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TOP WINNING BEYER FIGURES ACROSS CANADA LAST WEEK

from Daily Racing Form

96 – TIZ A SLAM (Nijinsky Stakes turf)
93 – DECORATED SOLDIER
90 – GOT STORMY (Ontario Colleen, turf)
90 – COSMIC HALLELUJAH (dirt)
87 – TROOPER JOHN (Don Getty stakes)
87 – FLORIDA WON
85 – MIDNIGHT BREW (turf)
85 – NOT SO QUIET
84 – MACHO DANCER

 

Weekend at the Races

The focus of Canadian racing will be on FORT ERIE RACETRACK tomorrow evening for the 83rd Prince of Wales Stakes, the second jewel of Canada’s Triple Crown, but first here are some from the last week of racing:

CHIEFSWOOD STABLES continues to roll and what a surprising score by TIZ A SLAM in the Grade 2 Nijinsky Stakes on Sunday at 1 1/4 miles on turf. While it was a small field, Tiz a Slam, who recently led all the way to win the Dominion Day Stakes (G3) on July 1, had not run well on the grass in some time. It did not appear that he would get the lead to himself this weekend when moving to the grass, but the Tiznow – Flaming Star colt did indeed get the lead and he had just enough left to hold off Grade 1 winner MEKHTAAL, who was making his first start in 10 months. Tiz a Slam “paired up” his top Beyer Figures with a 96 in this race after a 97 in the Dominion day. Steve Bahen once again got away with the pace theft and Roger Attfield trains the colt.

Tiz a Slam’s share of the $175,000 purse helped the stable get closer to Gary Barber on the leading owners’ list.

Leading Owners at Woodbine by Purses:
Rank Owner Name (Starts 1st 2nd 3rd) Total $Win
1 Gary Barber (49 12 11 14) $1,115,132
2 Chiefswood Stable (65 11 10 10) $717,391
3 Bruno Schickedanz (79 26 11 9) $713,591
4 Sam-Son Farm (35 9 6 2)  $467,058
5 Stronach Stables (38 9 1 8) $411,378
6 Ivan Dalos (27 6 3 3)$356,899
7 Fitzhenry, Sean/Dorothy (9 2 1 2)$317,404
8 Live Oak Plantation (22 5 5 2) $270,283
9 Joey Gee Thoroughbreds (57 8 8 6) $233,987
10 Colebrook Farms (64 7 11 11) $211,344

 

TRAINER SID SADDLES 2000TH WINNER!

Hall of Fame horseman Sid Attard celebrated a significant milestone on Sunday at Woodbine Racetrack as he earned his 2,000th career training win.

The 67-year-old Brampton, Ont. resident reached the milestone mark with a victory in the afternoon’s ninth race courtesy of Martin Cherry’s maiden-breaking three-year-old filly Lady With Class ($5.50), who sprinted through along the rail and won by four lengths in 1:11.26 over six furlongs with Ademar Santos aboard.

Born in Malta, Attard followed the lead of his brothers, Joe and Tino, to pursue a career in horse racing when he moved to Canada and took out his trainer’s licence in 1977 at the age of 26.

Attard earned his first win with Scroll of Fame on April 1, 1977 at Greenwood and the 1980 Mazarine at Woodbine with two-year-old filly Lady Sheppard was the first of more than 100 stakes wins in his Hall of Fame career.

Attard, who has been a top trainer at Woodbine for decades, enjoyed a career-year for earnings in 2004 banking $3,844,401 in purses and posted a personal-best 78 wins in 2006. His trainees have earned more than $61.1 million in purses lifetime.

Among his top horses, Attard campaigned Sovereign Award winners Ginger Gold, One For Rose, Numerous Times and Interpol. Numerous Times upset the defending champion and Horse of The Year Quiet Resolve in the 2001 edition of the $1 million Atto Mile (Grade 1) at Woodbine. Interpol provided Attard with another Grade 1 highlight more recently, winning the Northern Dancer Turf Stakes in 2015.

