In memory of Alexandrea Tersigni, one of Woodbine’s greatest fans
Woodbine photo of Alexandrea Tersigni and her best buddy Eurico Rosa da Silva
Fratelli Vescio Funeral Homes 8101 Weston Road, Woodbridge, Ontario L4L 1A6 905.850.3332
Visitations as follows: January 31, 2015 6:00 – 9:00 pm
February 1, 2015 2:00 – 4:00 pm
6:00 – 9:00 pm
Mass celebration Immaculate Conception Church (Woodbridge) February 2, 2015 @ 11:00 am
SATURDAY – AMI’S FLATTER gets 4th in Sam Davis, Conquest conquers
OCEAN KNIGHT is 2 for 2 in his career with this narrow in in the Sam F. Davis Stakes. Tampa Bay Downs photo
AMI’S FLATTER, rated number 1 on the Queen’s Plate contenders list on Thoroughblog, finished fourth in the Grade 3 Sam F Davis at Tampoa Bay Downs yesterday for owner and breeder Ivan Dalos. The bay 3-year-old Ontario bred was coming off a strong second in the Mucho Macho Man Stakes on Jan. 2 with an 89 Beyer Figure for trainer Josie Carroll.
In the Davis, the colt tracks a slow pace set by longshot Divining Rod (Tapit), was under a hard ride on the turn when the leaders got away on him and then he kept trying in the stretch to re-rally and grab 4th with an 82 Beyer Figure. He was beaten 6 1/2 lengths by OCEAN KNIGHT, who won his debut at Aqueduct in December with a 93 Beyer and matched that Beyer with this win.
Ocean Knight is a Curlin colt out of Ocean Goddess by Stormy Atlantic and he was a $320,000 2-year-old in training and he is owned by Curlin’s owner, Stonestreet Stable. Kiaran McLaughlin trains.
Divining Rod was just edged for the win after setting the slow pace.
from Tampa Bay Downs media:
Showing the power and determination of his sire, two-time Horse of the Year Curlin, in only his second start, 3-year-old Ocean Knight ran down 28-1 shot Divining Rod by a neck to win the Grade III, $250,000 Sam F. Davis Stakes on Tampa Bay Downs’ Festival Preview Day Presented by Lambholm South.
Total all-sources handle was $9,897,713, a Festival Preview Day record.
Ocean Knight improved to 2-for-2 under 22-year-old jockey Irad Ortiz, Jr., and the colt’s connections said there is a strong possibility he will return here for the Grade II, $350,000 Tampa Bay Derby on March 7.
Ocean Knight’s time of 1:43.74 was a fifth of a second off the stakes record set by General Quarters in 2009. The winner paid $5.20 as the betting favorite in the 12-horse field. My Johnny Be Good was five lengths back in third, followed by Ami’s Flatter and two-time Tampa Bay Downs stakes winner Catalina Red.
Owner Stonestreet Stables, LLC – the owner of Curlin – collected first-place money of $120,000, a healthy return on Ocean Knight’s $320,000 purchase price as a 2-year-old.
Ortiz won both graded stakes races on the card, getting the victory in the Grade III, $150,000 Lambholm South Endeavour Stakes on 4-year-old Testa Rossi when apparent winner Hard Not to Like was disqualified for interference in deep stretch.
Stonestreet owner Barbara Banke, whose late husband Jess Stonestreet Jackson, Jr., campaigned Curlin, struggled to contain her emotions after the Sam F. Davis. “He did (bring back memories of Curlin), but it’s hard to say because I was jumping up and down so much,” she said.
“We knew he was fast. He had been hauling everything else around the training center all year long. (On the turn for home), though, we thought he had had it. He was clear, but he was wide and it’s tough to run down speed.”
Neal McLaughlin, assistant to winning trainer Kiaran McLaughlin, his brother, said Kiaran will confer with Banke but it is likely Ocean Knight will return for the Tampa Bay Derby.
“We are not afraid to go anywhere with him, but if we like the surface here and can have a good experience, why not come back?” Neal said. “Irad rode him great, but he was wide and he had to make a couple of moves to get position. He gutted it out down the stretch. For a lightly raced young horse, it’s very exciting.
“He just took a while to come around last summer; no big problems, just little things to get him to the gate and through the process,” McLaughlin added.
Ortiz had a day to remember, just as he seems to everywhere he rides. “This is the first time I’ve ridden here and to win two stakes today is just wonderful,” he said.
“I had ridden (Ocean Knight) before so I knew he would wait until I asked him. We were good from the gate and I was able to get position just outside the lead group. Mr. McLaughlin told me he had been training up to the race very well and to just relax, wait with him and set him down into the stretch.
