QUEEN’S PLATE – WOODBINE OAKS ACTION HEATING UP
Low horse population has led to small stakes- prep fields
Speedy Soul shown winning the Muskoka Stakes as a juvenile. The Souper Speedy filly won this year’s Fury Stakes and worked fast on May 24 for her date in the Oaks June 8 Michael Burns photo
Tomorrow will mark just two weeks until the biggest Canadian-bred 3-year-old filly race of the year, the $500,000 WOODBINE OAKS at 1 1/8 miles on the Tapeta track.
As tracks of all racing breeds struggle more than ever with horse population (Delaware Park has cancelled two days of racing due to lack of entries and Ontario tracks Ajax Downs and Dresden have had trouble filling races), the stakes races at Woodbine have had very small fields. That includes the stakes events that are traditionally used as stepping stones to the Canadian classics, the Oaks and the June 29 Queen’s Plate.
The Grade 3 Selene Stakes, the 1 1/16 mile open race that tends to serve as an Oaks ‘prep’ had just a field of 5 and only two Oaks nominees.
Saturday’s Grade 3 Marine Stakes, also at 1 1/16 miles and the penultimate major prep for the Plate (before the Plate Trial) also has just five starters and just a single Canadian-bred/Plate nominee.
The Plate Trial, to be held on Oaks day figures to draw a slightly bigger field of Plate hopefuls who have been racing in the US or in local allowance races.
In OAKS NEWS, the sizzling hot MARK CASSE barn has at least four contenders and three of them finished 1-2-3 in the 7 furlong Fury Stakes.
Moving from 7 furlongs to 9 furlongs will be the trick for some of the fillies coming out of the Fury Stakes.
SPEEDY SOUL worked 5 furlongs Friday morning in 59 1/5 at Woodbine won the Fury from just off the pace and has never traveled a route distance. The filly is by Souper Speedy, who did win at a route distance in his racing career and her dam is by long distance specialist Perfect Soul.
Speedy Soul is owned by Joe Guerrieri’s Joey Gee Thoroughbreds and he also owns a share of HASTALAVISTABABY, a Drosselmeyer filly he bought for $9,000 at the CTHS sale. This gal was second in a 1 1/16 mile stakes race last fall and closed fast in the Fury, besting WESTERN CURL, a Curlin filly also trained by Casse for Chiefswood Stables.
Out of town, Sam-Son farms’ DESERT RIDE recently worked 6 furlongs on grass at Churchill Downs in 1:19 and she has won two of three starts for trainer Neil Howard.
PREFERRED GUEST, owned by Nancy Guest, was a good second in the Selene, beating out favoured Bold Script for that placing.
In PLATE NEWS, SKYWIRE will be favoured to take the Marine on Saturday, race 3. The Afleet Alex colt, owned by Loui Tucci and trained by, you guessed it, Mark Casse, won the Wando Stakes with an 88 beyer Speed Figure and is currently a clear second choice in the Plate Top 10 (see below).
AVIE’S FLATTER, the Coronation Futirty- Cup & Saucer winner last year who won the Grade 3 Transylvania Stakes on turf at Keeneland and then was sixth in the American Turf at Churhill, continues ot be a strong Plate favourite for owner Ivan dalos.
The Flatter colt, trained by 2-time Plate winner Josie carroll, worked a fabulous 5 furlongs at Woodbine on May 18 in 58 4/5.
KICKIN GRASS: The good news for Woodbine as far as field size is concerned is that TURF RACING returns Friday (today) on the E.P. Taylor turf course and the inner turf course could be open in the next couple of weeks.
Preferred Guest – Woodbine photo
The WOODBINE OAKS looks a bit like this on a very preliminary Thoroughblog Top 10 list:
HASTALAVISTABABY – 2nd Fury Stakes – Mark Casse for team Valor, Gary Barber, Joey Gee
DESERT RIDE – winner – Sam-Son Farms
PREFERRED GUEST – 2nd Selene – Nancy Guest, tr- Mark Casse
BOLD SCRIPT – 3rd Selene – Stuart Simon for Chiefswood
TIZ BREATHTAKING – stakes winner – Windhaven, tr- Mike Doyle
SPEEDY SOUL – Fury Stakes – Mark Casse, Joey Gee
WESTERN CURL – 3rd Fury Mark Casse for Chiefswood
LADY AZALEA – 3rd allowance race Tr- Roger Attfield
NOTICE ME- winner this season Tr- Catherine Day Phillips
CIURI – sprint winner Tr Robert Tiller
The QUEEN’S PLATE TOP 10 (which can be found on the home page of Thoroughblog looks like this:
1. Avie’s Flatter
2. Skywire
3. One Bad Boy
4. Federal Law
5. He’s a Macho Man
6. Jammin Still
7. Tone Broke
8. Dun Drum
9. Hastalavistababy
10. Desert Ride
HASTINGS PARK – SOVEREIGN AWARD NOMINEE ‘HANNAH’ RETURNS
Here’s Hannah, BC’s 2018 Horse of the Year – Four Footed Photos – Hastings Park
Once-beaten HERE’S HANNAH (Numaany – Dreams Start here by A Fleets Dancer) makes her 4-year-old debut Saturday at Hastings Park. The B.C 2018 Horse of the Year was a finalist for the Sovereign Award for Champion 3yo filly.
On Sunday at Hastings,PITCH COUNT (Eskendereya) is a lukewarm favourite for the George Royal Stakes. The 7-time winner was recently claimed for $50,000 by North American Thoroughbred Horse Company and comes off a narrow loss with an 88 Beyer Speed Figure.