Attard was inducted into the Canadian Horse Racing Hall of Fame in 2013 and the Brampton Sports Hall of Fame in 2011.

 

TOP 15 TRAINERS ALL-TIME BY WINS (Equibase)

1 Dale Baird 9,445 – $35,326,403
*2 Steven M. Asmussen – 8,099 – $286,797,599
*3 Jerry Hollendorfer – 7,481 – $192,858,412
*4 Jack C. Van Berg – 6,523 – $85,925,482
*5 King T. Leatherbury – 6,499 – $64,302,371
*6 Scott A. Lake – 5,926  – $114,277,912
*7 William I. Mott – 4,843 – $266,702,877
*8 D. Wayne Lukas – 4,805 – $278,900,928
9 Richard P. Hazelton – 4,745 – $40,769,382
*10 Todd A. Pletcher – 4,593 – $362,695,639
*11 Chris J. Englehart – 4,193 – $49,372,945
*12 Jeff C. Runco – 4,083 – $49,586,064
13 Frank H. Merrill, Jr. – 3,974 – $16,980,632
14 H. Allen Jerkens – 3,859 –  $103,754,915
*15 Gerald S. Bennett – 3,734 – $37,565,053

 

PRINCE OF WALES STAKES

Tuesday evening, Fort Erie Racetrack

Post time 7:40 p.m.

$400,000 1 3/16 miles dirt

1 – Wonder Gadot
2 – Absolution
3 – Cooler Mike
4 – Home Base
5 – Aheadbyacentury
6 – Eskiminzin

HOME BASE is back in the province where he was born, getting ready to contest the PRINCE OF WALES STAKES on Tuesday evening at Fort Erie. The son of Street Sense – Cast Call by A.P. Indy was bred by Christine and Jay Hayden and was bought for $190,000 at Keeneland September 2 years ago by Patricia’s Hope Inc. He won his maiden at Keeneland as a huge longshot and then posted a 92 Beyer Figure when he won at Churchill Downs at 7 furlongs. A bad stumble at the start of the Grade 3 Matt Winn last time seemed to ruin his day and he was last. Home Base was supplemented to the race for $12,500.

Home Base shipped in from Kentucky earlier this week and has been getting familiar with Fort Erie’s dirt track. “We put some pretty solid works in him before he came up, but we have had him out on the track to stretch his legs a little bit, and he handles it well,” said Dennis Fries, assistant trainer to Michael Tomlinson. “He does it very easily and he has a long stride. He has had a couple of unlucky races the two times we tried to run him in a longer race, but if he runs the way he did at Churchill and Keeneland earlier this year, he will be a tough horse.”

After conquering the Queen’s Plate with a 4 3/4 -length victory, wonder woman WONDER GADOT will be as low as odds can go in the 83rd running of the Wales. Gary Barber’s Medaglia D’Oro gal, 2nd in the Oaks before her big Plate win, is a graded stakes winner on the dirt. It appears the iron filly has this small group over a barrel.

The event will be televised from 7-8 p.m. on TSN 1, 3, 4 and 5 as part of the Canadian Triple Crown broadcast, sponsored by the Ontario Lottery and Gaming Corporation.

Two-time Prince of Wales Stakes winning jockey Constant Montpellier was the Draw Master for Friday’s post-position draw, which placed Wonder Gadot in post position one for the $400,000 stakes race. Along with Hall of Fame rider John Velazquez, Wonder Gadot is hoping to beat the boys again, as she takes on two of the horses she defeated earlier this summer in the Queen’s Plate.

The last filly to win the Prince of Wales Stakes was Dixie Strike in 2012. The last Queen’s Plate winner who went on to capture the Prince of Wales Stakes was Wando in 2003. Wando is also the most recent Canadian Triple Crown winner.

