BANGKOK gets a hug from Emma-Jayne Wilson and groom Gerry Goodin is all smiles – PHOTO BY MR. WILL WONG
RECORD WAGERING SET FOR WOODBINE’S LAST RACING DAY
Bangkok upsets Valedictory
BANGKOK (far left) reels in heavily favoured Melmich in the Valedictory – TERENCE DULAY PHOTO
A graded marathon stakes race highlighted a marathon card pf racing which wrapped up 2016 at Woodbine. The fields were large and thus the betting was enthusiastic – handle on the final card of 133-day meet was a record for curtain-closing programme, as $7,435,983 was wagered, shattering the 2015 mark of $6,546,737.
Bangkok, a 17-1 longshot, wore down defending champ Melmich in the late going to take Sunday’s Grade 3, $150,000 Valedictory Stakes, the final stakes event of Woodbine’s 2016 thoroughbred racing season.
It was a gutsy effort by the Street Hero gelding and winning rider Emma-Jayne Wilson, as the duo rallied stoutly down the lane to best 2-5 mutuel favourite Melmich, and in doing so, netted the bay his first added-money score. Ethical Funds was third.
Bangkok stopped the teletimer in 2:59.88. The Beyer Figure was 86.
Trained by Phil Gracey for owner-breeders Gail Wood and Dr. Ruth Barbour, the Ontario-bred now has four wins from 25 career starts. It was the first stakes appearance for the five-year-old since a fourth-place finish in the 2014 Breeders’, third jewel in the Canadian Triple Crown series.
DR. RUTH BARBOUR -Woodbine’s Julie Bell, GAIL WOOD and Emma-Jayne Wilson – from left to right – the Valedictory winner’s circle! TERENCE DULAY PHOTO
It was Decision Day who took early control of the 1 ¾-mile feature, with Ethical Funds tracking in second, as Bangkok settled in third with Melmich just to his outside.
After opening splits of :26.31 and :52:23, leading jockey Eurico Rosa da Silva and Melmich confronted Decision Day as the field hit the wire with one lap to go. The pair continued to slug out along the backstretch while Wilson kept Bangkok in touch with the leaders.
When Melmich seized control as the field straightened for home, Bangkok responded and continued to cut into his advantage down the lane, eventually gaining the upper hand for the half-length win.
It was also the fourth Valedictory crown for Wilson. She won the 2006 edition with Marsh Side, the 2012 running with Heathcote and guided Turkish to a victory in 2014.
“I’ve had a little bit of luck in this race,” she said. “It’s one of my favourite races to ride. It takes a horse with a lot of stamina to get it done and Bangkok had that today. It was a big effort and I’m really happy for the owners and the trainer.”
Gracey was happy to see his hard-knocking charge get rewarded with a stakes triumph.
“We were going to be really happy with second, but he just kept on running,” said the veteran conditioner. “He’s a nice, little horse.”
More recaps (from Woodbine media) –
There were familiar names on top of the leaderboard at the end of Sunday’s 14-race season-ending card at Woodbine.
Eurico Rosa da Silva, a Sovereign Award winner as Canada’s outstanding jockey in 2010, 2013 and 2015, won three races on Sunday’s card to finish as the leading rider with 202 victories, one more than his win total last year. It marks the fourth riding title for da Silva. Luis Contreras, three times meet’s leading jockey, finished second with 140 wins. Patrick Husbands had 101 wins.
Mickey Walls’ classic 1991 record of 221 wins remains the most victories posted in a single meet.
Mark Casse recorded his 10th straight training title and 11th overall, winning 97 races, after notching 80 wins in 2015. Casse recorded a record 119 wins in 2011. Casse also led in the purse earnings category, with $7,261,391 compared to $6,239,151 in 2015.
Trainer Norm McKnight landed in the top five of the trainer standings for the first time finishing second with 59 wins improving on his 29 triumphs in 2015. Kevin Attard was third with 42 wins.
Conquest Stables LLC led all owners at Woodbine with $1,962,352 in purse earnings, compared to $1,954,356 in 2015. Headed by Ernie Semersky and Dory Newell, Conquest Stables who won five stakes on the meet, also finished second in wins with 28, tied with Stronach Stables.
On the the final card, owner and trainer Steve Philpott got his first win of the season with his lone runner, MAJOR PRODUCTION,a 6yo by Strut the Stage who won the 1 7/8 mile starter allowance, the longest race of the year. Major Production was 2nd in this exact race last year but he had been dull in all of his 6 runs this year. Jim McAleney rode the winner.
LUTHIA SHIRLEY, who won 3 of 9 starts with her horses at Fort Erie this year, sent out WARLORD to a stunning 80 to 1 upset in race 7 for her first Woodbine win. Barrington Tomlinson owns the War Cry 4yo.
