Two racing days in the books at WOODBINE and while American trainers and owners won both stakes events, it was exciting to see the tremendous run by Ontario-bred and sired BROOKLYNSWAY who was 2nd in the Star Shoot Stakes. Shades of Lexie Lou?
The STAR SHOOT earned a 70 Beyer Figure.
April 12, 2015.Woodbine Racetrack.Star Shoot Stakes Ancient Goddess (far left) Jockey Luis Contreras,WEG/michael burns photo
GODDESS OF THE STARS
ANCIENT GODDESS, somewhat of an unknown coming into the Star Shoot Stakes for 3-year-old fillies at Woodbine on Sunday for trainer John Terranova, has found her forte.
The French – bred filly was a winner in her home country last summer and she had a pair of 3rds in her 4 North American starts including her latest at Tampa Bay Downs in the Suncoast Stakes on dirt. But the daughter of Iffraaj (Fr) seemed to be stalling in her races, all at 2-turn distances.
Terranova elected to shorten her up and send her to Polytrack for the Star Shoot off a 3 month layoff and the results were impressive. Coming from well off the pace and from behind a wall of horses, the bay filly zoomed to the lead in midstretch and held off Ontario bred and sire charger BROOKLYN’SWAY to win under Luis Contreras.
The win was a first Woodbine stakes score for Sovereign Stable, a racing partnership overseen by Matthew Gatsas, in three attempts having previously finished sixth in the 2008 Grade 3 Grey Stakes with Rein King and 12th in the 2012 Grade 2 Natalma Stakes with Fearless Jacq.
“She sprinted in her first race in France and then went seven furlongs on the turf and won, beating some of the colts there,” said Roy Champagne, a Sovereign Stable partner on hand at Woodbine to watch the victory with his wife, Sherri, and fellow Sovereign partners Diane and Gary Gladstone. “Since she’s been over here, we’ve been running her long in route races and we’ve been looking to change things up. She would tire at the end of the route races, so we were looking for a sprint race to run her in. We’re elated with the win.”
Ancient Goddess trained into her Polytrack debut at Belmont Park.
“I got a perfect trip,” said winning rider Luis Contreras. “The filly came here sharp and ready to run. She surprised me because it was her first time running on Polytrack and she handled it like she has been here for a long time.”
Starless Night and Spanish Pipedream contested the early pace of the Star Shoot setting splits of :22.05 and :45.13, as Contreras settled Ancient Goddess into seventh position in the nine-horse field.
Brooklynsway loomed large through the turn along the rail, under Emma-Jayne Wilson, while Ancient Goddess sought room between rivals as the field straightened away for the stretch run with Starless Night clinging to a precarious lead.
Brooklynsway, waiting patiently for a chance to run, gained command down the lane but could not hold off the rally of a determined Ancient Goddess who notched a narrow nose victory in a final running time of 1:10.19. Zia, with Jesse Campbell aboard, closed six-wide for show money, a length back of Brooklynsway.
Contreras was confident Ancient Goddess arrived in time to secure her first stakes win.
“Oh yes. From the time the gate opened I had so much horse on my hands,” said Contreras. “I was just waiting and waiting and by the three-eighths, I was stuck in behind the speed and waiting for a hole to open up. A little hole opened up and she went through it like it was nothing, she was so brave. She galloped out really good. I think she can go farther.”
More from Sunday
As is often the case in 5 furlong dashes, speed did well but it was not the dominant style on the day or the weekend. The only soft bias that may have occurred was an inside bias as wide, ralliers had some trouble on the weekend.
RACE 1 – ONE EYED CANDYRIDE, brought up from Florida by Natural Eight Stable and Bill Tharrenos, led all the way through 5 furlongs in 57 3/5 to win this non-winners of 2 for $20,000 claiming. The son of Candy Ride (Arg) was claimed for this price and had raced once for the new stable when 8th on Mar. 18. It was his Polytrack debut, his 2nd win in 8 races and he was in the care of his 4th set of owner/trainer. Eurico Rosa da Silva rode the 3-year-oild.
RACE 2 – Owner/trainer Wesley Ward got his 4th winner of the weekend when ATASHEEN cruised to a very easy win in this $10,000 claiming event. He was a non-winners of 3 racing against multiple winners but this son of Exchange Rate was long gone early under Rafael Hernandez. Mike McDonald’s Machito closed well to be 2nd while Mount Diablo was a troubled 4th. The time was 57 4/5 and this earned the day’s highest Beyer Speed Figure from Daily Racing Form of 86.
RACE 3- good older horses for $32,000 and it was the speedy FILLY, WILD N CLEVER, who scampered away to win for Tucci Stables and trainer Nick Gonzalez. The Offlee Wild filly, an Ontario bred, bred by Denny Andrews, was making her first sart of the season and Emma-Jayne Wilson rode. The filly has 5 wins in 15 races.
