SWEET REDEMPTION (D’Wildcat), a daughter of a 2yo debut winning mare and a half sister to 2 juvenile debut winners, worked in 21 1/5 for a 2yo sale this spring. She won her debut in the Ontario Debutante Stakes at Woodbine for Southern Chase Farm and trainer Greg de Gannes.
Norm Files photo
There was not a lot of star power on display at Woodbine on Saturday as the meeting switches from the high profile 3yo campaigns into the international older horse/grass session.
(As a sidenote – SCALO, the GERMAN HORSE OF THE YEAR in 2010, is headed to Ontario as he has been nominated to the Sky Classic Stakes)
This time of year is often called the ugly season as the races are on the weak side.
On Saturday, the highest Beyer Figure for a winner was earned in the first race of the day, an allowance for Ontario sired older horses. SODA ON THE SIDE, making his first start at 1 1/16 miles, romped for 3 Sons Racing and trainer Robert Tiller. The son of Whiskey Wisdom – Matching Sox was bred by Mike Ambler. A bay 3yo, Soda On the Side is 3 for 6 in his career. His winning Beyer was 73.
Race 2, a maiden allowance for 2yo’s, Ontario sired, went to TOP ROD, who was making his 2nd career start. This dark bay gelding, a $21,000 yearling purchase by the partnership of Sheldon Pettle, S and S Herzog et al, helped HIP no. 74 in the upcoming CTHS select sale. That is a full brother to TOP ROD, offered by Paradox Farm Inc. Top Rod was bred by Osprey Stables. Top Rod was dull in his debut with an 18 Beyer and a 7th place finish. Yesterday he was not the same horse for trainer Steve Attard.
Classy old timer TIMELESS FASHION, an 8-year-old stakes winner, won a starter allowance in race 3 for trainer Mark Frostad. The Sky Classic gelding had lost his rider on July 5 for $19,00 claiming, his first local Polytrack outing. He had not been a threat in a race since 2010 but was looking healthy and sharp in his win yesterday, his 11th in his 29th start.
8-year-old TIMELESS FASHION looked super winning a starter allowance ($20K) at Woodbine on Saturday. He is a classy guy trained by Mark Frostad. Norm Files photo
Race 4, another maiden allowance for 2yos, was faster than the 2nd race. This winner was HONORABLE GUEST, who crushed in his 4th career start. He was 2nd in all 3 of his previous races, twice in stakes (he was dq’d to 5th in his latest).
He is a homebred for Nancy Guest and by Old Forester out of Whoda Guest by Kinshasa. The chestnut is trained by Mark Casse. Guest was one of the owners who lost horses years ago in the Woodbine fire. She has had several good runners as an owner/breeder but this guy could be one of her best ever.
Camen Attard’s FLASHING HONOR pulled up off a big upset at 40 to 1 in race 7 to start the 2nd Pick 4. The Bold n Flashy mare hasd not win a race since she was a 3yo in a 9 furlong grass race. IN fact, she had not been in the top 3 in her last 8 races
WOODBINE SATURDAY WINNING BEYER FIGURES
1 1 1/16M Alw 56000N3L 56,000 FT 6 20 73
2 6F Md Sp Wt 50k 50,000 FT 9 20 57
3 1 1/16M Alw 20000s 39,100 FT 6 20 72
4 6F Md Sp Wt 50k 50,000 FT 9 20 70
5 1 1/4M Md 12500(12.5-11.5) 24,000 FT 10 20 70
6 1 1/16M Clm 12500(12.5-11.5) 26,400 FT 7 F 20 70
7 1 1/16M Alw 52500N2L 52,500 FT 10 F 20 61
8 6F OntarioDeb150k 150,000 FT 6 F 20 66
9 7F Md Sp Wt 50k 50,000 FT 9 20 68
10 7F Md Sp Wt 50k 50,000 FT 9 20 65
CTHS WOODBINE SALE UPDATES FROM SATURDAY!
Previous day’s results for siblings to yearlings offered in the September sale!
