LATER SATURDAY UPDATES…VICTOR IS THE VICTOR, the American breds trounced our Canadian boys in the Ontario Derby as Grade 1 WINNER STATELY VICTOR, easily the class of the Ontario Derby field, rallied 4 wide off the turn to romp in the 9 furlong race under jockey Lebron. The son of Ghostzapper (those offspring are winning everywhere right now) moved with So Elite but was too strong late)
BRUNO SCHICKEDANZ/MIKE WRIGHT JR. MARE TESTS POSITIVE
GRAIN OF TRUTH (isn’t that an interesting name with regards to these circumstances) has tested positive for the Class 3 drug Clenbuterol (ventapulmin) and has automatically been suspened for 90 days, reports Fort Erie steward Neil McCoag.
The circumstances of the positive test and how it happened are still under investigation so there is no suggestion of guilt here. However, under the rules, the mare has to be automatically suspended.
GRAIN OF TRUTH has been racing at Fort Erie for owner Bruno Schickedanz, who is awaiting a ruling on his being barred from Woodbine, and trained by Mike Wright Jr.
Schickedanz is allowed to race his horses at Fort Erie and a litany of other tracks in the United States even though Woodbine has barred him. Schickedanz has been fighting the ban and the ruling should be out soon.
The last time 7-year-old GRAIN OF TRUTH raced was Aug. 31 when she was 6th on the grass. She has won twice this year with 3 seconds.
RHYME, REASON
POET`S VOICE won the QUEEN ELIZABETH II stakes today at ascot over Rip Van Winkle, The Godolphin 3yo by Dubawi – Bright Tiara by Chief`s Crown is now headed to the Breeders Cup Mile.
The 2oy FRANKEL won the Royal Lodge Stakes earlier on the card by 10 lengths.
FRIDAY BLOWN AWAY
From the 4th race to the 5th race yesterday, fans were wandering around Woodbine wondering what was going to happen. It was very windy, the day started that way. It was hot too.
The wind gusts were worrisome so there had been feelings tossed around that perhaps a few races would get run, but that would be it.
However, the 4th race went off at 2:31 and then it was not until 3:48 that the 5th race went off (in case you missed it, QUARTERBACK drew in from the also eligible to beat NAMATH in the hunch bet of the year). Then the races were cancelled.
Some forums have fans complaining about the delay and not an earlier decision to cancel.
Meanwhile, QUARTERBACK was a winner from the sister team of Petra and Yvonne Schwabe, the latter bred the Bold Executive colt from the mare Ivey’s Arabella. Kevin Attard trains the 2year old.
HIT LANDS IN FIGHT
Phoenix at Keeneland next
HOLLYWOOD HIT, the sensational sprinter owned by Peter Redekop and trained by Terry Jordan, has seemingly slipped past his best possible form but is still headed to the Phoenix Stakes at Keeneland next month. The son of Cactus Ridge, who has posted some of the fastest Beyer Figures of any sprinter in North American this year, was all out to beat TEND in a very slow King Corrie Stakes (97 Beyer) on Wednesday night.
The race got good reviews from connections, trainer Jordan said it was a good learning experience for him to sit off the quick Essence Hit Man and then rally, but others saw the obvious.
The last two furlongs in :26 was staggering.
On THE SCORE show, at least one shrewd observer said that Tend closing was an optical illusion and that Hollywood Hit was slowing down and that “a good horse would have blown by” Hollywood Hit and Tend.
So, if the horse makes it to the Breeders’ Cup, all the best, but the likes of Discreetly Mine will be waiting.
MORE WEDNESDAY AND THURSDAY..part of Friday
wind blows away last half of Friday card
The hot stuff from the last few days include Eurico Rosa Da Silva, Omar Moreno, Patrick Husbands and the sire OLD FORESTER.
Yep, OLD FORESTER is now NUMBER 2 in North America on the first crop sire list behind only CONGRATS, the A.P. Indy stud.
Through yesterday, the son of Forestry, who stands at John Carey’s T.C. Westmeath Stud, has 7 winners from 20 runners and progeny earnings of $564,000, just behind the $642,000 collected by Congrat’s babies.
The latest Old Forester winner was Rocco D’Alimonte and Frank Annechini’s gal WEEKEND ROMANCE, a $30,000 yearling buy from Hedgeston Management, the breeder, out of the mare Seduction. The filly was well prepared by Catherine Day Phillips. Before the gal won her debut, CLASSY KATHERINE, an Old Forester gal and a half sister to BIG RED MIKE, the Plate winner, won her maiden in race 3 but in 1:13 and change, much slower than Weekend Romance.