WOODBINE TRAINERS – BY WIN PERCENTAGE
Minimum 12 starters
McKnight Norman 204 59 29% 33 16% 23 11% 56% 30% $1,234,593 $6,052
Day Phillips C 84 22 26% 10 12% 7 8% 46% -5% $952,566 $11,340
Desruisseaux Dale A 12 3 25% 3 25% 0 0% 50% 65% $68,394 $5,700
Drexler Martin 112 27 24% 22 20% 17 15% 59% 26% $694,967 $6,205
Barnett Robert Earl 18 4 22% 6 33% 3 17% 72% 111% $158,372 $8,798
Keogh Michael 60 13 22% 11 18% 12 20% 60% 67% $697,907 $11,632
Casse Mark E 459 97 21% 69 15% 79 17% 53% -27% $5,537,797 $12,065
Griffith Ricky 56 12 21% 6 11% 6 11% 43% 2% $246,733 $4,406
Pierce Malcolm 101 21 21% 22 22% 16 16% 58% -27% $1,352,104 $13,387
Attfield Roger L 166 34 20% 21 13% 19 11% 45% -4% $2,206,411 $13,292
Carey Julia 49 10 20% 4 8% 8 16% 45% 33% $319,470 $6,520
Vassilieva Katerina 45 9 20% 6 13% 10 22% 56% -14% $184,925
LEADING HORSES BY WINS
Horse Starts Wins
TB Bourbon First 11 5
TB Colleen’s Sailor 10 5
TB Ethanol 12 5
TB Caren 7 4
TB Dan’s Revenge 12 4
TB Empyrea 7 4
TB Geocentric 10 4
TB Glenville Gardens 7 4
TB Inperson 9 4
TB Occasional View 8 4
TB Phil in the Blank 7 4
TB Quattrocento 7 4
TB Reallylikethisone 11 4
TB River Maid 7 4
TB Simple as That 11 4
TB Something Awesome 6 4
TB Starship Sabrina 11 4
TB Thor’s Rocket 8 4
TB Timberline 8 4
TB Unseen Angels 8 4
TB Veaisha 7 4
TB Weekend in Malibu 9 4
TB Where’s the Widget 5 4
LEADING JOCKEYS BY WINS
Eurico Rosa Da Silva…………………………. 795 202 143 123 $10,094,042
Luis Contreras…………………………………… 801 140 138 119 $7,285,668
Patrick Husbands………………………………. 557 101 88 100 $6,394,937
Rafael Manuel Hernandez………………….. 511 99 73 62 $4,856,101
Jesse M. Campbell…………………………….. 681 95 83 92 $5,125,043
Gary Boulanger…………………………………. 611 88 72 74 $4,938,108
Alan Garcia………………………………………. 443 70 71 47 $3,874,257
Emma-Jayne Wilson………………………….. 557 66 82 71 $4,061,199
David Moran……………………………………… 613 59 76 75 $3,604,911
Sheena Ryan……………………………………. 438 36 45 44 $1,566,796
TRAINERS – Name Starts 1st 2nd 3rd Purse Earnings Win % ITM % AvgW Odds Wins Starts 10 day Streak Stk
Mark E. Casse…………………………………… 459 97 69 79 $7,261,391 21.1 53.4 6.90 97/459 3/15 17/110
Norman McKnight……………………………… 204 59 33 23 $1,617,973 28.9 56.4 9.00 59/204 5/19 1/7
Kevin Attard………………………………………. 273 42 54 43 $2,212,067 15.4 50.9 9.80 42/273 4/23 4/14
Nicholas Gonzalez…………………………….. 252 41 31 31 $1,901,376 16.3 40.9 10.40 41/252 0/8 1/23
Michael P. De Paulo…………………………… 270 39 44 32 $3,033,794 14.4 42.6 9.80 39/270 3/19 10/36
Sid C. Attard……………………………………… 202 38 30 22 $2,314,643 18.8 44.6 8.20 38/202 3/12 9/27
Roger L. Attfield………………………………… 166 34 21 19 $2,890,600 20.5 44.6 9.50 34/166 0/5 10/41
Michael J. Doyle………………………………… 232 31 39 27 $1,881,005 13.4 41.8 12.50 31/232 1/10 3/43
Robert P. Tiller………………………………….. 229 31 35 29 $1,982,416 13.5 41.5 8.90 31/229 2/11 6/26
Ralph J. Biamonte……………………………… 150 29 18 22 $1,329,732 19.3 46.0 8.70 29/150 0/10 2/13
LEADING OWNERS
Starts 1st 2nd 3rd Purses
Conquest Stables, LLC………………………. 119 28 23 26 $1,962,352
Sam-Son Farm………………………………….. 86 20 20 11 $1,648,561
Chiefswood Stable…………………………….. 131 21 13 21 $1,592,071
Stronach Stables……………………………….. 87 28 11 7 $1,181,444
Chesney, Stephen and Hoffman, Cory………………. 89 14 22 17 $1,153,648
Ramsey, Kenneth L. and Sarah K………… 7 2 1 1 $1,029,000
Gary Barber………………………………………. 55 9 12 10 $980,071
Ivan Dalos………………………………………… 51 8 10 0 $972,660
Bruno Schickedanz……………………………. 146 38 19 13 $968,032
Norseman Racing Stable……………………. 74 13 14 8 $845,858
