SUN DANCE

The sun will be out through to Sunday here in Toronto so that will give the grass course a chance to dry out for Sunday's $700,000 Northern Dancer Breeders' Cup.

The big 2 in the race - SKY CONQUEROR and JAMBALAYA - are renewing their rivalry but what about OBRIGADO? Neil Drysdale doesn't come to Woodbine's grass course without a good one.
This 4yo gelding by Enrique (not Iglesias) was 3rd to the very, very good AFTER MARKET and LAVA MAN last time. Yikes. Would that not be good enough to win this race?
He's won 5 of 17 races including the San Luis Obispo in the winter at Santa Anita.

OBRIGADO is co-owned by Canadian-born Peter Vegso of "Chicken Soup for the Soul fame".

With regards to the discussion about trainers in other trainers' winner's circle - there is not a rule in racing about this - one reader was correct. However, it is general practice, according to ORC stewards, that other trainers are not allowed in the win pictures of other trainers. Brian Ross' wife owned Talk About Seattle so he was in the win picture with the trainer, brother JOhn Ross.
Should Tino Attard been allowed in his son's win picture after the Prince of Wales? Yes, certainly. But the decision was made in Fort Erie by the stewards there to not let him in.

MAGGI MOSS ON WOODBINE
Trainers take note!

The following is a question submitted from Toronto to top owner Maggi Moss on the Blood Horse chat from this week...

Toronto, Canada:
With Woodbine's purse structure being one of the best in North America, have you considered bringing a string of horses to Toronto?

Moss:
It's amazing - incredible and certainly in the long term plan or goals. I am so unfamiliar with Woodbine since my only real access to racing living in Iowa is what I can get on my satellite. I have been looking at it and just been unable to come up with the right person there for what I do- any suggestions???

SUPERFECTA PAYS $118,0000 - but it doesn't

Confusion at WOODBINE

The last race Superfecta at Woodbine yesterday "paid" $118,142.45 but there was only $32K in the pool - the payoff was for a 20 cent wager - when 31 to 1 shot MINSHY POO won her maiden. It was the second win on the card for Hall of Fame trainer JIM DAY, who had been 0 for 31 heading into the card.

Day was starting his Minshy Poo for the 15^th time and the filly was returning to a maiden claiming event for fillies having raced in a maiden allowance against colts last time. David Garcia rode the winner.

The 4-year-old filly is by Bold Executive.

Day bookended the last Pick 3 ($1,045) as JANET’S STAR, a 5yo, won her maiden in allowance company for Ontario sired gals in race 7. The Canyon Creek mare made an Arazi-type move under Matt Moore in the 1 1/16 mile race and won in her 3^rd start of the year, moving back to Polytrack from the turf.

Leading trainer ROBERT TILLER, a whiz at claiming, took Norbrook for $25,000 last time out and won with her yesterday for $32,000 for the DiGiulio family’s Edenvale Stable. Leading rider Tyler Pizarro rode the winner.

Gemini Farms and D. Persaud’s SAN GEMINIANO (Trippi), a Florida bred bought for $6,500 as a yearling,led all the way to win his maiden in his debut yesterday in a 2yo race for $25,000. The gelding was claimed by Bruno Bros. Farm.

Eight-year-old DEMETEOR won the 4^th race, an off the turf event for $50,000 claiming and the class graded stakes placed gelding was not claimed from Ken Hoffman. It was the Dehere gelding’s 8^th score in his 34^th start. The gelding's win at odds-on was a welcome relief just because he is one of a few winners lately who actually made sense.

Jockey Emma-Jayne Wilson won consecutive races on price horses. TETHRA’S RIPPER looked like he was on his way to win his maiden several others times through his 13 race career but finally got it done yesterday when bettors gave up – 15 to 1. The Paul Buttigieg homebred broke slowly and then had to weave his way through horses from well back and he tipped out 4 wide and stormed to victory in the maiden $16,000 race.

Wilson came back to win on Ninela and Five Star’s CLASSIC FRANCESCO in the next race for $10,000 claiming, non-winners of 2. The gelding had been 5^th, 6^th, 7^th and 10^th in 4 races this year had done virtually nothing, but won off the claim by trainer Abraham Katryan at only 6 to 1.

Nice prospect TALE OF THE FOX won an allowance race – 8^th race – for Forest Ridge Stable and trainer Dave Cross Jr. for her 2^nd win in 3 races. The Tale of the Cat Ontario-bred is a homebred and she carries the same silks as Sunny’s Halo.

(BETTORS BEWARE…WOODBINE TRACK PROGRAM NOTE: The track program does not denote filly/mare races or non-winners of 2 or 3).