WHITE HAVEN is a 4yo filly by Unbridled’s Song who won her maiden on Thursday for the Melnyk Racing Stables and trainer Mark Casse. The grey gal was making only her 2nd start and she is an ONtario bred. Her win came in an A level maiden allowance at 1 1 /16 miles.
KIRKLAND LAKE got onto the list of 4-time winners at the meeting with a win for $32,000 on Friday. The Kentucky bred by Pioneering is 4 for 7 this year fdor High and Lorill Harlington and trainer Scott Fairlie.
LEADING HORSES AT WOODBINE BY WINS
Name Starts 1st 2nd 3rd Earnings
Preakness Laugher 7 5 1 0 $82,356
Kalua On the Rocks 8 4 2 2 $69,568
Certain Pride 6 4 2 0 $113,920
Kirkland Lake 7 4 1 1 $118,136
Impossible Time 5 4 1 0 $261,680
Riding the River 5 4 0 1 $116,547
Set in Stone 6 4 0 1 $48,865
My Island Girl 4 4 0 0 $51,840
SUPER! HOW GOLD IS MOKA?
Canadian-bred puts record on line in Super Derby
ESPN.COM FEATURE
BY CLAIRE NOVAK
Super Derby meaningful for Douglas
By Claire Novak
Special to ESPN.com
Archive
BOSSIER CITY, La. — Once horse racing’s in your blood, they say, there’s no way to remove it.
But of all people, Rene Douglas had the right to try.
Paralyzed in his lower extremities in a career-ending spill on May 23, 2009, the former jockey spent this past year out of the spotlight, quietly attempting to heal from physical and emotional scars he incurred when his mount fell and landed on top of him at Arlington Park. He’s a very private person, and he hasn’t been back to the track. Still, in spite of his absence, his ties to a sport he’s known since childhood remain strong.
Now the best therapy in the world for Douglas has been found in the form of a thoroughbred — 3-year-old Golden Moka — who upset the $500,000 Prince of Wales Stakes a few months ago and could be favored in Saturday’s $500,000 Super Derby at Louisiana Downs.
It’s the kind of story you only find in racing.
read more here:
http://sports.espn.go.com/sports/horse/news/story?id=5609402
HOW GOOD IS HE? MOKA IN LOUISIANA TODAY
ONTARIO DERBY TO DECIDE CHAMPION 3-YEAR-OLD?
With 3 different winners of the Canadian Triple Crown and perhas the best local 3yo not eligible for a Sovereign (Golden Moka), the run for the award is up for grabs.
ESSENCE HIT MAN, a sprinter would have got some votes a while back but he has slid off the radar.
So perhaps its up to BIG RED MIKE to come up big today off the layoff and take the lead in the local 3yo ranks. The Ontario Derby, which will be run under windy conditions and cool temperatures, is a $150,000 race at 9 furlongs (it used to be the Col. R S McLaughling Stakes).
Big Red Mike has been away since he was 3rd to Golden Moka in the Prince of Wales. His rival HOTEP, 2nd in the Plate and 4th in the Wales, also has been off since that race.
The ones they have to beat today include a fresh SO ELITE, a one-time stakes winner this year and of course, Grade 1 winner STATELY VICTOR, who invades from Kentucky.
CANADIANS HEAD GRADE 3 KENT
Stakes winning Stormy Lord, 2nd in the Breeders’ Stakes and Kara’s Orientation
Saturday, Delaware Park
KENT S.-GIII, $250,000, 3yo, 1 1/8mT
PP HORSE SIRE JOCKEY TRAINER WT
1 Grand Rapport Grand Reward Dominguez Contessa 118
2 Interactif Broken Vow Jara Pletcher 122
3 Majestictroubadour K Roman Ruler Delgado Boniface 116
4 Lentenor Dynaformer Valdivia Jr Matz 116
5 Stormy Lord K Stormy Atlantic McAleney Black 120
6 They Call Me Giant K Giant’s Causeway Rose Breen 118
7 Kara’s Orientation K Orientate Ramsammy Chircop 116
8 Thunder Brew Milwaukee Brew Napravnik Pecoraro 118
9 Workin for Hops City Zip Hernandez Jr Stidham 120
INFORMING THE PUBLIC… PICK UP THE REINS FOLKS
There has been lots of discussion lately on various sites and in papers about the need for racing to pick up its socks and pay attention – bettors are getting impatient.
Without bettors at the racetrack, you have horses running around for owners and trainers and breeders, that’s it, it may not last long.