SATURDAY – SIXTH RACE Probable Post 4:28 PDT
6 1/2 Furlongs. 3-Year-Olds and Up. Fillies and Mares. Vancouver Sun Stakes. Purse: $50,000
PP HORSE PR. RIDER WT. COMMENTS ML.ODDS
1 Here’s Hannah Hamel R 123 5-2
5 Oxhilirating Saunders R 118 3-1
3 Good Luck to You Gonzalez E A 120 7-2
2 Sailingforthesun Perez A 118 4-1
6 Yukon Belle Reyes A A 116 9-2
4 Toni Ann’s Miracle Williams S 120 10-1
SUNDAY – SIXTH RACE Probable Post 4:29 PDT
6 1/2 Furlongs. 3-Year-Olds and Up. George Royal Stakes. Purse: $50,000
PP HORSE PR. RIDER WT. COMMENTS ML.ODDS
3 Pitch Count Velazquez D 121 7-2
6 Weekend Wizard Hamel R 121 4-1
2 Apalachee Bay Perez A 121 9-2
1 Awhitesportscoat Gonzalez E A 119 5-1
4 Driller Reyes A A 124 6-1
7 Highway Boss Velazquez D 117 6-1
5 Pan Handle Williams S 121 8-1
The Voice of Hastings
Congratulations to longtime Hastings Park track announcer and handicapper DAN JUKICH who was inducted into the BC Sports Hall of Fame this week!
ASSINIBOIA DOWNS – SILVA AND CRUZ LEAD TRAINERS AND JOCKEYS
by Ivan Bigg – Insider newsletter
After four days of live racing, the Silva-Cruz duo has emerged as the team to beat (or bet). Juan Pablo Silva leads trainers with seven wins, a 33 per cent win clip and Alex Cruz heads jockeys with five wins, all of them on Silva horses, a 28 per cent win clip.
Silva horses have won both stakes: his Settle Down Eileen at juicy odds of 10-1 won the Preservata (with Richard Mairs aboard) and Hot Rodin the Magic D’ Oro with Cruz.
Silva comes off a good season at ASD last year when his horses won 20 of 90 starts or 22 per cent and he continued to rack up the wins at Turf Paradise with 36 wins from 186 starts or 19 per cent. Cruz, who is new to the Downs, was one of Silva’s go-to riders at Turf Paradise. He had 30 wins from 341 starts, a nine per cent win clip.
Will they continue to dominate as local horses become more fit? Silva has a good-sized stable with 27 horses registered so far. Seven more are on the way and two babies require tattooing before officially joining his stable. So watch out! He’s on track to win one of four starts–or better.
CENTURY MILE – RUFFENUFF BACK IN WINNER’S CIRCLE
Ruffenuff won the $50,000 Jetset Stakes at Century Mile on Victoria Day and is now a stakes winner at age 2 3 and 5. She is a daughter of Dailed In – Horse Racing Alberta Photo – Century Mile
STORY BY CURTIS STOCK – Now that’s more like it. Ruffenuff hadn’t won a single race in Alberta since the summer of 2017 when she wired the field by the easiest two and three-quarters of a length in the Northlands Oaks. Then nearly two years later came Monday’s holiday card’s $50,000 JetSet Handicap at Century Mile. Laying just off the pace set by stablemate C U At Eau Claire, the real Ruffenuff showed up like a guy with a stetson crashing through the swinging doors of a saloon.
Lapping onto the side of C U at Eau Claire – jockey Dane Nelson curled up on her back like a cat on a sofa – Ruffenuff moved to take the lead at the too of the lane and wasn’t about to relinquish it even if you had built a brick wall in her path.
“It was very easy,” said Nelson. “She’s a very classy filly. I tried to rate her as much as I could. Then she really ran fast the last two furlongs.” Ruffenuff won by a comfortable length. C U at Eau Claire finished second. Raider, also trained by Tracy, ran third giving him the 1-2-3 trifecta.
CALIFORNIA HORSE RACING BOARD MEETING TENSION-FILLED
Jockey Norberto Arroyo rankles crowd with comments (see second link below)
JOHN CHERWA – LOS ANGELES TIMES
The agenda of the May meeting of the California Horse Racing Board was generally filled with routine procedural matters, leaving center stage to the heightened, and at times, hyperbolic rhetoric over what should be the future of horse racing in California.
The public comment part of Thursday’s meeting lasted almost 1 hour, 15 minutes with 21 people allowed up to three minutes each to speak their mind. Eleven of the people, including several self-proclaimed animal rights activists, made emotional appeals to end horse racing in the state, citing the 25 deaths that have occurred at Santa Anita since Dec. 26.
Ten speakers spoke on behalf of racing, often citing the care that thoroughbreds receive and newly instituted changes that are making the sport safer.
Watch CBS video coverage of the meeting here.
Undefeated SATURNALIA favoured for 2nd leg of Japanese Triple Crown
Japanese Derby stands out as one of racing’s big events
BY ADRIAN WEBBER
It’s the 86th running of the Japanese Derby (or the Tokyo Yushun as it’s known in Japan) this coming Sunday, and the race will be run at Tokyo Racecourse in Fuchu, just a short distance away from the hustle and bustle of the city center, although that hustle and bustle will be shifting to Fuchu, and taking on a different look.
The Derby is one of the greatest races on the Japanese horse racing calendar, and attendance figures on the day invariably top the 100,000 mark. It represents the second leg of the Triple Crown, after the Satsuki-sho (or Japanese 2,000 Guineas) earlier in the spring, and the final race of the series in autumn, the Kikka-sho (or Japanese St. Leger).