In that race, Buongiorno Johnny pressed the pace from the rail but steadied and checked into the turn and dropped back to last but appeared to be okay after the race.
RACE 4- Very nice field of maiden allowance fillies (open) and an Ontario sired/bred filly won it! The Wesley Ward gal Magic Reider was a lukewarm favourite at 5 to 2. That gal was quick out of the gate in her 2nd career start but faded through the stretch while her pace mate, SWEET SUPER SIX powered away to win for the Super Six Stable and trainer Mike DePaulo.
Starting for the first time this year and placed in 3 of her 4 races as a 2yo, this chestnut, with front bandages added, was ridden by Patrick Husbands, the reigning Sovereign champion jockey.
This was the 2nd straight winner on the card bred by DENNY ANDREWS of Alberta. Andrews is a co-owner of Pender Harbour.
In this dash that went in 57 4/5 there were some troubled gals. KASUGA had a messy trip and will no doubt go better with more distance. CITY WELLS, who had been working briskly at Keeneland for trainer Roger Attfield, was outrun early but flew through the stretch and galloped out nicely.
RACE 5 – An Ontario sired allowance race for fillies and mares was won by Tony Gattellaro and partners’ NO SOUP FOR YOU, who is very good at abbreviated distances.
While speed wins most 5 furlong races since the race is, after all, 5 furlongs, this gal came from a few lengths off the pace and from a rail, chasing position under Alan Garcia.
The grey 4-year-old tipped out to the 2 path off the turn for home, grabbed a short lead and held off closers from way back, Tap o the Mountain (part of a favoured entry who ran well off a 1 1/2 year layoff) and Our Gabrielle (4th).
Nick Nosowenko trains and Gattelro bred this winner of 2 of 14 races.
RACE 6 – This was an open allowance race for fillies and mares and the winter raced horses dominated. FARINGDON CIRCLE, bred by Eugene Melnyk and sold at his Horses of Racing Age sale last year for $60,000 to Gary Barber and Mark Casse, dueled 3 wide and grabbed the win. The Speightstown mare was in from Oaklawn/California and held off another Speightstown gal, TOWN GRAD, who was a whopping 14 to 1 in her 3rd start off the layoff.
Favoured SHEZEAFIRECRACKER was steadied on the rail on the turn and lost too much ground to make up and can be tabbed for next time.
RACE 7 – a maiden $10,00 claiming race featured a huge favourite in ONE WAY TALK, trained by Abraham Katryan. Thie One Way Love 4-year-old was narrowly beaten in his latest at Tampa Bay Downs and was adding blinkers. Eurico rosa da Silva rode.
TIGER HALL had trouble on the turn when shuffled back and steadied but he closed well and may break through one of these days.
RACE 9 – HOMBRE NATURAL was sent hard out of the gate by Justin Stein and ran fast and strong all the way to win this 5 furlong dash, an allowance/optional claiming race. The Fair grounds invader is owned by Hernandez Racing Club and trained by Armando De La Cerda, who had so much success bringing La Tia to Woodbine.
This 3-year-old colt is 3 for 9 in his career and he beat Hammerstein, who rallied well.
RACE 10 – WANNABITABREW sped to the lead and won her maiden in her season debut for owner and trainer Natha Squires. She is an Old Forester filly and Emile Ramsammy was the winning rider
Betting on the card was just over $3 million.
AFTER 2 DAYS AT WOODBINE
TRAINERS
2 Wesley A. Ward 9 4 0 0 $74,639 44% 4 44%
3 Nicholas Nosowenko 5 3 0 0 $66,239 60% 3 60%
1 Michael P. De Paulo 5 2 0 2 $78,071 40% 4 80%
JOCKEYS
6 Rafael Manuel Hernandez 9 4 0 0 $74,639 44% 4 44%
4 Alan Garcia 12 3 0 1 $86,923 25% 4 33%
1 Emma-Jayne Wilson 7 2 3 0 $120,395 29% 5 71%
2 Luis Contreras 11 2 2 1 $104,829 18% 5 45%
3 Patrick Husbands 8 2 0 3 $94,781 25% 5 63%
7 Eurico Rosa Da Silva 13 2 3 2 $74,070 15% 7 54%
THE PHAROAH HAS LANDED
American Pharoah arrives at Churchill Downs (asst trainer Jim Barnes on shank)
Zayat Stables’ American Pharoah, fresh off a dominant eight-length victory in Saturday’s $1 million Arkansas Derby (Grade I) at Oaklawn Park, completed an uneventful Monday journey from the Hot Springs, Ark. track to Churchill Downs, where he stepped off a van at the home of the Kentucky Derby Presented by Yum! Brands (GI) shortly after 4 p.m. (all times Eastern).