Today’s DAILY RACING FORM, Weekend supplement, mentions some slip -ups at Woodbine where changes to shoe-wear and gelding info has not been properly listed and instead, are late announcements, that well, don’t really help the fans if they have already played the PICK 4’s etc.
In the MIRROR newspaper, this write-up by champion jockey RICHARD DUNWOODY:
And let’s be frank, racing is intrinsically linked with betting, although at times I seriously wished it wasn’t, and that more people followed it for the fantastic spectacle that it is, and for the love of the thoroughbred.
THIS IS supposedly the era of transparency and disclosure.
So forgive me for failing to understand why the BHA have decided against a proposal to inform punters about those horses who have undergone a recent breathing or wind operation.
The decision is all down to money, apparently.
Breathing operations for horses such as Twist Magic resulted in improved performance on the track and many punters believe this information should be shown on a racecard, in the same way that tongue-ties are declared.
There are various types of wind operations and, while some don’t work, advancements in veterinary science mean that the majority do.
Why should punters be left in the dark? Likewise, if a horse is running for the first time as a gelding, it should also be pointed out on a racecard. It has been proven that gelding a horse can significantly make a difference to its performance.
The more information we have, the better. It is all about perception. The less secrecy, the better the chance we have of keeping the gambler in thrall of racing, rather than risk losing him to the fruit machines or sports betting.
http://blogs.mirror.co.uk/racing/2010/09/racings-made-the-right-move.html
AND WHILE WE ARE AT IT…
stories of fines, suspensions, appeals and the Ontario Racing Commission
There is a super feature in the Weekend section of today’s DAILY RACING FORM about how ridiculous it really is that jockeys get fined, suspended and then can appeal and take their days any time they want.
the backlog of cases throughout the North American tracks is silly.
Here in Ontario it is no different and what is quite bizarre is those infractions that have to do with the urging rules that get appealed.
The rules are simple, hit three times and then a hand pump, 3 times etc. If you hit 4 times in succession, that’s it. If you raise your arm up, that’s it.
It has been long enough that these rules have been in place and they are there for various reasons, one of which is the new “mandate” that was suddenly issued by the ORC only a few days after the death of WAKE AT NOON in the summer that the ORC was hell-bent on protecting the racehorses.
updated…i was in a hurry earlier…
I would be remiss however, as it has been pointed out to me that yes, too much attention and time has been wasted on the number of hits a jockey makes on a horse here in Ontario.
The local jocks have already switched to the softer Pro Cush crop, and most gals and guys are doing well with the number of hits.
But it is far from a perfect system and perhaps instead of counting the number of times a horse is hit or whether the arm goes up higher than the shoulder (latest example of this was Jim McAleney on Thunder Ball last Sunday who was in trouble throughout the stretch and the rider only managed to tap his shoulder like twice, how that can be a ruling when he was in so tight in traffic, must be eagle eyes somewhere 🙂 – but let’s get real, let’s pay more attention to the violent strappings on a horse and those runners who break threough the gate before the race starts).
Some out there, for them the consensus is that the riders are not getting the best of the going since the new rules have come into effect. They are good rules but let’s not go bananas here, there are some very important things that are being missed.
It’s a fine line, the rules are good, they should be followed, but let’s put stuff in priority and let’s be consistent.
Meanwhile, some of the decisions coming out of the powers that be at the ORC during these appeals are head scratching at best. You start with the stewards ruling from 2 years back that jockey SIMON HUSBANDS was going to get one-year for looking like he was not trying on board a runner at Woodbine (I won’t go into it since 90% of the local racing industry knows about it and agreed that the effort looked bad to fans).
The ruling seemed quite severe, was appealed and certainly figured to be reduced.
But to 0 days? None?
Now the matter is in a civil suit apparently.
The Northern Dancer Stakes from last year is still under appeal. MARSH SIDE was disqualified from the win on the day of the race, JUST AS WELL placed first. Then the ruling by the stewards over OVERTURNED by a panel of ORC guys and now it has been re-appealed by the Just as Well people.
Diabolical.
Currently, we await an ORC ruling on the Bruno Schickedanz hearing that he requested to return to racing his horses at Woodbine….let’s see what these ORC guys have in store for us on this one…
YEE-HAW LONGRUN HOEDOWN WAS KICKIN!
I remember sitting in on that first little meeting one November day 10 years ago when LONGRUN was born. seems like a lifetime ago since there are not many of original folks still on the board.
Charity work is as hard as regular work, sometimes harder, and you don’t get paid. It is gruelling to put on functions, such as the Hoedown last week that lured up to 400 people to the Woodbine tent.