BILL HARTACK AT WOODBINE

Champion jockey BILL HARTACK, who is in Toronto for the first time since 1964 (when he rode Northern Dancer to victory in the Queen’s Plate) will be signing autographs at Woodbine on Sunday – the day of the NORTHERN DANCER STAKES and LONGRUN DAY at Woodbine.

Hartack told some stories about Northern Dancer yesterday at the post position draw and then mentioned his most memorable moment during his riding career.

“My most famous ride I think was in a hurdle race,” said Hartack. “My agent didn’t want me to ride this horse in the hurdle race but I did it anyway. I worked the horse over 7 jumps and then rode him in the race and he won.”

From the MISSISSAUGA NEWS, by Dave Winer

July 19, 2007 - Sky Conqueror might be oblivious to pressure entering this Sunday’s running of the Northern Dancer Breeders’ Cup Turf Stakes race, but owner William Sorokolit isn’t.
The champion of last year’s inaugural race, Sky Conqueror is the early 9-5 favourite to collect the $420,000 purse for first place in the eight-horse field.
“I know the owner is feeling it (stress) more than the horse,” said Sorokolit at yesterday's post position draw at Woodbine Racetrack.
Sorokolit, a Mississauga resident, admits being a bundle of nerves prior to important races.
“It’s pretty unnerving,” he said. “But when we win, it’s very gratifying.”
Although he won’t come out and say he expects to win, Sorokolit offered, “if he runs his race, he’ll be right there.”
The person responsible for Sky Conqueror “running his race” is Sorokolit’s personal trainer, Darwin Banach, who's more impressed each time he sees Sky Conqueror conquer the field.
At the Grade 1 Woodford Reserve Classic at Churchill Downs on Kentucky Derby day, Sky Conqueror stumbled and went down to his knees at the gate. Somehow, he found the inner strength to recover from the back of the pack and win by a nose over Brilliant before 120,000 disbelieving fans, including Queen Elizabeth.
“I didn’t know the whole story at the time,” said Banach. “The last horse was late in being loaded (into the gate) and (Sky Conqueror) was getting antsy and started foot-stepping. He grabbed his shoe and ripped at it. When the gate opened, he fell on his nose and ended up racing on three shoes.
“The only thing I could say was that thankfully (jockey Javier) Castellano was still on (his mount).”
It was Sky Conqueror’s sixth win and 11th top-three finish in 16 career starts.
With the victory, last year’s Sovereign Award winner as Canada’s top male turf horse is approaching $2 million in earnings. Entering Sunday’s race, the son of Sky Classic is the field’s leading money winner, with $1,409,225.
Not bad for a horse that contracted a highly-contagious respiratory disease as a three-year-old, the illness forcing him to be quarantined for six months at Gulf Stream in Florida.
“The odds of surviving (Strangles) are good, but to come out of all of that and still perform against the best horses the way he has is special,” said Banach.
The trainer insists he's not concerned about the other jockeys keeping a close eye on his horse come post time from gate number seven.
“It will be kind of hard to look over their backs or shoulders all the time,” said Banach about his horse, who likes to charge hard from the outside. “If they slow down, he’ll run over them. That’s his style.
“But this field has the best horses from Canada and some from the U.S. They’re all on their game, otherwise they would not be here.”

Canadian Champion Eternal Search Euthanized

(from the Blood-Horse)

by Esther Marr
Three-time Canadian champion Eternal Search died late last month at Curraghmore Farm near Waterdown, Ontario, Canada. Owned by Mel Lawson, the 29-year-old mare is by Northern Answer out of the Ruritania mare Bon Debarras.

A retired broodmare for six years, Eternal Search had developed cancer in her nose which caused continual bleeding, and she had to be euthanized.

"It's too bad because (her death) brings back a lot of memories," said Lawson. "She was a very good racehorse. Winning three Sovereign awards isn't that simple up here--if you get one, you're lucky."

Lawson bought Eternal Search privately for $50,000 as a juvenile in 1980. Campaigned in the name of Lawson's Jim Dandy Stable, the mare retired from racing with 15 stakes victories on the Canadian circuit. Posting a record of 18-11-2 from 44 starts, she had earnings of more than $640,000.

For her accomplishments, Eternal Search earned Sovereign Awards as Canada's champion sprinter in 1981 and older female in 1982 and 1983.

Six of her nine foals to race were winners, including stakes-placed runners Young Brodie (by Broad Brush), Vigorous Search (by Vigors), and Stop Searching (by Stop the Music).

Lawson additionally owns millionaire Ginger Gold, who won the Natalma Stakes (Can-III) en route to being named 2001 Canadian champion 2-year-old filly. Now a broodmare and kept at Curraghmore, she has produced Pulpit fillies the last two years.

Jiggs Coz, a two-time stakes winner this year at Woodbine, is Lawson's sole horse in training. The 3-year-old son of Cozzene has won four of seven starts and has earned $490,725.