Wednesday news – Breeders’ Stakes offers big purse, race theme is quantity over quality,,Sutherland family scores big at Woodbine and then Chantal S gets whip fine…STRAIT OF DOVER, done for year, ouch..Saratoga steaming up…more and more!
SAMMY MAUDLIN, a rising star on the grass? Likely to be supplemented to Breeders’ Stakes Sunday – photo from C Day Phillips website
BREEDERS’ STAKES POSSIBLE FIELD
The retirement of STRAIT OF DOVER for the year has opened the door to a wide range of 3yo, Canadian-breds racing for $500,000 on Sunday in the Breeders’ Stakes, the 3rd jewel of Canada’s Triple Crown.
‘Dover had some suspensory issue and will try a 2013 comeback. Meanwhile, DIXIE STRIKE, the Prince of Wales winning filly, was already at Saratoga for a possible run in the prestigious ALABAMA STAKES, but she was sent back to Woodbine and will contest the 1 1/2 mile Breeders’ on turf.
The filly won the Florida Oaks on grass this winter.
Dixie Strike and Patrick Husbands will contend for favoritism once again, along with rival IRISH MISSION and perhaps recent turf winner ALDOUS SNOW. It is most likely that Dixie will be favoured at about 2 to 1.
Many fillies have won the Breeders’ but none since 2011 when SWEETEST THING won. Roger Attfield has won 7 Breeders’, more than any other trainer, and he has the maiden DRAGON TAIL in the race.
Longtime Euro-jock KIERAN FALLON will be in town to ride a Stronach Stables’ maiden by the name of BIG KICK. The son of Tiznow is a Canadian-bred who has been in Maryland with 17% trainer Jose Corrales.
The SCTV skit, The Sammy Maudlin show often featured John Candy as “William B Williams’. Joe Flaherty was Sammy Maudlin, the host – horse Sammy Maudlin is owned by SCTV fans Sean and Dorothy Fitzhenry
POSSIBLE FIELD – WITH COMMENTS
Aldous Snow/Malcolm Pierce/Sam-Son Farm/Eurico Rosa da Silva
*Well regarded at 2, he got back in the winning groove with his turf allowance win last time over last year’s Breeers’ Stakes winner MIAMI DECO (an older horse) – big shot
Big Kick/Jose Corrales/Stronach Stables/Kieren Fallon
*Maiden was 2nd in his grass debut at Monmouth last time but has been losing ground in the late stages of his races
Dixie Strike/Mark Casse/John Oxley/Patrick Husbands
*Thought this gal, with her new blinkers, was vulnerable in Fort Erie, she won, won;t argue with anywhere she is going to run, she’s good
Dragon Tail/Roger Attfield/Alchemy Stable/Richard Dos Ramos
*He’s a maiden bred by Stronach and he had an 8th place ifnisher behind Sammy Maudlin last time
Irish Mission/Mark Frostad/Robert Evans/Alex Solis
*Oaks winner did not take to the dirt, loves grass
Peyton/Mike Doyle/Windhaven/TBA
*13th beaten 25 in the Plate after rough trip, so-so grass debut last Aug. 4. would be a surprise
Quaesitor/Ian Howard/Wayward Stables/Emma-Jayne Wilson
*dreadful trip in the ‘Wales, up and comer with limited grass breeding
Sammy Maudlin/Catherine Day Phillips/Sean & Dorothy Fitzhenry/Jesse Campbell
*fast improving guy has had 3 starts, won at 9 furlongs on turf last time, interesting
Seen It All Before/Ashlee Brnjas/Colebrook Farms/Luis Contreras
*Ran an 84 Beyer when he won on the grass in season debut, lost as big fave on Poly last time
*Street Fight/Michael Keogh/Dogwood Stable/Jermaine Bridgmohan
*Another maiden, he woke up with close 2nd last time for claiming on grass
Ultimate Destiny/Michael Keogh/Brenda Selwyn-Waxman/Steven Bahen
*Nice horse, huge effort in ‘Wales, some grass breeding, respecting him
Wilcox/Josie Carroll/Melnyk Racing Stables Inc./Justin Stein
*2nd to Miami Deco (last year’s Breeders’ winner) in older horse event July 14
FORT ERIE RESPONDS TO OHRIA PLAN
James Culic for NiagaraThisWeek
Racing industry releases roadmap to future
OHRIA plan assumes closure of Fort Erie track
The Ontario Horse Racing Industry Association has released its roadmap for the future of live racing, but the plan appears to leave the local track out in the cold.
With the closure of the slots facility, and exclusion from Ontario’s new gaming zones, the OHRIA said they had to “assume that the Government would only support one Thoroughbred race track.”
“Are we surprised? No,” said Fort Erie Live Racing Consortium’s general manager Jim Thibert. “Is it outrageous? Absolutely. We’re disappointed, but really, we expected nothing less.”
