaxed and he really kicked on at the end,” Delacour said. “That’s the kind of work that you like to see when you go to a race that’s going longer. I was very pleased with it.”
Delacour said Divining Rod will work once more this weekend at Fair Hill for the 1 3/16-mile Preakness, which could draw as many as six horses from the Derby including second and third-place finishers Firing Line and Dortmund.
Julien Leparoux rode Divining Rod in the Lexington. In the Derby, Leparoux was aboard John Oxley’s Danzig Moon, one of the horses under Preakness consideration.
“The first three horses I would say are going to be very tough to take on, but the thing is they all had a pretty hard race,” Delacour said. “They all had to fight for it. I didn’t see any of them having to do it easy, so I hope that they’re going to maybe be a little bit tired coming back in two weeks.”
OWNER-TRAINER CONSIDERING PREAKNESS FOR TESIO WINNER BODHISATTVA
Laurel Park based owner-trainer Jose Corrales has not ruled out a possible start in the Preakness for Federico Tesio winner Bodhisattva.
Bred in California, Bodhisattva is a sophomore son of multiple graded stakes winner Student Council, whose Grade 1 wins include the 2008 Pimlico Special, also run at the Preakness distance.
“If the possibility comes, I think I will probably run,” Corrales said Monday. “I will not run a horse just to run the horse. If I don’t feel a horse can run in the first three, why run? That’s the way I think.”
Corrales entered and scratched Bodhisattva from the $75,000 Parx Derby on May 2 and instead breezed the horse seven furlongs in 1:29 at Laurel, his first work since winning the 1 1/16-mile Tesio by 1 ½ lengths over Noteworthy Peach.
“I think this horse improved from that race. He just keeps improving every time. I think now I’ve got him where I want him,” Corrales said. “The reason why I scratched him at Parx was because it was too early to run him back and I wanted to work him before I decide what’s going to happen.
“He worked the way I wanted to,” he said. “I put another horse at the half-mile pole and he was coming from behind to catch up with the other horse, a fresh horse, from the half-mile pole and he beat the other horse easy. I think he’s 90 percent of where I want him. If he had run in the stakes the other day he would have been 80 percent. I think he’s still going to get better.”
Bred by Andy Stronach, son of The Stronach Group founder and chairman Frank Stronach, Bodhisattva was among the early nominations to the Triple Crown. He ran second in the Private Terms in March at Laurel and fifth in the Remsen (G2) for 2-year-olds last fall at Aqueduct.
“You start nominating a horse for the Triple Crown, sometimes just to see what could happen, like winning the lottery. Pretty soon you hit a number and then you hit another number and maybe you win the lottery,” Corrales said. “You dream, and people just wish to be in those kinds of races once. They pay a lot of money to get the chance to be in one of those races one day. I have a chance. You never know. Even if he loses, you still go on with life.”
PUBLIC CONSULTATION FOR WOODBINE GAMING EXPANSION BEGINS NEXT WEEK
Chris Herhalt, CP24.com
Published Wednesday, May 6, 2015 5:40PM EDT
Residents of north Etobicoke will get their first chance to comment on a contentious plan to add gaming tables to Woodbine Racetrack at a public meeting this Monday.
The City of Toronto says staff will be at the Etobicoke Olympium, located at 590 Rathburn Road this Monday evening to talk to residents about the Woodbine site and the Ontario Lottery and Gaming Corporation’s process for new gaming sites.
WOODBINE RACETRACK TO HOST ROAD HOCKEY TO CONQUER CANCER
Fundraising Event for the Princess Margaret Cancer Centre Finds a New Home
(May 6, 2015; Toronto): Ask any real estate agent and they’ll tell you the three most important considerations in finding a new home are ‘location,’ ‘location,’ ‘location.’ And so it is with Road Hockey to Conquer Cancer, the fundraising event benefiting the Princess Margaret Cancer Centre that will take place on Saturday, September 26 this year.
Through its first four years, participants enjoyed playing road hockey at Ontario Place, but it became necessary for Road Hockey to Conquer Cancer to find a venue partner that could address our long-term growth and needs, beginning with its milestone fifth year.
The organizers of Road Hockey to Conquer Cancer were perplexed – where to find a suitable location with plenty of space and in an area accessible to all participants? While several locations were considered with varying degrees of interest, Woodbine Racetrack quickly emerged as the perfect new home for Road Hockey to Conquer Cancer.
“We’re very proud to host Road Hockey to Conquer Cancer at Woodbine in September,” said Jim Lawson, CEO for Woodbine Entertainment Group. “Woodbine Entertainment Group supports the Princess Margaret Cancer Centre in our collective vision to help those in need and making a meaningful difference in the quality of life in our communities. We wish the best for the event in its pursuit of world records for participation and funds raised.”