While there was some noticeable absentees from the leading jocks and trainer ranks at the function, the good hearted souls came in droves from everywhere, even on a bus from Fort Erie, to dance with Shania, eat burgers and LongRun cake.
Generously sponsored by the Krembil family’s Chiefswood Stable, LongRun’s Barbeque and Hoedown, held on September 20, 2010 under the trackside VIP tent at Woodbine in celebration of LongRun’s 10th anniversary, was a resounding success. A sellout crowd of close to 400 people enjoyed a barbeque themed meal and live entertainment, which included a performance by Hollywood Heaven’s Shania Twain tribute artist, and line dancing instructions.
Over $32,000 was raised to benefit retired racehorses via a live and silent auction which featured a genuine Chanel purse ($1,400), kindly donated by Park Lane Stable and Chanel, a day behind the scenes with hall of Fame trainer Roger Attfield ($1,000), kindly donated by the man himself, an Air Canada box for a Raptors/Celtics game ($1,700) kindly donated by Bill Graham/Graham Bros Construction, Animal Trainer for a Day, kindly donated by Earth Rangers ($650) and a table for four in Gulfstream Park’s Ten
Palms Restaurant for a spectacular weekend of racing, featuring the Gulfstream Oaks and Florida Derby, ($1,400) kindly donated by Gulfstream Park and the Stronach family.
Most attendees got into the evening by wearing western garb and trying to “hoof” it to the music. LongRun is especially grateful to the H.B.P.A of Ontario for sponsoring a bus from Fort Erie so that many of our friends from the border oval could join in on the fun.
Thanks so much to everyone who took part in making our BBQ such a fun and special way to help our horses.
For more photos from the evening, please visit www.flickr.com/photos/jerryrlem/
SQUARE EDDIE LEAVES BREEDING SHED FOR TRACK
BLOOD HORSE REPORT
Editor’s note – eeks, hope this goes better than some of these experiments…
by RON MITCHELL
The breeding career of Square Eddie, one of the leading 2-year-olds of 2008, was short-lived. The son of Smart Strike is back in
training with Doug O’Neill.
Owned by J. Paul Reddam, Square Eddie was retired to stud in early 2010 after there was some swelling detected in an ankle, O’Neill said. The 4-year-old stood the breeding season at Vessels Stallion Station near Bonsall, California. The farm said 40 mares were bred to Square Eddie and 38 were pronounced in foal.
Despite that success rate at stud, the decision was made to return the colt to the track after he checked out fine.
“After he was done breeding, we checked his legs and they were cold and tight,” O’Neill said. “We have got him back on the track for Chapter 2 (of his racing career).”
O’Neill said there are no plans to have alternate breeding and racing careers for Square Eddie. “That breeding was more accidental than anything because of the timing. The main focus is running. If for some reason he has some hiccups and can’t run, then we’ll go back to breeding.”
www.bloodhorse.com
ALBERTA YEARLING SALE
average down 46%
Written by Jonathan Huntington – www.thehorses.com
Thursday, 23 September 2010 13:44
RED DEER – After a rocky start, the Alberta thoroughbred yearling sale showed some recovery in the second half Thursday afternoon in Red Deer.
Every member of the top 5 in the sale came in the second half at Westerner Park. Below are unofficial stats. Further numbers from the sale will be posted when they become available from the CTHS.
The top 5 at the Alberta thoroughbred yearling sale in Red Deer on Sept. 23:
1. $25,000 – chestnut colt (Hip 123: Out of Place-Beau Bandit), consigned by Moonshine Meadow Ranch, purchased by Bar None Ranches and Central City
2. $23,000 – bay filly (Hip 99: Songandaprayer-Sugar Ride), consigned by Esquirol Farms, purchased by Peter Landry
3. $19,000 – chestnut colt (Hip 86: Gilded Time-Rumbeau), consigned by Moonshine Meadow Ranch, purchased by Bar None Ranches
4. $17,000 – bay filly (Hip 112: Old Topper-Valdastar), consigned by Esquirol Farms, purchased by Bar None Ranches
5. $15,500 – brown gelding (Hip 25: Cape Canaveral-Fabulous Brush), consigned by Highfield Stock Farm, purchased by Riversedge Racing Stable
While the CTHS hasn’t yet – as of Friday afternoon – posted official statistics from the sale, the following is further unofficial data from yesterday’s sale.
Gross sales reached $504,800. That is a drop of 32% from last year. The average sale price on Thursday in Red Deer was $5,547. (Yearlings were offered up to Hip 136 in the sales book.)
The average price fell 46% from last year ($8,137). “I thought this was the best book we had in three or four years,” said trainer Ron Grieves on Thursday’s catalogue.