The Bob Baffert-trained son of Pioneerof the Nile was accompanied to Barn 33 at Churchill Downs by assistant trainer Jim Barnes, who had traveled from the three-time Kentucky Derby winner’s Southern California base to the Arkansas Derby with American Pharoah.
“The horse looked like he traveled very well – he’s a good traveler,” Barnes said. “The reason why we came here so early is that we were already halfway here. You don’t want to go back to California and then come back to Churchill.”
American Pharoah, America’s champion 2-year-old of 2014, carries a four-race winning streak – all stakes races and three out of four being Grade I stakes events – into the Kentucky Derby. His career record starts at 4-0-0 in five races with earnings of $1,411,500. He has not been tested in his four races since his September debut at Del Mar, where American Pharoah finished fifth of nine in maiden special weight race that was his only start outside of graded stakes company.
Barnes said American Pharoah won’t need much training over the Churchill Downs track to be ready for the Kentucky Derby run on the first Saturday in May.
“We’re at Churchill and he’ll just take it easy,” Barnes said. “He doesn’t need to do much. He’ll breeze one time before the race.”
American Pharoah was accompanied to Baffert’s Churchill Downs barn by Longines Kentucky Oaks candidate Maybellene and Clark Handicap Presented by Norton Healthcare (GI) winner Hopportunity, who is nominated to the Alysheba (GII) on Kentucky Oaks Day. Two more Baffert-trained Derby hopes – Kaleem Shah’s unbeaten Santa Anita Derby (GI) winner Dortmund and Michael Lund Petersen’s Santa Anita Derby runner-up One Lucky Dane – remain in Southern California.
KENTUCKY DERBY POINTS – 20 DAYS TO GO (AND WHO WANTS TO TACKLE ‘PHAROAH?
1. International Star 171 Ken & Sarah Ramsey Mike Maker $940,979
2. Dortmund 170 Kaleem Shah Inc. Bob Baffert $1,230,000
3. Carpe Diem 164 WinStar Farm, LLC (Kenny Troutt) & Stonestreet Stables LLC (Barbara Banke)
Todd Pletcher $1,470,000
4. American Pharoah 160 Zayat Stables, LLC (Ahmed Zayat) Bob Baffert $1,410,000
5. Frosted 113 Godolphin Racing LLC (Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al
Maktoum et al) Kiaran McLaughlin $776,200
6. Mubtaahij-IRE 100 Sheikh Mohammed bin Khalifa Al Maktoum Mike de Kock $1,400,000
7. Materiality 100 Alto Racing LLC (Gil Moutray) Todd Pletcher $632,028
8. El Kabeir 95 Zayat Stables, LLC (Ahmed Zayat) John Terranova II $720,792
9. Upstart 76 Ralph M. Evans Rick Violette Jr. $807,680
10. Far Right 62 Harry T. Rosenblum & Robert V. LaPenta Ron Moquett $585,906
11. Itsaknockout 60 Starlight Racing (Jack & Laurie Wolf & Donald & Barbara Lucarelli) Todd Pletcher $288,560
12. Firing Line 58 Arnold Zetcher LLC Simon Callaghan $530,000
13. OUT Dubai Sky 50 Three Chimneys Farm (Goncalo Borges Torrealba) & Besilu Stables
(Benjamin Leon) Bill Mott $371,780
13. Danzig Moon 45 John C. Oxley Mark Casse $217,500
14. War Story 44 Loooch Racing Stables, Inc. (Ron Paolucci), Glenn K. Ellis &
Christopher T. Dunn Tom Amoss $195,000
15. Tencendur 41 Philip S. Birsh George Weaver $224,500
Maftool 40 Godolphin Racing LLC (Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum et al) Saeed bin Suroor $630,595
16. One Lucky Dane 40 Michael Lund Petersen Bob Baffert $200,000
Ami’s Flatter 40 Ivan Dalos Josie Carroll $195,200
17. Stanford 40 Stonestreet Stables LLC (Barbara Banke), Mrs. John Magnier,Michael Tabor & Derrick Smith
Todd Pletcher $151,400
18. Mr. Z 34 Zayat Stables, LLC (Ahmed Zayat) D. Wayne Lukas $625,826
19. Ocho Ocho Ocho 30 DP Racing, LLC (Deron Pearson) Jim Cassidy $760,250
20. Bolo 30 Golden Pegasus Racing Inc. (Frank Stronach et al) & Earle Mack Carla Gaines $214,980