“We’re thrilled to partner with Woodbine Entertainment Group on the new venue for Road Hockey to Conquer Cancer, especially in our fifth year of this incredible event,” commented Shawn Burt, Chief Hockey Officer at The Princess Margaret Cancer Foundation. “It’s a world class venue for a record-breaking event and it delivers us the ability to grow and scale our event accordingly. We can’t thank the Woodbine team enough for their support and desire to support us in our vision to: Conquer Cancer In Our Lifetime!”
Road Hockey to Conquer Cancer is a dawn-to-dusk road hockey event which, through its first four years, has raised over $9 million for Personalized Cancer Medicine at The Princess Margaret. Teams of 8 to 12 players play five games through the course of the day, with food, beverages, massage therapy, live music and interactive games engaging participants between games. A celebrity component allows top fundraising teams to draft an Honorary Captain onto their team to play or coach.
In this, the milestone fifth year of the event, Road Hockey has issued a global challenge for teams to join the event in Toronto. In addition, the event is aggressively pursuing two world records: most participants at a fundraising road hockey event in a single day and most money raised by a fundraising road hockey event in a single day.
For more information about Road Hockey to Conquer Cancer, or to register or donate, visit the www.teamuptoconquercancer.ca
NORTHLANDS PARK OPENS
Northlands thoroughbred season opener features successful trainer-rider duo 0
By John Short, Edmonton Sun
EDMONTON – Somehow, it was only fitting that Greg Tracy trained Knight Crossing and Rico Walcott rode the three-year-old gelding in the opening race of the 2015 thoroughbred racing season at Northlands Park: Tracy emerged from 2014 as the most successful trainer and Walcott came away as the top jockey.
In addition to those tidy and timely coincidences, Knight Crossing went off as the betting favourite and left from the pole position in a three-furlong dash for horses which had never won two races
MARINE STAKES NOMINATIONS
TO BE RUN SATURDAY, MAY 16, 2015
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
AMI’S FLATTER
b.c.3 by Flatter(A.P. Indy) – Galloping Ami(Victory Gallop)
Ivan Dalos Josie Carroll
BEAR AT LAST
dk b/.c.3 by Marchfield(A.P. Indy) – Clayton’s Lass(Forest Camp)
Bear Stables Ltd. Reade Baker
BREAKING LUCKY
ch.c.3 by Lookin At Lucky(Smart Strike) – Shooting Party(Sky Classic)
Gunpowder Farms LLC Reade Baker
COMMUTE
b.c.3 by Hold Me Back(Giant’s Causeway) – Royal Humor(Distorted Humor)
Grossberg, Gabe and Sagamore Farm Mark E. Casse
CONQUEST BIGLUCK E
ch.c.3 by Lookin At Lucky(Smart Strike) – Hi Lili(Silver Deputy)
Conquest Stables, LLC Mark E. Casse
CONQUEST BOOGALOO
dk b/.c.3 by Scat Daddy(Johannesburg) – Jules Best(Jules)
Conquest Stables, LLC Mark E. Casse
CONQUEST CURLINATE
gr/ro.c.3 by Curlin(Smart Strike) – Higher World(Peaks and Valleys)
Conquest Stables, LLC Mark E. Casse
DANISH DYNAFORMER
b.c.3 by Dynaformer(Roberto) – Danish Wildcat(Danehill)
Charles E. Fipke Roger L. Attfield
DECISION DAY
dk b/.c.3 by Macho Uno(Holy Bull) – Cry of the Wild(Unbridled’s Song)
Donver Stable Josie Carroll
FLASHAWAY
dk b/.c.3 by Eskendereya(Giant’s Causeway) – Call Me Fleet(Afleet)
John C. Oxley Mark E. Casse
KANTUNE
b.c.3 by Kantharos(Lion Heart) – Our Tune(Concorde’s Tune)
Gary Barber Mark E. Casse
NIPIGON
b.c.3 by Niigon(Unbridled) – Sunday Affair(A.P. Indy)
Chiefswood Stable Rachel Halden
SEVENTHFLEETHUMOR
b.c.3 by Afleet Alex(Northern Afleet) – Fleeting Humor(Distorted Humor)
Lindy’s Racing Stable and Martha K. Gonzalez Nicholas Gonzalez
SHAMAN GHOST
b.c.3 by Ghostzapper(Awesome Again) – Getback Time(Gilded Time)
Stronach Stables Brian A. Lynch
SHOT FOR SHOT
ch.g.3 by Milwaukee Brew(Wild Again) – I Am Solid Gold(Thunder Gulch)
Carlo D’Amato Michael Mattine
U S MARSHAL
b.c.3 by Badge of Silver(Silver Deputy) – Reigning Dynasty(Thunder Gulch)
Richard and Nancy Kaster Ian Black
UNBRIDLED JUAN
gr/ro.c.3 by Unbridled’s Song(Unbridled) – Sugar Swirl(Touch Gold)
Stronach Stables Brian A. Lynch
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
CLOSED WEDNESDAY, APRIL 29, 2015 WITH 17 NOMINATIONS*