“When I asked for run he just went after the horse on the lead a like a good horse should. I really hope I get to ride him back in those big races coming up,” Ortiz added.
More from Saturday:
Also at Tampa Bay Downs, Canadian-bred HARD NOT TO LIKE came off another long layoff to win another graded stakes race on the grass but this time she was disqualified from the win for her dramatic veer to the right nearing the wire. The grey mare won the Grade 3 Endeavor Stakes, holding off Testa Rossi, but was disqualified and placed 2nd.
Now trained by Christophe Clement since being bought for $1.5 million at auction by the new farm Speedway Stable, Hard Not to Like is a Grade 1 winner by Hard Spun who was bred and raced by Garland Williamson and his Hillsbrook Farm. Testa Rossi was placed first.
There were some other Canadian horses in stakes races during the day. BEARS PERSONALITY stumbled badly at the start of the Sam F. Davis in his 3-year-old debut for Bear Stables, raced wide and slipped back in a rough outing. TURKISH, the Valedictory Stakes winner, tried 2 miles on the grass at Gulfstream in the Allen Jerkens Stakes but faded to 6th. KAIGUN was an even 4th in the Arcadia Handicap at Santa Anita.
CONQUEST STABLES had a good day with trainer Mark Casse, however. The stable won the Grade 2 Palos Verdes Stakes with CONQUEST TWO STEP who inhaled a crazy pace battle and won easily with a 105 Beyer Speed Figure, stamping himself as one of the top sprinters in North America. The son of Two Step Salsa, who was 2nd in the Swynford Stakes to Go Greeley 2 years ago in his lone Canadian start, was originally a $20,000 yearling purchase who sold to Conquest for $420,000 as a 2yo in training.
At Oaklawn Park on the dirt, Conquest’s 3-year-old Canadian bred colt CONQUEST CURLINATE won his maiden in his 2nd career start with a bold rally at 1 1/16 miles in 1:46.61 (no Beyer Figure posted yet). The grey colt is out of the Peaks and Valleys mare HIGHER WORLD and Charlie Hayden is the breeder. The colt was a $70,000 yearling purchase.
CONQUEST CURLINATE won his maiden on the dirt at Oaklawn on Saturday and gets into the Queen’s Plate picture – photo from Conquest Stables
CANADIAN-BREDS NOMINATED TO AMERICAN TRIPLE CROWN SERIES
12 of 429
CONQUEST TYPHOON – Conquest Stable Mark Casse Josham Farms and Yvonne Schwabe
AMI’S FLATTER Ivan Dalos Josie Carroll Ivan Dalos
FIRST SPLASH Tom Durant Randy Morse Christine Hayden
DECISION DAY Donver Stables Josie Carroll Donver Stables
SAMUEL DECHAMPLAIN Eaton Hall Farm Mike Doyle Eaton Hall Farm
DANISH DYNAFORMER Charles Fipke Roger Attfield Charles Fipke
MORE THAN SHIRL Charles Fipke Roger Attfield Charles Fipke
JAVA’S BOURBON Charles Fipke Roger Attfield Charles Fipke
BILLY’S STAR Charles Fipke Rger Attfield Charles Fipke
BREAKING LUCKY Gunpower Farm Reade Baker Christine Hayden
DANZIG MOON John Oxley Mark Casse Bill Graham
MIDNIGHT TRACE West Point Thoroughbreds Graham Motion James and Janeane Everatt and Arika Everatt-Meeuse and Tim Meeuse
OCALA WINTER MIXED SALE
Canadian-breds in the sale
Purchase price Buyer Yr foaled Sex Name Breeding Consignor
$4,800 Gene Reider 127 03 M Warrior Belle War Deputy Bebopper Benny the Bull Ontario Andy Cant, Agent II 4
$10,000 Sandra McKinney 132 99 M Lentil Alphabet Soup Black Tie Diamond Desert Party Ontario TdM Sales (Tristan & Valery de Meric), 12
OUT 139 04 M Opera Smart Strike Capdiva The Factor Ontario TdM Sales (Tristan & Valery de Meric), Agent VI 12
$52,000 MURRAY STROUD 177 07 M Bodua North Light (IRE) Global Kantharos Ontario Big Easy, Agent I 5
NOT SOLD 241 04 M Strathmore Langfuhr Our Liebling Two Step Salsa Ontario Pleasant Acres Farm, Agent IV 11
$4,000 Mersad M Bloodstock339 00 M Promenade Road Dance Brightly Boldly Extravagant Prospective Ontario Summerfield (Francis & Barbara Vanlangendonck), Agent X 9
NOT SOLD 398 34.3 12 G Old Fashioned Cash Old Fashioned Lochrea Ontario SAB Sales (Scott A. Bergsrud), Agent I 14
OUT 425 out 12 C Midshipman Pinafore Lady Ontario Tom McCrocklin, Agent 14
NO BID 455 09 G Tuxedo Ray Cryptograph Bafferta Ontario M & M Ventures (Michelle Elliot), Agent II 13
OUT 492 34.1 Y 12 F Buckden House Paynes Bay Hopewell House Ontario Kim Harrison (Top Speed Farm), Agent IV 13
Canadian Buyers
SHIRLEY PROSSER, owned by Box Arrow Farm in eastern Ontario, paid $50,000 for an unraced 3-year-old gelding by Grand Slam from a Cat Thief mare. The smooth striding gelding worked 3 furlongs in 34 seconds for the sale, his 3rd workout of 2015. Named SHUNGITE (a sleek, black mineral), the gelding is from the family of graded stakes winners Scoop and Til Forbid.