After finishing second in the Plate, AHEADBYACENTRURY is looking for a second chance to beat the filly, with jockey Luis Contreras who is seeking his third consecutive Prince of Wales win. Contreras, along with trainer John A. Ross and owners Jack of Hearts Racing & J.R. Racing Stables Inc., are looking for a repeat Prince of Wales victory after taking home the win with Cool Catomine last year.

The stakes race also includes COOLER MIKE with jockey Jesse Campbell in the irons. The duo placed third in the Queen’s Plate earlier this summer. ABSOLUTION and jockey Rafael Hernandez drew the second starting gate position, with 6-1 morning line odds.

The field is rounded out by the second of two supplemental entries, paying an additional $12,500 to enter the race. ESKIMINZIN, who won the Bold Ruckus Stakes on the turf at 6 furlongs last time, will start from the sixth post position with jockey Sheena Ryan. The Cold Harbor fellow will have the blinkers taken off for the Wales despite winning his latest.

MORE FORT ERIE NEWS – Doug Ford queried about return of Slots

 

ALBERTA – TIM RYCROFT SADDLES 6 WINNERS

Horse Racing Alberta’s Facebook page reported that trainer TIM RYCROFT could have set a Canadian record by saddling 6 winners on the 8-race card at Northlands Park on Saturday.

Tim kicked off the season with five wins on opening day, and he’s followed that up with another phenomenal day of racing.

One of his winners on Saturday was with Trooper John in the $50,000 Don Getty Handicap.

Rycroft’s winners came in the first with Blues Roar; the second with Super Cooper; the fourth with Command the Land (Rigo Sarmiento up); the sixth with Florist; the seventh with Trooper John (Rigo Sarmiento up); and the eighth with Trippi River Man (Rigo Sarmiento up).

Tim Rycroft’s father, Tom Rycroft, saddled the winner of Saturday’s fifth race, Supreme Rush (Rigo Sarmiento up).

Jockey Rigo Sarmiento is also making his mark on the jockey colony with four wins on the card.

 

 

 

COUNTRY BOY 123 BREWS UP ANOTHER WIN

108 Speed Index is remarkable on sloppy track

AJAX DOWNS, JULY 22, 2018 – Heavy rain early in the day gave way to clearing skies on Craft Brewery Day at Ajax Downs and fans flocked to the track to enjoy some suds and an exciting card of Quarter Horse racing.

Despite a very sloppy track, one of Canada’s fastest racehorses,, COUNTRY BOY 123 marched through the mud to win the $40,300 All Canadian Classic for the second consecutive year. The big bay 5-year-old, owned by Hillsburgh’s Ruth Barbour and ridden by Cory Spataro of Innsifil broke sharply and won by a length in near-track record time of :17.340, just off the 12-year-old record of :17.130.

His speed index was a whopping 108.

“When I saw him bucking and playing in the walking ring I knew he was ready to roll,” said Spataro, who has 20 victories to lead the Ajax jockey colony.

“He broke great out the gate and Countrys Comin Bac was right beside him but within two jumps he was on his way.”

Countrys Comin Bac, owned and trained by Whitby’s Ralph Pearson ran a big race to finish second, just edging the eight-year-old warrior One Famous Glass, trained by Bryn Robertson.

Country Boy 123, the 2016 and 2017 Horse of the Year, has won all four of his 2018 outings and is unbeaten at Ajax Downs in his last six starts.

His career totals stand at 15 wins from 23 starts with earnings of over $274,000.

Ruth Barbour, a vet and Thoroughbred owner, has Country Boy 123 at her small farm and home and rides him through the trails in in the paddocks between races.

Sunday was a big day for one of Ajax Downs’ most popular riders, Tony Phillips, who rode three of the eight winners on the card, and Erik and Joyce Lehtinen of Uxbridge owned and bred two of the winners on the card. The Lehtinen’s The Flash Drive, a homebred, won race 5 and their grey gelding Selective Memory won race 6.