WINX, WINX – YES, SHE WON AGAIN
The Horse of the World was at the famed Flemington racecourse yesterday (last night Eastern)…going for 21 straight
AMI’S MESA COULD CONTEST BREEDERS CUP DISTAFF
Ivan Dalos’ multiple graded stakes winning filly AMIS MESA, unbeaten in 4 races in 2017 and a winner of 3 graded stakes including the Presque Isle Master most recently, could sneak out to Del Mar for the Breeders’ Cup Distaff.
Speaking with Thoroughblog, Dalos said the 1 1/8 mile Distaff is in mix of the next races for Amis Mesa, a daughter of Sky Mesa – Victorious Ami, Victory Gallop. The owner emphasized, however, that he and trainer Josie Carroll are monitoring the field to see if their filly fits. Current favourites for the Distaff include STELLAR WIND, FOREVER UNBRIDLED and PARADISE WOODS.
Ami’s Mesa’s last 2 Beyer Figures are 94 and 101 and she is one of several Horse of the year candidates in Canad this season along with Pink Lloyd and Melmich.
There is a very good Breeders’ Cup preview section at Cindy Pierson’s Horse-Races.net:
http://www.horse-races.net/library/bc17-preview.htm
On Friday afternoon, Dalos watched another good filly of his, GAMBLES GHOST win an exciting race, the prep for the upcoming Maple Leaf Stakes. The daughter of Ghostzapper earned an 86 Beyer Figure for her game victory over the tough Ice Festival, owned by Stronach Stables. Her time for 9 furlongs was 1:51 2/5.
Multiple stakes winner GLENVILLE GARDENS won the co-featured race on Friday, a 1 1/8 mile optional claiming event with a 95 Beyer Figure, 1 1/8 miles on turf in 1:47.47. Janice Attard’s 5yo gelding by Street Cry (Ire) was coming out of a modest run in the Grade 1 Woodbine Mile. Sid Attard trains and Luis Contreras rode.
EURO, U.S. INVASION NEXT WEEK
A three-day long weekend over the Thanksgiving holiday leads into Canadian International week at Woodbine.
The famed race, at 1 1/2 miles, is worth $800,000 this year
Last years winner, ERUPT is likely to be the favourite when the public gets down to sorting out the contenders. CHEMICAL CHARGE will be well bet as will CANTHELPBELIEVING.
Two local horses have entered including Northern Dancer winner Johnny Bear:
Pattison Canadian International notes for Friday, October 6, 2017
EARLY LOOK AT THE PATTISON CANADIAN INTERNATIONAL (11)
Horse / Owner / Trainer / Jockey
Bullards Alley – Wayne Spalding and Faron McCubbins – Tim Glyshaw – Eurico Rosa da Silva
Can’thelpbelieving (IRE) – Albert Frassetto – H. Graham Motion – TBA
Chemical Charge (IRE) – Qatar Racing Limited – Ralph Beckett – Oisin Murphy
Enterprising – Maxis Stable – Michael J. Maker – Rafael Hernandez
Erupt (IRE) – Flaxman Holdings, Ltd. – H. Graham Motion – TBA
Flamboyant (FR) – David Bienstock and Charles Winner – Patrick Gallagher – Brice Blanc
Johnny Bear – Colebrook Farms and Bear Stables, Ltd. – Ashlee Brnjas – Luis Contreras
Messi (GER) – Gestut Brummerhof – H. Graham Motion – Jose Ortiz
Oscar Nominated – Kenneth L. and Sarah K. Ramsey – Michael J. Maker – Julien Leparoux
Postulation – Runnymede Racing LLC – Edward L. Graham – Jorge A. Vargas, Jr.
Seeking Albert – Robert Marzilli – Michael P. De Paulo – David Moran
IS THE INTERNATIONAL RIGHT UP HIS ‘ALLEY?’
The one and only time Bullards Alley raced at Woodbine, he just missed netting top prize. On October 15, the five-year-old son of Flower Alley will look to go one better in the Grade 1 Pattison Canadian International.
Trained by Tim Glyshaw for owners Faron McCubbins and Wayne Spalding, Bullards Alley contested the Grade 3 Singspiel Stakes at Woodbine on July 2, marking the first time he raced outside of the United States.
Sent off at 5-2, the dark bay, who was bred by Eugene Melnyk, was collared late by Aldous Snow in the 1 1/2-mile feature over the world-renowned E.P. Taylor Turf Course, finishing second (by a neck) to the decorated Sam-Son Farm star.
“We thought he was a winner in the last race at your place, but Malcolm’s (trainer Pierce) horse loves that course and he did a great job having him ready,” said Glyshaw.
Now, Bullards Alley’s connections are ready to give the Toronto oval green scene another shot.
“We were very happy with his race earlier this year at Woodbine and that’s basically what made our decision to come back,” said Glyshaw. “This is going to be a much tougher race than our last visit. But his last race there gives us confidence that he will run well again. There are not many 1 1/2-mile or longer races around and we have to hunt for them.”
