HARD TO COMPUTE

Poachers Moon was a last minute entrant in the Prince of Wales so a field of 6 is set for Sunday's race at Fort Erie.

The Toronto Thoroughbred Racing Club met last night at Woodbine and got to hear some interesting analysis of the Polytrack from jockey Robbie King Jr., who recently had a fairly serious eye injury from the Polytrack surface.
When it rains and the Poly gets wet, that is when the surface is pristine it seems. Does that mean it needs to be watered every day and after every race?

Thanks to readers for your input and intelligent comments. Under 'Wale Posting' yesterday, several remarked about trainers on TV - thank you to Mr. Gostlin for his comment that was right on the mark.

MORE TROT FOR FOX
Wales draws 6

It took every last ounce of strength for Mike Fox and jockey Emma-Jayne Wilson to get up and win the Queen’s Plate at Woodbine three weeks ago.
Now the pair must be re-charged and ready to beat a well matched group of five rivals in Sunday’s Prince of Wales Stakes at Fort Erie, the second jewel of Canada’s Triple Crown.
And while the Plate was run over Woodbine’s synthetic Polytrack surface, the Prince of Wales is contested at 1 3/16 miles over a traditional dirt surface.
The top four finishers in the Plate plus Marchfield, sixth in the Plate, and newcomer Poachers Moon, will race for the $300,000 winner’s share.
Ian Black, trainer of Mike Fox, believes his colt has rebounded energy-wise well enough to keep his edge over his fellow 3-year-olds.
“He really seems to have (bounced back),” said Black, who trains the colt for owner Morgan Firestone of Ancaster, Ontario. “You don’t really know until they race again but he’s training relaxed and feeling good.”
In order to get his colt accustomed to the Fort Erie dirt, Black sent the colt to the border oval last Sunday for a five-furlong workout.
“He handled the shipping by van fine and he worked well in 1:00 3/5.”
The colt returned to his Woodbine base after the prep and will head back there on Sunday morning.
Mike Fox drew post position five yesterday in a luncheon at Fort Erie.
The biggest concern Black has for his colt’s success in the Wales is race strategy.
“This is going to be a real jockey’s race,” said Black. “I wouldn’t want to them go really slowly the first part because they might run away from us in the stretch.”
“I’d really like to see an honest pace but I’m not really sure how that is going to happen. Emma will just have to figure out what to do.”
Trainer Roger Attfield, who won the Prince of Wales two years ago with longshot Ablo, entered outsider Poachers Moon at the last minute. The Harlequin Ranches homebred did not compete in the Plate but won his maiden race in his last start in fast time.
Chantal Sutherland, one of two women jockeys in the Wales field, will ride Poachers Moon.

PRINCE OF WALES FIELD

72nd PRINCE OF WALES STAKES; Sunday July 15; Fort Erie racetrack; Purse $500,000; winner's share $300,000; 3-year-olds; foaled in Canada; 2nd jewel of Canadian Triple Crown; 1 3/16 miles; post time 4:48 p.m. (can be seen on The Score at 4:48 p.m.)

THE FIELD

Post Horse Jockey Trainer Odds

1 MARCHFIELD Patrick Husbands Mark Casse 8-1
2 JIGGS COZ Sid Attard David Clark 5-2
3 POACHERS MOON Chantal Sutherland Roger Attfield 15-1
4 DAAHER Mike Luzzi K. McLaughlin 6-1
5 MIKE FOX Emma-Jayne Wilson Ian Black 9-5
6 ALEZZANDRO Todd Kabel Kevin Attard 2-1


updated....WEDNESDAY NIGHT AT WOODBINE

So many puzzling results last night at Woodbine – at least from this vantage point.
And sad news from the Daryl Ezra barn - the van carrying his two entrants last night broke down and the filly Janes Exception hurt herself when she got upset and was later euthanized at Guelph University. Awesome Dancing subsequently missed his Lasix shot and had to be scratched.

Trainer HENRY WHALEN won his first race of the meeting when JUICED (unfortunate name for these days) rallied from behind a rapid pace to win the 3rd race for $11,500 claiming, 3yo fillies.
Juiced, a Kentucky-bred, was 14 to 1.
It was a good night for Dr. John Brown’s Spring Farm as co-owner and breeder of STONETOWN, who won the first race by almost 6 lengths, an allowance event for Ontario sired fellows. Stonetown is by Elajjud, the late Spring Farm stallion.
Spring Farm also bred AIR FARCE (THOROUGHBLOG’S best bet of the night, see yesterday’s post), who rallied from 11th to win the 1 1/16 mile turf race for $40,000 claiming – race 4.