21. Madefromlucky 30 Cheyenne Stables LLC (Everett Dobson) & Mac Nichol Todd Pletcher $200,000
Prospect Park 30 Pam & Martin Wygod Cliff Sise Jr. $130,000
Conquest Typhoon 26 Conquest Stables, LLC (Ernie Semersky & Dory Newell) Mark Casse $430,827
22. Keen Ice 22 Donegal Racing (Jerry Crawford) Dale Romans $136,520
Daredevil 20 WinStar Farm (Kenny Troutt), Let’s Go Stable (Kevin Scatuorchio & Bryan Sullivan) & China Horse Club Todd Pletcher $389,600
+Golden Barows 20 Hirotsugu Inokuma & Katsumi Yoshida Noriyuki Hori $354,316
+Where’s the Moon 20 J. Kirk & Judy Robison Henry Dominguez $236,000
NOT RUNNING Divining Rod 20 Lael Stables (Roy & Gretchen Jackson) Arnaud Delacour $225,000
NOT RUNNING Tiz Shea D 20 Wachtel Stable (Adam Wachtel), Brous Stable LLC (Nils Brous) &
Gary Barber Bill Mott $110,000
23. Frammento 20 Mossarosa (Nena Moss) Nick Zito $92,800
24. Bold Conquest 17 Ackerley Brothers Farm (Lee & Bob Ackerley) Steve Asmussen $192,176
Calculator 14 Richard C. Pell Peter Miller $180,000
Classy Class 13 Cheyenne Stables LLC (Everett Dobson) Kiaran McLaughlin $115,000
Texas Red 12 Erich Brehm, Wayne Detmar, Lee Michaels, Keith Desormeaux & Gene Voss Keith D$1,176,000
25. The Truth or Else 11 Harold Lerner, LLC Kenny McPeek $180,167
Leave the Light On 10 Klaravich Stables, Inc. (Seth Klarman) & William H. Lawrence Chad Brown $240,000
OUT Far From Over 10 Black Rock Thoroughbreds, LLP (Steven Marshall) Todd Pletcher $150,000
Pain and Misery 10 Black Gold Racing (Dr. Leonard Blach & Ray Willis) Henry Dominguez $145,350
26. Metaboss 10 Michael Arndt, Milan McFetridge, Daniel Preiss, Mersad Metanovic & Chuck Azcarate
Jeff Bonde $136,450
KENTUCKY OAKS POINTS
1. Condo Commando 161 Michael Dubb, Bethlehem Stables & The Elkstone Group Rudy Rodriguez $715,000
2. I’m a Chatterbox 161 Grayson Farm (Fletcher & Carolyn Gray) Larry Jones $430,714
3. Stellar Wind 150 Hronis Racing (Kostra Hronis) John Sadler $300,000
4. Birdatthewire 130 Forum Racing (Tom Camp et al) Dale Romans $303,710
5. Lovely Maria 120 Brereton C. Jones Larry Jones $341,000
6. Include Betty 100 Brereton C. Jones & Timothy C. Thornton Tom Proctor $274,500
7. Oceanwave 60 Gary & Mary West Wayne Catalano $110,000
8. Angela Renee 57 Siena Farm LLC (Anthony Manganaro, Ignacio Patino & David Pope) Todd Pletcher $402,000
9. Sarah Sis 54 Joe Ragsdale Ingrid Mason $161,600
10. Maybellene 52 Natalie J. Baffert Bob Baffert $187,144
Ekati’s Phaeton 51 Phaedrus Flights LLC Bill Mott $201,740
+ Local Time-GB 50 Godolphin Racing LLC (Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum et al)
Saeed bin Suroor $345,269
+Don’t Leave Me 50 Pin Oak Stable (Josephine Abercrombie) Malcolm Pierce $88,293
11. Eskenformoney 50 StarLadies Racing (Laurie Wolf) Todd Pletcher $66,900
12. Puca 45 Donegal Racing (Jerry Crawford) Bill Mott $69,200
Take Charge Brandi 40 Willis D. Horton D. Wayne Lukas $1,653,726
13. Shook Up 40 Regis Racing (Nat Rea) Steve Asmussen $83,500
14. Luminance 40 Kalem Shah Inc. Bob Baffert $80,000
15. Forever Unbridled 34 Charles E. Fipke Dallas Stewart $82,500
16. Achiever’s Legacy 27 G. Campbell, M. Cellucci, D. Horowitz, R. Robertson, et al. Jerry Hollendorfer $149,500
Light the City 24 Cheyenne Stables LLC (Everett Dobson) Jerry Hollendorfer $142,150
17. Pangburn 24 Shortleaf Stable, Inc. (John Ed Anthony) Kenny McPeek $78,890
18. @Money’soncharlotte 22 George & Lori Hall Kelly Breen $90,070
TALKIN’ HORSES IS ON THE WEB!
Talkin Horses, the Canadian horse racing show that is about to begin for season 2, now has a landing spot on the web. The show is seen on on CTV and is a magazine, news and betting show hosted by Joe Tilley and Jason Portuondo.
Come and visit!