Winless in nine starts this year, the five-time winner from 34 starts will have Eurico Rosa Da Silva, Woodbine’s leading rider, in the irons for next Sunday’s race.
“There is a $100,000 race (Grade 3 Sycamore) at Keeneland four days after this race, but for 100k, it will come up very tough,” noted Glyshaw, of the race Bullards Alley finished third in last year.
It’s another reason why the conditioner would prefer to be where his horse feels right at home.
“Bullards tries every time,” offered Glyshaw. “Though he’s winless this year, he has run some nice races, the one at your place being the best.”
POSTULATION HAS FOUND HIS NICHE
Postulation has found his niche racing in turf marathons for trainer Eddie Graham.
Now, the Kentucky-bred five-year-old gelding will be looking to take his game to a new level when he makes his first Grade 1 appearance in the Pattison Canadian International.
“He seems to be doing really well,” said Graham, who trains 10 horses at his farm in Pennsylvania and another half-dozen at owners Gregory and Caroline Bentley’s Runnymede Racing LLC on their property in that state.
“I’m just hoping all the shipping doesn’t get to him.”
Postulation, who began his career in Ireland before being purchased by the Bentleys, had recorded his first Stateside stakes win in the 1 1/2 mile Cape Henlopen at Delaware Park on July 8.
Since then, he has traveled back and forth from his home base to Arlington Park, where he won the Grade 3 American St. Leger at 1 11/16 miles, and to Kentucky Downs, where he was beaten a head by fellow Canadian International contestant Oscar Nominate in the Grade 3 Kentucky Turf Cup at 1 1/2 miles.
“It was a good race,” said Graham, of Postulation’s latest effort “When you get to this level, I think the playing field is pretty even. It can be the horse with the best trip.”
Graham, who has been training since 1999, was going about his business in relative obscurity when Hardest Core upset the Grade 1 Arlington Million in 2014. Hardest Core raced in the name of Andrew Bentley, son of Postulation’s owners.
‘ALBERT’ SEEKING A FIRST GRADED WIN
Seeking Albert, a private purchase back in May for trainer Mike DePaulo and owner Robert Marzilli, will continue his streak of turf stamina tests in the Grade 1 $800,000 Pattison Canadian International, which is slated for Sunday, October 15.
“This will be his fourth straight race going a mile and a half so he certainly should be fit enough,” grinned DePaulo.
DePaulo originally tabbed the striking son of Einstein for a different Canadian classic event.
“We were looking for a Queen’s Plate horse and this was one of the few Canadian-breds running around that we could buy fairly reasonably,” recalled DePaulo.
The three-year-old was initially campaigned in Texas by trainer Nathan Hatcher, graduating in an off-the-turf route at Houston on February 21. Seeking Albert posted back-to-back 70 Beyer figures at Lone Star Park on the turf before attracting the interest of DePaulo.
A well related individual, Seeking Albert’s second dam is the multiple Group 1 winner Perfect Sting, who won the 2000 edition of the Breeders’ Cup Filly & Mare Turf over 1 3/8-miles over the Churchill Downs green.
“The second dam is very strong,” agreed DePaulo. “With his pedigree, we thought he’d like grass and we were hoping that would transfer to Tapeta. Of course, he’d never run on it.”
A first effort on the Tapeta didn’t pan out as Seeking Albert finished a flat seventh.
“When you get a horse from Texas there’s a few restrictions and we had to jump through some hoops to get him here,” explained DePaulo. “There’s special blood tests to apply for and he ended up going from Texas to Kentucky and then we were hung up for a few weeks at Presque Isle. When we got him here, he might have been a little knocked out initially.”
However, a move to turf paid immediate dividends as Seeking Albert, trying 1 1/2-miles for the first time, demonstrated his affinity for the E.P. Taylor Turf Course with a driving 1 1/2-length score that earned a 78 Beyer number.
“Then we got excited real quick and thought we could win the Breeders’,” smiled DePaulo.
And although he didn’t win the 1 1/2-mile Breeders’, the third and final leg of the Canadian Triple Crown, Seeking Albert finished a credible fourth while again improving his Beyer number to 85.
That number improved again last time out when Seeking Albert posted a 90 Beyer figure when fourth in the Grade 1 Northern Dancer Stakes won by Canadian International rival Johnny Bear.
“After the last race, the jock (David Moran) had to get the outrider to help pull him up. He’s a little freight train,” said DePaulo.
And should things continue moving in the right direction for Seeking Albert, there’s a chance the locomotive could find even more ground in his future.
“I’m kind of thinking about the Valedictory,” said DePaulo of the season-closing marathon contested at 1 3/4-miles on the Woodbine main.
PATIENCE PAYS OFF FOR BRNJAS
At age six, Johnny Bear is coming into his own.
In his 33rd career start, local Pattison Canadian International contender Johnny Bear pulled off an upset victory to earn his first graded stakes win in the Northern Dancer last time out on home turf.