Saturday, August 11
Race 1 – ALW NW3L OSS
#5 Soda On the Side – Hip 19 Half-sister by Milwaukee Brew – SODA ON THE SIDE, WINNER
Race 2 – MSW 2YO OSS
#4 Top Rod – Hip 74 Full brother by Trajectory TOP ROD, WINNER
Race 4 – MSW 2YO OSS
#1 River One – Hip 63 Half-sister by Yes It’s True – 3RD IN DEBUT
Race 10 – MSW 3UP OSS
#3 Western Tune – Hip 349 Full brother – 3RD
WOODBINE TRAINER standings
Rank Trainer Name Sts 1st 2nd 3rd Total $ Win% Top3 Top3%
1 Mark E. Casse 241 47 50 37 $3,715,442 20% 134 56%
2 Robert P. Tiller 172 32 25 32 $1,542,457 19% 89 52%
3 Reade Baker 174 31 33 25 $1,821,690 18% 89 51%
4 Scott H. Fairlie 120 29 28 13 $823,287 24% 70 58%
5 Sid C. Attard 129 26 23 14 $1,351,211 20% 63 49%
6 Nicholas Gonzalez 113 20 17 21 $1,026,410 18% 58 51%
7 Ricky Griffith 74 16 10 13 $707,466 22% 39 53%
8 Paul M. Buttigieg 66 15 11 6 $737,084 23% 32 48%
9 Daniel J. Vella 118 14 17 15 $1,484,023 12% 46 39%
9 Malcolm Pierce 71 14 13 9 $1,025,306 20% 36 51%
WOODBINE JOCKEY STANDINGS
PATRICK HUSBANDS – on top of the Woodbine jockey standings – he won big on HONORABLE GUEST yesterday at Woodbine – a handsome 2yo by Old Forester
Norm Files photo
1 Patrick Husbands 398 86 75 51 $4,883,701 22% 212 53%
2 Luis Contreras 483 82 87 69 $4,254,972 17% 238 49%
3 Eurico Rosa Da Silva 377 76 52 55 $3,943,482 20% 183 49%
4 Justin Stein 453 71 54 77 $3,825,653 16% 202 45%
5 Emma-Jayne Wilson 400 61 72 66 $3,175,531 15% 199 50%
6 Jesse M. Campbell 271 37 30 30 $1,847,127 14% 97 36%
7 Tyler Pizarro 267 31 34 32 $1,626,103 12% 97 36%
8 Steven Ronald Bahen 261 28 28 37 $1,311,606 11% 93 36%
9 Gerry Olguin 247 26 32 28 $1,256,187 11% 86 35%
10 Omar Moreno 216 24 19 32 $957,892 11% 75 35%
WISE DAN ROLLS, WOODBINE MILE NEXT?
From NYRA press notes
By Jon Forbes
SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. – One day after joining gelding Fourstardave in the Hall of Fame, jockey John Velazquez piloted Wise Dan to an electrifying victory in the 28th running of the Grade 2, $500,000 Fourstardave Handicap on Saturday at Saratoga Race Course.
Wise Dan, who gave Velazquez his eighth win in the turf race for 3-year-olds and up, settled in third along the rail after lunging at the start, with pacesetter Get Stormy dictating fractions of 23.88 and 48.64 seconds.
Shuffled back on the far turn as he waited for an opening, Wise Dan found a seam between Get Stormy and the rail with a furlong to travel, quickly seized command and powered away to a five-length victory. Corporate Jungle was two lengths clear of third-place finisher Get Stormy.
Wise Dan, a 5-year-old gelding making his first start on yielding ground, completed one mile on the inner turf course in 1:37.30. He paid $5 for a $2 win wager as the 3-2 favorite in the field of seven.
“This horse is doing incredible,” said Velazquez, whose father-in-law, Leo O’Brien, trained Fourstardave, a beloved winner at Saratoga for eight straight years. “I was not surprised with the way he ran in the stretch. He was going so well. As soon as I let his head go, he responded really well and took off.”
The Fourstardave was the sixth graded stakes win for Wise Dan, who captured the 2011 Grade 1 Clark Handicap on dirt and established a course record when running away to a 10 ½-length score in the Grade 3 Ben Ali on Keeneland’s Polytrack in April. He entered the Fourstardave off a second, beaten a head by Ron the Greek, in the Grade 1 Stephen Foster Handicap on June 16 at Churchill Downs.
After the Stephen Foster, Lopresti decided to send Wise Dan to the Fourstardave and stablemate Successful Dan to the Grade 1 Whitney Invitational Handicap on August 4. A filling in Succesful Dan’s left-front pastern forced that runner to miss the Whitney, but Lopresti decided to stick to his plan to run Wise Dan in the Fourstardave.
“I was trying to keep Successful Dan and Wise Dan apart,” said Lopresti. “I knew Wise Dan was better on synthetic and I knew he liked the grass. [Wise Dan] really didn’t handle the dirt track here, but in the last 10 days he’s really started to handle it well. But it was too late. I wasn’t going to change gears with a horse who never even breezed on the dirt [here].”
With Wise Dan being so versatile, Lopresti and owner Morton Fink have many options to choose from for the gelding’s next start.
“I know he likes this dirt track now,” said Lopresti. “So maybe, 10 days, we may breeze him over it, and maybe [look at the] Woodward [Grade 1, September 3] or the Woodbine Mile [September 16].”
Fink bred Wise Dan, a son of Wiseman’s Ferry, in Kentucky .
NORTH COUNTY TIMES report:
DEL MAR: Eighth horse dies at meet
By JEFF NAHILL jnahill@nctimes.com
DEL MAR —- Bandolim, a 3-year-old colt, became the eighth thoroughbred to die at the current Del Mar meet.
According to track officials, Bandolim suffered fractured sesamoids to his left hind leg after finishing second in Saturday’s fifth race. The son of Dynaformer was in a three-horse driving finish on the turf course and was pulled up after the race by jockey Alonso Quinonez.
Bandolim is the first horse to be euthanized after an injury on the grass. The other fatal injuries occurred on the Polytrack.
Bandolim, trained by A.C. Avila, was making only his second career start and was the favorite of many bettors after several strong morning workouts since a fifth-place finish in a maiden race on July 21.
