Photo from sales grounds yesterday by BERNARD MCCORMACK
IT’S CANADIAN PREMIER SALE DAY!
You have the sales book, you have a bit of cash, pick out your trainer and select a nice year-old Thoroughbred today or tomorrow at Woodbine!
There is a pumped up nature to the track these days as the yearlings have shipped into the sales barns: the talk is about what may happen with average prices (it has had too tough drops in average price in consecutive years) and what horses are getting the buzz (one of them is a Giant Gizmo colt, hip no. 71 owned by Ivan Dalos).
It will be warm and humid and maybe rainy for the sale which begins at 3 p.m. The second section goes tomorrow afternoon at 6 p.m.
QUID PRO QUO
American owners have been taking a lot of Canadian bucks from stakes races this year and that trend continued in Monday’s ETOBICOKE STAKES ($100,000) at Woodbine when PIRATE’S TROVE remained unbeaten with an easy score for Al Shahania racing and trainer Mike Stidham. The Speightstown filly is out of a former Canadian mare, Authentic Deed, by Alydeed.
But an hour later in Philadelphia, Canadian owners JIM AND SUSAN HILL watched as their speedy colt SHARP SENSATION beat the mighty Ben’s Cat with a super ride by David Moran who followed trainer Reade Baker’s instructions exactly.
“He told me he was a little strong the last time he was down here [5th in the Parx Dash),” said Moran. “He told me to try and get him to relax.”
A son of Sharp Humor – Accusation by Royal Academy, the 4yo colt has shown brilliance at times but his grass races had been a little less than exciting to this point. Once a wild speedball, he has run his best when he is not on the lead but in the Play the King at Woodbine, he went head and head through a maniacal pace duel and faded badly.
Yesterday, red-hot David Moran rated the colt off the pace in a 5 furlong dash and the colt stormed home with post a 97 Beyer Figure.
Sharp Sensation was a $55,000 weanling purchase and he earned $180,000 for that score yesterday., one of the biggest wins for trainer Baker.
Let’s hope the Hills are ready to spend some of that cash today at the sale!
HOLY MOLEY – SHARP SENSATION, owned by Alberta’s Jim and Susan Hill and trainer by Reade Baker, ridden by David Moran, wins the $300,000 TURF MONSTER at Parx at 16 to 1! BARBARD WEIDL/EQUI-PHOTO