While the Ontario-bred’s Grade 1 victory was surprising to some, his connections believed in him from the beginning when they doled out more than $278,000 to acquire the 2012 Canadian Thoroughbred Horse Society Yearling Sale topper.
“I really did my research when we purchased him and he was a very expensive purchase, at least for us,” said trainer Ashlee Brnjas, who has developed Johnny Bear into a champion for her father’s Colebrook Farms and their partner Bear Stables Ltd. “The English Channels are not early comers and I know that everybody was all hyped up about him at the very beginning because he was so expensive and he was a yearling sale topper and he was a bit of a disappointment as a two-year-old, but he’s technically not designed to be that and he’s proving that his breeding is exactly what he’s supposed to be doing. He’s long, turf, older.”
Johnny Bear has rewarded their patience with a 2017 campaign that includes five of his seven career wins and has lifted his earnings to nearly $600,000.
Bred by Tall Oaks Farm, the chestnut son of English Channel out the stakes-winning mare In Return is a full brother to this year’s Breeders’ Stakes champion Channel Maker.
NO LOCAL HORSES UNDER CONSIDERATION FOR E.P. TAYLOR
A field of nine is taking shape for the E P Taylor Stakes (G1) on International day. The purse money won’t be staying home, however, as the field is made up strictly of invaders.
Horse – Owner – Trainer – Jockey
Apple Betty (IRE) – Allen Stable, Inc. – Claude R. McGaughey III – Joe Bravo
Blond Me (IRE) – Mrs. Barbara M. Keller – Andrew Balding – Oisin Murphy
Fourstar Crook – Michael Dubb, Bethlehem Stables LLC and Gary Aisquith – Chad C. Brown – Javier Castellano
Kitten’s Roar – Kenneth L. and Sarah K. Ramsey – Michael J. Maker – Jose Ortiz
Nezwaah (GB) – Sheikh Ahmed Al Maktoum (Lessee) and Godolphin – Roger Varian – Andrea Atzeni
Puca – Donegal Racing – William I. Mott – Joel Rosario
Quidura – Gestuet Faehrhof – H. Graham Motion – Junior Alvarado
Rainha Da Bateria – Lael Stables – Chad C. Brown – Julien Leparoux
Via Firenze (IRE) – Haras d’Etreham – Mrs. Pia Brandt – Florent Geroux
RIVERS OF GOLD: BOOK SIGNING SLATED FOR INTERNATIONAL DAY
The Canadian Horse Racing Hall of Fame will host the launch of “Rivers of Gold,” the most recent work of Muriel Lennox, author of international best-seller, “Northern Dancer: the legend and his legacy” on Sunday, October 15, 2017 from noon to 2 p.m. in the Hall of Fame at Woodbine Racetrack.
“Rivers of Gold” takes readers on a remarkable journey back in time to the headwaters of the most powerful genetic streams fuelling today’s great Thoroughbred champions. Along the way they will not only encounter extraordinary events and horses, but an often colourful cast of human characters.
The Canadian Horse Racing Hall of Fame, located inside the west entrance of Woodbine Racetrack, honours the best in Canadian horse racing and celebrates the history of the sport in Canada. A portion of the proceeds from the sale of the books at the event will benefit the Canadian Horse Racing Hall of Fame.
SHADWELL MILE TODAY AT KEENELAND
from Keeneland media – Trainer David O’Meara was on the scene at Keeneland Friday morning to oversee the activity of his two entrants in Saturday’s $1 million Shadwell Turf Mile (G1), Mondialiste (IRE) and Suedois (FR), as they trained over Keeneland’s all-weather training track.
For O’Meara, who arrived from Europe Thursday night, the trip to Keeneland is his third for Mondialiste in three years.
“He ran very well at Woodbine (in the Grade 1 Woodbine Mile Sept. 16) and it made sense to come here,” O’Meara said of Mondialiste, who finished fourth in the race. “The Shadwell is a valuable race and a good option for him.”
Owned by Geoff and Sandra Turnbull, Mondialiste finished second to Tepin in the 2015 Breeders’ Cup Mile (G1) at Keeneland and was fourth in last year’s Shadwell, closing late to be beaten only 1½ lengths.
“He ran a strong race in the Breeders’ Cup but he couldn’t get clear until late,” O’Meara said of Mondialiste who finished 2¼ lengths in back of Tepin in that race. Feargal Lynch will ride Saturday.
George Turner and Clipper Logistics’ Suedois won the Solonaway Boomerang (G2) at Leopardstown in Ireland in his most recent start on Sept. 9. Danny Tudhope, who has ridden Suedois in his past starts, has the mount Saturday.
“We had options to run in Europe, but it was the value of the race,” O’Meara said of the decision to come to Keeneland.
The Shadwell Turf Mile is a “Win and You’re In” race for the $2 million Breeders’ Cup Mile (G1) Nov. 4 at Del Mar. Mondialiste was 12th in the Breeders’ Cup Turf (G1) last year at Santa Anita.
Is a third Breeders’ Cup trip in the works for Mondialiste?
“Let’s get through this weekend first,” O’Meara said.
Source: Keeneland Association