The roadmap, called the ‘Plan for the Future’ was unanimously approved by the OHRIA board of directors last week and has been sent along to the province’s horse racing transition panel.
The problem, according to Thibert, is the makeup of the board, which is controlled almost entirely by members from the Woodbine track. He said it’s “ludicrous” to have 16 of the 18 board seats controlled by Woodbine.
“What we’re looking at is the arrogance of Woodbine, and how it’s creeping through the control mechanisms to exert its influence over the OHRIA and the Horsemen’s Benevolent Protective Association,” said Thibert.
In the new plan, the OHRIA calls for a reduced number of live racing dates for the 2013 season. It proposes dropping the number of thoroughbred races from the current 243 down to 167, and bringing the total number of races down from 1,540 to just 797.
The plan also refers to Fort Erie as a “B level” track and Woodbine as an “A level” track.
http://www.niagarathisweek.com/news/article/1434598–racing-industry-releases-roadmap-to-future
WONDER-FULL
Sutherland family celebrates Awesome win, jock fined #3,000
AWESOME FIRE came from far back and won the 3rd jewel of the Triple Tiara at Woodbine, the Wonder Where Stakes, giving owner Hugh Sutherland his biggest win as an owner. The chestnut filly, trained by Nick Gonzalez and ridden by Sutherland’s sister Chantal, was 8 to 1 and making her first ever start on the grass.
She took to it with fair and reeled a lot of pace runners who simply could not deal with the 10 furlong distance.
Chantal Sutherland, who came into town for the one race and is back to do Conan O’Brien for tomorrow night, got stung by the stewards right after the race, however. It seems she forgot the whip rules in Canada and had blew past the 3 consecutive strikes rule a couple of times so she was tagged $3,000 or 20% of her share of the purse.
She had the whip with her in post race celebrations and reportedly will give it to the Hall of Fame for auction next month. She had her husband Ron with her in the post race festivities.
AWESOME FIRE was an RNA at the 2010 yearling sale for $7,000. She was bred by John Brown and is by Strong Contender out of Awesome Lass, making her a half sister to yearling sales stakes winner Secret Wish.
AWESOME FIRE PROFILE SHOT (WITH PREVIOUS RIDER EMMA-JAYNE WILSON on board)
Cindy Pierson Dulay/www.horse-races.net photo
MORE FROM SUNDAY
ROXY GAP was the day’s fastest winner with a 93 Beyer Figure for her stirring win in the Royal North Stakes. This is a super duper turf sprinter who has won 3 GRADED STAKES races this season on Poly and turf. She is certainly well on her way to being the year’s top female sprinter. She is a homebred for Eugene Melnyk and she was the 3rd stakes winner for the Mark Casse barn on the weekend.
HUNTERS BAY in Grade 1 Whitney
stay tuned for updates on Hunter as the race nears!
http://www.drf.com/news/saratoga-notes-hunters-bay-relative-unknown-going-whitney
STRONACH’S HORSE EXCHANGE CANCELLED
The chance to buy a share in a racehorse is no longer available…
Wall street Journal Report:
By LYNN COWAN
For $100 and a dream, horseman Frank Stronach hoped to bring to the average investor the thrill of guiding a racehorse to the winner’s circle.
But his vision to launch a set of initial public offerings that would allow everyday fans to back thoroughbreds never got out of the gate. The racing-business veteran recently pulled the plug on the plan, six months after filing papers with the Securities and Exchange Commission. His company cited tough markets in scrapping the deal.
“We got feedback, and we understand how the market conditions are,” said Mike Pilmer, executive vice president of Stronach Group, which organized the offering. “We’ve taken time to digest that feedback and have assessed alternatives from a financing perspective.”
The failure underscores the challenges of guiding a relatively small operation to the public markets, particularly one tied to a struggling industry such as horse racing.
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10000872396390444840104577553072124567282.html?mod=rss_whats_news_us
ROSBERG – news from Thoroughbred Times
yes, stallion’s first winner is named Dog
Swift Thoroughbreds’ Dog won his career debut on Sunday at Hastings Race Course, taking a maiden claiming race by 2¾-lengths and becoming the first winner for Grade 3 winner and British Columbia-based sire Rosberg (video).
The dark bay or brown gelding covered about six furlongs in 1:14.29 on a fast track. He is out of second winner out of the unraced Awesome Again mare Sweetheart Rose.
Rosberg, an 11-year-old by A.P. Indy out of European champion Bosra Sham, by Woodman, stands at Canmor Farms in Aldergrove, British Columbia. He has 19 two-year-olds in his first crop.
Rosberg won five times from 17 starts in four seasons of racing, highlighted by a win in the 2008 Premier’s Stakes (Can-G3) at Hastings.