Prosser also bought a Ravenscroft filly for $3,000 who worked in 37 seconds.
Barbara Minshall bought a filly by Brilliant Speed – Sharon Shocklee for $18,000 and Winnipeg trainer Blair Miller, agent for Tom Payne, paid $50,000 for a Midshipman 3-year-old who worked in 34 1/5.
Other Canadian Stuff….
REJOICEFUL won a $35,000 claiming race at Gulfstream on Friday for James Perron Racing Stable, Bred by Josham Farms, the 5-year-old mare by Corinthian – Ethan’s Car by Cat Thief was 4 to 1 and she won the 1 1/16 mile turf race by 2 1/4 lengths in 1:42.53.
Dan Vella trains and it has been a good meeting for Vella.
True North Stable and trainer Lorne Richards claimed winner MOZAMBIQUE GOLD for $75,000 from a maiden race at 1 1/16 miles on the grass. The filly by Northern Afleet out of Hishi Once Moreby Touch Gold was odds-on for trainer George Weaver and she won by 4 1/2 lengths.
John Sikura and Josie Carroll’s popular gelding DRAGO’S BEST, who never got a bid at auction but has had a very nice career with 7 wins in 24 races and $295,000. He was 2nd yesterday at Gulfstream for Sikura (who bred the son of Seeking the Best) and was claimed for the first time, for $25,000 by Rosebud Stable.
VICTORIANA ROSE, an Ontario bred by Northern Afleet – Whistling Maid by Bold n’ Flashy, won for $6,250 at Gulf stream yesterday for Ken and Sarah Ramsay. Bred by Patricia and Robert Weber, the 5-year-old mare won by 13 1/2 lengths and has been a regular at Woodbine. She was claimed yesterday by trainer Antonia Sano.
**And from the ! file..a maiden winner from overseas recently..
With Approval (Ire), c, 3, Approve (Ire)–Kelsey Rose (GB) (MSP-Eng), by Most Welcome (GB). LIN, 1-31,
8f (AWT), 1:39. B-Yeomanstown Stud (IRE).
MARINE STAKES up to a GRADE 3
The Jockey Club of Canada’s Graded Stakes Committee held its annual review of the graded and listed stakes in Canada. The committee upgraded one listed race bringing the total to 44 graded stakes in Canada for 2015.
The Graded Stakes Committee meeting, conducted by Committee Chair Jeff Begg with all committee members as well as Chief Steward Jim Lawson and the racing secretaries from Hastings, Northlands and Woodbine, was held Tuesday, January 27.
After reviewing the NARC and RQS figures for all graded and listed races in Canada, the committee determined that the Marine S. at Woodbine would be upgraded from a listed stakes to a Grade 3 in 2015 with the recommendation that the purse be bumped to be consistent with the other Grade 3 races at Woodbine. The status for all other graded and listed stakes in Canada will remain unchanged in 2015. Canada will host four Grade 1, 16 Grade 2 and 24 Grade 3 races in 2015.
The Jockey Club of Canada Graded Stakes Committee evaluates and reviews the graded and listed stakes in Canada annually and determines whether races should be upgraded, downgraded or remain the same. The committee bases their decisions on the cumulative NARC ratings for five consecutive years along with the new Race Quality Score (RQS) figures introduced last year by the North American International Catalogue Standards Committee (NAICSC).
Graded and listed stakes in North America must maintain a minimum purse and minimum cumulative NARC rating to retain or be considered as a graded or listed race.
