RECORD WEEKEND

Some of Woodbine's best raced on the weekend and there are more to come.

Today's news includes a wrap of yesterday at Woodbine, Horse of the Year Arravale's bad luck, Queen's Plate poll at Woodbine, my new poll and so much other stuff I have to come back later and do more...

CHAMPIONLIKE PERFORMANCE

Oh yes, the Pick 7 carries over again

PALLADIO, the Florida-bred, champion 3-year-old in Canada from 2 years ago, got back into the winner’s circle for the first time since his big year in yesterday’s ECLIPSE HANDICAP at Woodbine, a Grade 3 race.

In turn, the son of Lycious – Goia set a track record for 1 1/16 miles – the very record that was set the day before in the Selene Stakes by BEAR NOW. His Beyer Figure of 101 matched his career best number.

Palladio had been hinting this year with rallies from far behind slow paces in races such as Keeneland’s Ben Ali Handicap, that he was ready to pop and yesterday he did just that with a huge move around the turn to blow past a gritty JUDITH’S WILD RUSH (a 3-time champion) to win by 2 ½ lengths in 1:43.

True Metropolitan, last year’s champion older horse, was another 1 ¼ lengths back in 3^rd while last year’s top 3yo colt, SHILLELAGH SLEW, lost again in 2007 and finished fourth.

Ben Ali Handicap winner JADE’S REVENGE finished last.

Palladio has won 6 of 16 starts and over $627,000 for Haras Santa Maria de Araras and trainer Roger Attfield. Rick Dos Ramos was the winning jockey.

On Monday’s card, more tough handicapping puzzles led to many results that were hard to come up with – and women jockeys (Emma-Jayne Wilson, Julia Brimo, Chantal Sutherland, Michelle Rainford) won a pile of races on the afternoon too.

The Pick 7 blew up again and is now up to $72,000 for Wednesday nights races. The bet has yet to be won in 2007.

Brimo, who was riding at Woodbine for the first time in ’07, guided longshot FEVERISH DREAM to her 3^rd consecutive win in the 4^th race for fillies at the $47,500 claiming class. The War Deputy miss was bred in Ontario by Joan Langmead and she is owned by Windways Farm and trained by Malcolm Pierce.

The very next race, first-timer PUGILISITIC won her career debut in a 7 furlong grass maiden allowance for fillies for owner/breeder George Strawbridge. The grey Canadian-bred is by Maria’s Mon out of La Macarena and she started from the rail post.

PALLADIO followed at 8 to 1 and the trainer Don Pleterski had SEASON STORM (Canadian bred by Bold Executive-Carrtowns Margaret) very ready to win his season debut in an Ontario-sired allowance race.

The 4-year-old has won 3 of 16 starts and over $175,000 in his career.

The final nail in the Pick 7 ticket was the win by 8 to 1 shot ARMED AND HAMMERED in the final leg, a maiden allowance for Ontario-sired boys.

The Clarity Stables homebred seems to be the first winner for the Bold Ruckus stallion CHINA RUCKUS, who won the Simcoe Stakes at Woodbine in 1998 for Linmac Farms.

Woodbine’s Polytrack, which had some wax added last weekend, is warming up quickly now and getting quite fast. Wait until tomorrow and Thursday when the temperature climbs to 30 Celcius…

Racing again tomorrow night – start studying that Pick 7 if you dare!

"SCORE" YOUR FAVOURITE PLATE

Check out THE SCORE show tomorrow night to watch Woodbine’s racing action and check out some good features along the way including the new QUEEN’S PLATE BATTLE ROYAL, where Plates from the last 20 years are going to be matched up in pairs, shown and then everyone can vote for their favourite on the Woodbine Plate microsite (see my links at the right).

The first round match-ups (drawn randomly) have been supplied to THOROUGHBLOG
– remember, go to the Plate website (www.queensplate.com), find the Battle Royal link
and vote for your favourite starting tomorrow.

Tomorrow’s matchups are half  of the "first round matchups" (20 years = 10 matchups). 

5 matchups from the first round will air on the 23rd, the other 5

matchups of the first round will air on the 30th.  5 semi-final 

matchups air on June 6th ("winners" of the first 5 vs. "winners" from the second).  5 finalists appear on the June 13th show.  Winner announced on June 20th show.

MAY 23RD MATCHUPS

1989 (WITH APPROVAL) VS. 1992 (ALYDEED)

1991 (DANCE SMARTLY) VS. 1999 (WOODCARVER)

1988 (REGAL INTENTION) VS. 1995 (REGAL DISCOVERY)

2000 (SCATTER THE GOLD) VS. 2004 (NIIGON)

1994 (BASQUEIAN) VS. 2002 (TJ'S LUCKY MOON)

ARRAVALE TO MISS NASSAU

Horse of the Year ARRAVALE (Arch) popped a splint and will miss her scheduled season debut in the Nassau Stakes on June 2.

The 4-year-old will now be pointed to the Dance Smartly Stakes at Woodbine on July 22 and the Beverly D. at Arlington Park the next month.

