GETTING OVER THE HUMP

(UPDATE) FROM THE DAILY RACING FORM

MONTPELLIER GET DAYS, ORC RULINGS STILL PENDING

By BILL TALLON
ETOBICOKE, Ontario - Constant Montpellier will serve a suspension of 12 calendar days and has been fined $2,500 following an appeal hearing at the Ontario Racing Commission offices this Monday and Tuesday.
Brent Stone, supervisor of Thoroughbred racing for the Ontario Racing Commission, said Montpellier's suspension began Tuesday.
Montpellier originally was suspended for 150 days and fined $5,000 by the stewards following a confrontation with fellow jockey Patrick Husbands here last Nov. 11.
The trouble began in the jockeys' room, where Husbands used his riding helmet as a weapon during a scuffle with Montpellier, and spilled onto the racetrack following the next race when Montpellier allegedly went after Husbands with his mount when the field was galloping out. Montpellier, who suffered a concussion in the jockeys' room incident, did not ride again last season.
His suspension was officially reduced to 60 calendar days following Monday and Tuesday's proceedings but he was credited with 28 days for the time he missed through the balance of the meeting last fall and 20 days are being stayed pending the successful completion of a six-month probationary period.
Husbands, who originally had been suspended for 60 days and fined $5,000, had his fine cut to $2,500 and his suspension reduced to five days and stayed pending the completion of a successful probationary period at his appeal hearing last week.
Editor's Note: In conversations with others, perhaps the Ontario Racing Commission believes that what occurs in the jockeys room ( a la Husbands hitting Montpellier on the head with his helmet) does not equate to what happens on the track (Montpellier alleging using his horse as a weapon)...while we STILL wait for the Prince of Wales ruling, perhaps these rulings will be out someday soon too..

(Wed. update) REPLAYS COULD HIT WOODBINE WEBSITE SOON

A Woodbine spokesperson told THOROUGHBLOG that Woodbine replays could be on the "new site" for Woodbine (not sure if they meant the Woodbine site or the Horseplayer Interactive site) in a month, at least in a 'beta' form. I assume this means in a testing stage.

Note, though, you must be an HPI account holder to access them it seems.

Stay tuned or go to Calracing like others have been doing...

(update) AND ANGEL MAKES SIX

A little field of six has been entered for Saturday's $125,000 Woodstock Stakes at 6 furlongs for 3-year-olds - one was supplemented and one is a maiden.

LIKE MOM LIKE SONS, owned and co-bred by Howard Walton's Norsemen racing Stable and trained by Sid Attard, will be odds on - like 3 to 5 or lower - to win the dash. The undefeated colt beat older runners in his season debut.

ANGEL OF THE HOUSE, an impressive winner of his season debut, was supplemented to the race at a cost of $2,500 by owners Dave Cotey, Derek Ball, Hugh Galbreaith and Greg Peacock. Queen's Plate eligible DANCER'S BAJAN makes his 2007 debut in the Woodstock and will start from post 1. The field is completed by quick maiden True Resurgence, Bear Stables' Forbidden Bear, a winner of his Woodbine return and Carysfort Light complete the field.

BIG FIELDS ARE HERE

Friday’s card at Woodbine, the 9th of the young season, has finally seen the entry box bulge – even if the class of races are mostly the lower end of the scale.
Over 100 horses are entered in 9 races and trainer ABRAHAM KATRYAN has horses in 6 of the races. Among those is stakes winner QUICK IN DEED (Alydeed), who is in the featured 3rd race, an allowance/optional claiming race at 5 furlongs. Quick In Deed is entered for the $60,000 claiming price after a 3rd place finish in the prep for the Jacques Cartier Stakes on opening day at Woodbine.
The 3rd race is a wild one since most of the guys in the field are super-strong speedballs. Trainer Nancy Triola has LAPTOP COMPUTER in town from New York. The 4yo colt was stakes placed as a 3yo last year (2nd to new Roger Attfield trainee Likely in the Lafayette Stakes at Keeneland last April) and he comes off a pair of 90 Beyer Figures at Aqueduct.
The very fast geldings SONOMA STORM (2nd for $50K last time) and IMPERIAL ALYDEED (season debut) join another fast one OROZCO (with red-hot jockey Eurico Rosa Da Silva) and the 3yo DILLON SAID, who has won at 4 ½ furlongs.
While that race is a handicapping puzzle of total extremes, there are other tough races to decipher on what is a super betting card

The LATE DOUBLE is made up of two maiden races for fillies. The 8the race ($40,000 claiming) features a filly by Notebook out of the very popular Woodbine mare PRESS EXCLUSIVE, who was very fast and loved to win races. Her name is MOMENT OF ZEN and she is making her career debut.
Class dropping KNIGHTS END makes her 2007 debut for Bruno Bros. in the same race and betting favourites will include LUV A MARINE (2nd for MSW in her opener) and WHISPER LOUDLY from the hot Ralph Biamonte Stable.