Changes to the requirements for stakes in North America to receive non-listed black type in SITA catalogs (those compliant with guidelines required by the Society of International Thoroughbred Auctioneers) were implemented by the North American International Catalogue Standards Committee (NAISCS) in 2014.
The primary change to the requirements was the implementation of the Race Quality Score (RQS) as an additional quality control for non-listed black-type races in North America.
Non-listed black-type races include open stakes races with a purse of $50,000 to $74,999 available for distribution on the day of the race and all stakes races with a purse of $50,000 or more that have a restriction allowed by NAISCS (i.e. state bred, stallions’ progeny, sales graduates or non-winners of a sweepstakes) that have or exceed a minimum Race Quality Score (RQS) requirement for individual age/sex division.
The RQS is the average of the Annual Race Quality Score (ARQS) for each of a race’s last three renewals. The ARQS is the combination of the speed figures assigned to a race by Bloodstock Research Information Services (BRIS), Daily Racing Form (Beyer), Equibase and Thoro-Graph, and is calculated within 30 days after the date of the race. The speed figure assigned to a race is the average of the speed figure assigned to each of the top four placed horses in the race.
Non-listed black-type races that receive an RQS below the minimum age/sex requirements and have a three-year cumulative RQS below the minimum requirements will automatically lose their black-type status without evaluation. The Jockey Club of Canada Graded Stakes Committee has been made responsible for informing host racetracks of any black-type races that do not meet the RQS requirement and subsequently have lost their black-type status. The committee will also communicate a warning to host tracks if a race is at risk of losing their black-type status in any given year.
The Jockey Club of Canada Graded Stakes Committee reports that the following stakes races in Canada have lost black-type status effective 2015:
RACE TRACK
Alberta Breeders’ H. Northlands
CTHS Sales S. (3YO Males) Hastings
Freedom of the City S. Northlands
Northlands Oaks Northlands
Redekop BC Cup Classic H. Hastings
Sonoma Handicap Northlands
Western Canada H. Northlands
The following black-type stakes races are at risk of losing their black-type status in 2016 if the minimum age/sex RQS and the minimum cumulative RQS is not achieved in 2015:
RACE TRACK
BC Cup Nursery Hastings
Birdcatcher S. Northlands
Chris Loseth H. Hastings
Count Latham H. Northlands
Edmonton Juvenile Northlands
Hard Rock Casino Vancouver H. Hastings
Jim Coleman Province S. Hastings
KY Alta S. Northlands
Madamoiselle H. Northlands
River Rock Casino H. Hastings
Wild Rose H. Northlands
The following stakes races in Canada had already lost their black-type status in Canada in 2014:
RACE TRACK
Alberta Oaks Northlands
Beaufort S. Northlands
Bird of Pay S. Northlands
Buffalo S. Assiniboia Downs
Chariot Chaser H. Northlands
CTHS Sales S. (3YO Fillies) Hastings
Duchess of York H. Northlands
Fall Classic Distaff H. Northlands
J. W. Sifton S. Assiniboia Downs
Matron S. Assiniboia Downs
R.C. Anderson S. Assiniboia Downs
R.K. (Red) Smith H. Northlands
Red Diamond Express H. Northlands
Sturgeon River S. Northlands
Sun Sprint Championship H. Northlands
Three and Four Year Old Filly Sales S. Northlands
Three and Four Year Old Sales S. Northlands
Two Year Old Sales S. Northlands
With Approval S. Woodbine
Any new stakes races created and existing races with material changes to their conditions must now be submitted to the NAICSC for review and black-type approval no less than 30 days prior to the day the new race or changed race is to be run. New stakes races with a purse of less than $75,000 available to all entries must run twice under essentially the same conditions before being evaluated for black-type status.
For complete information on the RQS black-type requirements and/or for black-type race status updates go to www.northamericanicsc.com or contact Jeff Begg, Graded Stakes Committee Chair at The Jockey Club of Canada, 416-675-7756 or jockeyclub@bellnet.ca.
INTERNATIONAL – DAILY MAIL FEATURE
ROMAN CHAPA SAGA – out on bail,
Owner of horse in question is appalled
The owner of a race horse at the center of a cheating storm says he is shaken and upset by allegations his animal was ‘buzzed’ with an outlawed electrical device.
Veteran trainer Danny Pish, 49, says he first learned of the controversy when a photo emerged of jockey Roman Chapa clutching the tiny gadget as he crossed the finish line at Sam Houston Race Park, Houston, Texas, on Quiet Acceleration January 17.
Mr Pish insisted he had never seen anyone using a similar device in his three decades in the sport and was appalled to learn it appeared to have been used on his six-year-old gelding, Quiet Acceleration.