TWILIGHT METEOR GETS FINAL PLATE PREP TOMORROW

John Fort’s TWILIGHT METEOR (Smart Strike) competes in the Straight Deal Stakes tomorrow at Belmont on the grass as his final prep for the Plate on June 24.

The chestnut colt is in a field of 9 and is meeting arch rival Admiral Bird, who has beaten him twice.

The Meteor is the winterbook favourite for the Plate but after beginning the year with a win on the grass in the Hallandale Beach Stakes at Gulfstream, the colt has slipped off form.

Fort told THOROUGHBLOG that the colt simply did not the Polytrack at Turfway Park in his last start, the Lane’s End.

QUEEN’S PLATE CONTENDERS BUSY ON WEEKEND

Mountain Wolf put down

Champion 2-year-old of last year and 2^nd favourite for the Queen’s Plate in March in the winterbook odds, LEONNATUS ANTEAS worked a fast 1:00 yesterday morning on Polytrack for Knob Hill Stables and trainer Kevin Attard (2^nd fastest of 55) as he rushes to get ready for the Plate.

The Stormy Atlantic colt has never lost in his career, is extremely talented but has not raced this year and he is playing catch-up. The colt returned lame to the winner’s circle for two stakes races last year and was swimming during the winter before he went to Florida to start training.

The Plate lost a very good one when MOUNTAIN WOLF broke down after a workout on Sunday morning. The Stronach Stable's colt had a 91 Beyer Figure from his most recent start when 2nd. Mountain Wolf is the highest profile horse to break down on Polytrack this year.

Recent maiden winner (with a 91 Beyer Figure), MARCHFIELD worked in 1:00 2/5 on Sunday morning for trainer Mark Casse, owner Eugene Melnyk. Melnyk’s OTTAWA SENATORS are in the Stanley Cup final too.

Chiefswood Stable’s white-faced MARKDALE (Holy Bull) sizzled 5 furlongs in 59 2/5, a bullet, on Sunday.

Other workers of note include 2yo stakes winner of last year BARILKO, who went 6 furlongs in an incredible 1:12 on Sunday, this year’s stakes winner STRADIVINSKY went in :47, bullet, and last year’s highest priced yearling in Canada, BRODERICK (Hold that Tiger) went four furlongs in 50 2/5.

PACE MAKES THE RACE

Preakness interpretation

Selene leaves bad taste

Lots of interesting discussion on the Preakness on these pages (to the one anonymous writer – don’t stop reading Thoroughblog please!) and the pace. Certainly the pace analysis that was pointed out is valid and, as one who makes a living watching races and trying to decipher pace and race set-up, I remain of the opinion that jockey error was a major factor in Street Sense’s loss and maybe overconfidence was not what was at play, rather, a misjudged move. How many times have you seen a horse go full throttle, while widest (one of my favourite sayings) and win? Well Street Sense ran a 111 Beyer and lost by a whisker.

Also, in regards to pace, trainer READE BAKER is getting some heat for his comments post-Selene Stakes (grade 3) about his so-called rabbit (Bear Bullet Too) in Sunday’s race doing the job for Bear Now, the winner for Danny Dion’s Bear Stables.

Hmmm, perhaps a bit of a sticky issue as far as maybe Baker should not have said this on television – but hey, that’s what makes good TV and we love when horsepeople are just down-right honest on the TV, it’s a nice change.

Bear Bullet Too was 45 to 1 and I actually liked her a bit more ‘on paper’ because of the race she had run before that, so I would have been lured in to bet her and then probably quite annoyed that she was used to set the scorching pace.

Yes, a mistake on my part as a handicapper and those are the risks you take.

However, if the plan going into a race is to, for lack of a better phrase – ‘throw a race’ with a runner (let us all remember Craig Perret’s infamous chat after the Plate Trial Stakes on Peteski many years ago when he said to the press that the intention was just to give the horse a race and then he later was fined/suspended) then the public needs to know it or be protected from it.

SUVA COMING EAST FOR OAKS

Jeffrey Sangara’s SUVA, third in the Emerald Downs Stakes at Hastings Park on the weekend is reportedly coming to the Woodbine Oaks on June 10 and will be supplemented for $12,500.

The Vying Victor-La Belle Creole filly (the mare is by hot broodmare sire Ascot Knight) won 4 races last year as a 2yo and her best Beyer Figure is a 70.

The report in the Vancouver Sun today by Dennis Feser said owner Sengara (who won a race at Woodbine last weekend with Premium Saltine) said trainer Steve Henson deserved a shot and that the filly would have nowhere to race for almost 2 months at Hastings anyway.

Henson watched the Selene Stakes and told Feser that the fillies behind Kentucky-bred winner BEAR NOW, were “just average horses at best.”

It has been 19 years since Delta Colleen came from the west to race in the Oaks and she was 4^th to Tilt My Halo.

(notes in this story courtesy of the Vancouver Sun)

NEW POLL ON THOROUGHBLOG

Okay, so everyone voted for the result of the Preakness, let’s change things up a bit with the 3^rd poll to be on THOROUGHBLOG.

Do you think Woodbine racetrack (or your track) does enough to help new people get interested and learn about the sport of horse racing?

Feel free to make comments too – suggestions for your track perhaps?