The finale is a maiden allowance race for Ontario-sired gals and the well bred EXECUTIVE MIST (Bold Executive) comes off a smart debut outing when she chased the more experienced Piece of the Pie on April 6. She is trained by Wray Lawrence for Barlee Farms.
Also in the field is the very expensive filly GALIPETTE, who wintered in Florida and is quick and fit and the beginner HEART OF A QUEEN (Kiridashi), who has been working quickly for Bobby and Candace Pion.


IN ACTION TODAY

FEATHERED DIAMOND (1O to 1), race 9 Keeneland, is the lone Canadian-bred racing at Keeneland today. The A.P. Indy filly was an Oaks/Plate contender last spring but was injured in her 3rd career start in May.

Tomorrow at Keeneland – SHOTEKA, DAAHER (Race 4, maiden allowance beginners)
Stakes winner Boldly Seductive (5th)
American-breds Angel on Watch (Race 7), Skip Code

Friday – Sam-Son’s SAIL FROM SEATTLE (won his maiden off a year-long layoff at Fair Grounds), allowance race at ‘about’ 7 furlongs

KEENELAND 2YO SALE

Highlights from the KEENELAND 2yo sale yesterday included a splash by first-year sire MINESHAFT, who sired, among other high priced babies, a $1,750,000 sale topper. Also, the filly ONE HOT WISH, who set a world record over the Keeneland super-highway in her debut last week, was not sold for $300,000 after being supplemented to the sale and brought in first. Apparently buyers were concerned about some sort of leg issue with the daughter of Bring the Heat.
Lowlights? Almost a 50% buy back rate. Ouch.
Canadian action was limited. Danny Dion from the BEAR STABLES, paid quite a few bucks for two youngsters. One is a colt by Empire Maker out of the Southern Halo mare Venusberg, a group 1 winner in Argentina. He cost $280,000. The other was a $125,000 colt by Dixie Union (a favourite sire of Dion’s) out of the unraced Bertrando mare Toe in the Water (a full sister to Grade 2 winner Queenie Belle).

THE COBRA HAS PLATE TRIAL ON AGENDA

The third favourite for the Queen’s Plate, COBRADOR (El Prado) will make one more start in Kentucky before (if all goes well) a trip to Toronto for the Plate Trial Stakes in early June.
The grey colt was recently purchased by Graph Racing, an investors group comprised of Jerry Brown (Thoro Grahp sheets) and Roger Neubauer.
Neubauer told THOROUGHBLOG yesterday that Cobrador was purchased with the Plate in mind.
“We saw that he was one of the early favourites for the Plate and he had a couple of decent (speed) figures from his Turfway races,” said Neubauer.
The colt will race in an allowance event during Kentucky Derby week or the Crown Royal American Turf Stakes that same week.
Cobrador, bred by Adena Springs, was recently on the edges in the Transylvania Stakes at Keeneland on the grass. He is trained by Paul McGee but Neubauer said a decision on who would train the colt in Canada had yet to been made.
Edward Freeman trained a filly for Graph Racing at Woodbine last year – Quippi.
There are approximately 10 investors in Cobrador, who was originally a $40,000 yearling purchase.

CANADIAN-BRED WATCH
‘Cardinal’ flies

Temple Webber Jr.’s DA CARDINAL (Pulpit-Lochlin), previously trained b y Woodbine’s Josie Carroll, won an allowance race at Mountaineer on Monday and scorched 6 furlongs in 1:11 3/5, resulting in an eye-popping 96 Beyer Figure.
It was the first win of the season for Da Cardinal, who is trained by Tom Amoss.

At Keeneland yesterday, trainer Roger Attfield’s Queen’s Plate eligibles INCLUDE US and OURTIMETODANCE each worked four furlongs in the gate with the latter going 5 lengths faster in :50. The latter also exits a much faster split of a maiden special weight race at Keeneland last week, a race that Attfield said he could barely see for the snow flurries that fell. Attfield’s champion PALLADIO worked 5 furlongs in 1:02.

Little ones new on the scene include fleet, stakes winning mare NASHINDA’S first foal, a chestnut colt, by A.P. INDY, born at Windfields on…Friday the 13th of April! Nashinda is a sister to Queen’s Plate winner Archers Bay.

(AT LEFT) A filly from the first crop of DANCE WITH RAVENS (A.P. Indy- Dance Smartly) was born on April 10 at Windfields. The miss is out of Nakoda and is owned by Mr. and Mrs. R. Campbell. (photo courtesy of Windfields Farm)




CANADIAN HORSE RACING HALL OF FAME NEWS

The Canadian Horse Racing Hall of Fame is a hive of activity these days…catch up on the latest news at this link…
http://www.harnesslink.com/www/Article.cgi?ID=50386


WOODBINE STAKES THIS WEEKEND

We've already one reader correctly guess why last weekend's stake was named the WHIMSICAL (first filly to win the Preakness)...what is Saturday's first 3yo stakes race, the WOODSTOCK, named after?