WALLSTREETCORREDOR was bet ‘off the board’ in race 5 for Klaravich Stable and trainer Nancy Triola and the gelding won his maiden impressively. The Kentucky bred had never hit the top three placings in 6 starts in New York and elsewhere and on turf and dirt but he was plunging in class and taking off the blinkers.

A big upset occurred in race 6 when MARTIN’S BAY, at 2 to 5, lost for the 3rd time in her 3rd start. The Eugene Melnyk homebred, who has not been second in all of her races, “did not rate kindly” according to the Equibase chart and indeed, when she made her move on the leaders on the last turn, she flattened out. Billy Wine’s homebred PLAY MIZZTY FOR ME won the race after forcing the pace much of the way in the 1 1/16 mile race.

Looks gave away FLEET KRIS in the last leg of the Pick 4. She had her neck bowed in post parade for the $16,000 maiden claiming race, had a covered up trip just off the pace and then dashed through fillies to win. (Trainer Julia Carey, a very capable conditioner, is the subject of a readers comment yesterday). The filly is a Florida bred by Northern Afleet.

And the evening’s final event was simply hard to decipher – before and after – with older guys for $12,500 claiming sprinting. And, 3 lengths separated the first 8 finishers!
A tough pace duel didn’t hurt the speed runners as FANTOM EXECUTIVE battled all the way in his 3rd race off the layoff (often a peak race for a horse but he was hard to like) and won by a neck at almost 10 to 1. He had been claimed for $32,000 at the end of last year and recently was a flat 6th behind Garret’s Gulch on June 29. The latter was 2nd in last night’s race.


MORE NOTES..
DO YOU BELIEVE IN MAGIC?

RON GEARY, president of Ellis Park, went and bought ALPENA MAGIC before the races yesterday and the 17-year-old horse was then scratched from a scheduled start.
“It’s time for a new career for Alpena Magic. This horse enjoys being around people and the racetrack. His new role will allow him to be our equine ambassador for our new early at Ellis and backside tour programs,” said Geary.
Owner Kenneth Robinette sold the horse to Geary to allow the horse to have a new career. Alpena Magic is by Canadian champion L’Enjoleur.

SYDNEY BELZBERG, owned of Budget car rental service, owns SOLDIER’S TALE, who is expected to compete in tomorrow’s Group 1 July Cup, $762,000, at Newmarket. The chestnut colt won the Group 1 Golden Jubilee Stakes at Royal Ascot in his previous start.

Top Assiniboia Downs trainer MARTIN DREXLER (there was a feature on Marty in the Winnipeg Sun recently that was run on this site, do a search up top to see more) won the late DOUBLE Tuesday night at that track. One of the winners was SHADOW RUSH, the horse addressed in the story and the fellow that Drexler had been disappointed in since bringing him from Woodbine. The other winner was another Woodbine dude, Quatorze Bis. Both won allowance races and both have won twice in 2007.


AMTOTE GETS WEG CONTRACT
(Edited press release from The Blood-Horse website..)

AmTote, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Magna Entertainment Corp., has entered into a tote service agreement with Woodbine Entertainment Group in Canada.
AmTote Canada will be the tote service provider to WEG for 10 years beginning in 2008 commencing January 2008. Financial terms weren’t disclosed.
“We are thrilled to enter into a new business relationship with Woodbine Entertainment Group, one of the most prominent players in the horse racing industry,” said Steve Keech, president of AmTote International. “We look forward to providing patrons of WEG with an unsurpassed pari-mutuel wagering experience as we continue to expand our portfolio of customers worldwide. This transaction represents an exciting growth opportunity for AmTote.”
“AmTote's new leadership and focus on innovation is well aligned with our vision, and we look forward to our long-term technology partnership,” said Sean Pinsonneault, vice president of wagering services for WEG.
AmTote, headquartered in Hunt Valley, Md., is a global provider of tote and wagering technology. AmTote currently has service contracts with more than 70 customers worldwide, including North American and international racetracks, sports books, and online wagering entities.