SATURDAY – let’s give thanks for all the great racing all over the place this weekend – good luck to Milwaukee Appeal as she seeks her first win since last year’s Oaks – short re-caps pf yesterday’s stuff follows…
WHAT’S GOING ON HERE?
More starting gate antics has led to bettors and onlookers scratching their heads as to what is going on with rulings these days – we are wondering what happened to the detailed explanations following the race.
There was an explanation yesterday after the 6th race when DIVORSKY was declared a non-starter after her gate opened before every one else’s. But all it said is that she was said to have not had a fair start.
Meanwhile, there have been so many of these this year – FIFTY PROOF is the one where the horse was not declared a non-starter and that has been a much talked about decision. It is surprising the decisions have been different.
(see a recent comment from a reader, in previous post, re: Fifty Proof!)
You can look at the photos of two prominent instances (Indian Apple Is, Fifty Proof) on Cangambe’s website at www.cangamble.blogspot.com.
Yesterday’s race can be viewed here:
http://www.woodbineentertainment.com/Woodbine/News/Pages/Videos.aspx
HOLLYWOOD HIT 2ND IN PHOENIX
It was a much better outing than most expected and HOLLYWOOD HIT perhaps may still head to the Breeders’ Cup Sprint after a 2nd place finish in the Phoenix Friday at Keeneland. The gelding, owned by Canadian Peter Redekop, was always in pursuit of the front runner, forged to the lead in early strtech but then was run down late by the 3yo WISE DAN.
The resulting Beyer Figure was a 96, still far from what the gelding was posting earier this year.
GOOFY RESULTS AT WOODBINE
Was it the wind that played havoc with the results on Friday at Woodbine? Well, the pace fractions in sprints were very fast but that’s about all you could say as horses were winning from the inside, the outside and all places between.
HAWK OVER HEATH was an exciting winner on the card for the OVERHEATH stable as the 3yo son of Tomawak – Mis American Mink (a $70,000+ yearling purchase) led all the way to win his maiden with a 75 Beyer Figure for 7 furlongs. Trained by Mike DePaulo, he was one of 2 debut winners from the rail post on the lead, on the card.
The other was Tucci Stables’ homebred EUCLID AVENUE, a son of, you-guessed it, OLD FORESTER, th enation’s ;eading 1st crop sire. The half brother to winner Montrose Avenue beat another Old Forester in the 65 Beyer Figue win, Near Expectations.
Longshot winners on the day included D’S LEGEND STORM, a 3yo meeting older horses in race 2 for $32K claiming. Hey, not only was this guy coming off a 7th place finish in a first level allowance, but he was meeting classy old stakes winners like DISFUNCTION and DANCER’S BAJAN and the streaking PUT UPON.
But the Where’s the Ring 3yo, owned and bred by Chateau Kentucky Ranch (and Sadio Mara), the gelding battled on the pace all the way and edged Disfunction.
DANCER’S BAJAN trailed and was beaten almost 6 lengths.
D’s Legend Storm’s trainer EARL BARNETT had a good day – he won another race with LA GRAN RUBY (Compadre), who set a slow pace to win a 2 turn event on the pace. The race was for $16K claiming and it was the 7yo mare’s 11th career win.
DANCING DORIS, at 22, was a confusing winner of race 5. The event was one of 2 scheduled grass races but curiously, the races were taken off the turf yesterday. Anyway, Dancign Doris was fresh, yes, she had not raced since July 17 when she was 10th beaten 21 lengths at the optional claiming/allowance class. She had tried to race other times but this is a bad gate girl and she was a vet scratch twice at the gate. She was pretty good yesterday as she rallied very wide in the late stages to beat the big favourite Madam Inspector. Doris Carey owned the One Way Love mare.
BRUNO SCHICKEDANZ RULING
TORONTO STAR
Commission upholds racehorse owner’s suspension
Daniel Girard Sports Reporter
The Ontario Racing Commission has upheld a move by Woodbine Racetrack to suspend the privileges of thoroughbred owner Bruno Schickedanz, ruling he was “responsible” for the fatal breakdown of his horse last summer.
On June 29, Schickedanz’s 13-year-old Wake at Noon broke its left leg while at the track for a workout and had to be euthanized. Three days later, Woodbine suspended the owner’s stabling and racing privileges.
In a 15-page ruling, the ORC rejected Schickedanz’s appeal of that move.
Wake at Noon, voted Canada’s top thoroughbred in 2002, was owned and raced by Schickedanz over his entire career and earned $1.6 million.
The horse, which was twice retired to the breeding shed but had no success in getting mares pregnant, was carried off the track in a van with a front leg injury in his last race on Nov. 18, 2007.
