'D' ARLINGTON MILLION

HUGE WIN FOR CANADA BY
JAMBALAYA!!!
Man o' War next after huge Arlington Million win

The 25th Arlington Million today went to Canada's own darling JAMBALAYA whe overcame turf that was a bit more squishy than he likes but had a dream trip close to a very slow pace set by 9yo star THE TIN MAN and split horses on his way to a strong win.
The Langfuhr - Muskrat Suzie gelding became the first CANADIAN-BRED TO WIN the 1 1/4 mile turf classic. Catherine Day Phillips - owner with husband Todd Phillips - became the first woman to win the Million.
"We walked the turf course yesterday and we put our hands down and it was bottomless,, "said Day Phillips after the race. "But today it was better and they cut it too."
A $1,500 yearling purchase by Mark Casse, who then sold the gelding to Day Phillips at the sale, JAMBALAYA has been chasing SKY CONQUEROR this season at Woodbine, being edged a couple of times by that star.
Broadcaster Hank Goldberg picked JAMBALAYA and said that he's been close to Sky Conqueror this year - whom Goldberg deemed as the best grass horse in North America.
With the $600,000 purse money, JAMBALAYA become of millionaire - he's up to about $1.5 million now.
Congrats to the Phillips team and their gritty gelding Jambalaya.
He was bred by Gus Schickedanz, who owned and bred LANGFUHR.


Gosh, let's start post number 401 with the comments from BOB BAFFERT in the New York Daily News (by Sherry Ross) the other day. Okay, we've all done our complaining about Polytrac, it's hard to take care of, nobody seems to know how to take care of it, and it's a son of a gun to figure out bias-wise (I still don't know if there are really any biases most days).
But Baffert is going past this - let's face it, the surface is safe and better for horses in general, better than some dirt tracks (most?). If that 2yo was a sure-thing - then he would have won anywhere - does it matter how fast they go? Maybe it does.

Here's the excerpt from Ross' column....

DIRTY: The way Maimonides won his debut race yesterday, he looks like he could gallop over asphalt, broken glass or marshmallows. He will not, however, ever run on Polytrack.

The Bob Baffert-trainee was a refugee from Del Mar's new synthetic surface. Despite one good workout there, the $4.6 million yearling purchase was shipped East with four other horses trained by Baffert and owned by Ahmed Zayat. Maimonides was the 1-2 chalk in the field of nine 2-year-old maidens in yesterday's second race. He broke like a rocket and kept running, with Rafael Bejarano shaking the reins at him only as he drew off for an 11-1/2-length win.

"This is real racing. Racing on dirt. That's me," Baffert said. "You get to showcase the brilliance of a good horse. That's what the whole argument was at Del Mar. Polytrack is safe, but they need to blend the two together so you don't take away the brilliance of a horse like this. This is why we breed and spend all this money for these good horses."

FRIDAY AT WOODBINE

Small card yesterday and the featured 2nd race, for non-winners of 3 other than, or Claiming $80K, went to old timer POWERFUL TOUCH, who was the surprise pacesetter through slow fractions in the 5 horse field and he was always in front under Todd Kabel to win in 1:44 2/5 a 90 Beyer Figure. It was the 8th win in 19 start for the 7yo Stronach Stables’s gelding, a Kentucky bered by Touch Gold.

Front runners did well in many of the races but certainly the slow pace they got to set on the fast surface helped.

SISI, an Ontario-bred by Iskandar Elakbar – Chardaz by Sheikh Albadou, went 49 to the half-mile and won her maiden at the allowance level in race 3 for Knob Hill stables.It was her first route test.

Bold Anna chased the speedy first-timer TOUCH OF JAZZ in the 4th race for maiden 2yo fillies for $50,000 and reeled that one in when she tired. Bold Anna is by Bold Executive out of Anna’s Hour by Alleged and is owned by Fieldsworth Farm. She had not done much in two previous starts at the maiden allowance level.

Top Canadian sire PEAKS AND VALLEYS had a winner with Val Gardena in race 7 for fillies and mares for $20K, non-winners of 3. The Herbert Chambers 4to was cutting back from route distances to win the 7 furlong test.

Bold Executive hit again with CELTIC SWORD, who won her grass debut in the 8th race for Ontario-sired allowance, non-winners of 2. A $3,384 (US) Woodbine yearling purchase by Mark Casse,the filly has won 2 of 3 starts. She was bred by Spruce Meadows Ranch and is from the family of Irish Ballerina (Sky Conqueror, etc.). She earned a 73 Beyer Figure.

The last race was a much faster split of Celtc Sword’s race and was won by SEPTIEME VAGIE, a Kiridashi filly owned by trainer Yvon Belsoeur. The filly earned an 82 Beyer Figure and she’s out of an Eagle Eyed mare.

DINO IN CHICAGO, ON TO WOODBINE

Go Jambalaya!

“If Dylan Thomas were in the race, he’d win by half the length of the stretch’, so said trainer Richard Gibson of today’s Arlington Million. He sends out Dr. Dino, 3RD IN THE Prix Ganay to Dylan Thomas in the Million and said the horse will go to Woodbine for the Pattison Can. International next if all goes well.

Canadian star JAMBALAYA is 10 TO 1 chance in the Million – the turf needs to be rattling (very firm) for him to win. He is there with his pony Sox and Catherine Day Phillips and her husband Todd Phillips.

TODAY AT WOODBINE

'Bears' on Parade

The Duchess Stakes, 51 runnings later, is a 7 furlong dash for 3yo fillies. Shippers often come in for this $150,000 race. Meeting BEAR NOW, who figures to come back to her 99 Beyer Figures after a failed trip to Delaware, are OFFICER IN PURSUIT, who has just joined Mark Casse’s stable and SANS REWARD, seeking her first win in North American after coming over from England.

The Bear filly is going to be tough despite cutting back from a route distance and having to get accustomed to a new jockey. EMILE RAMSAMMY has apparently been replaced by JERRY BAIRD.

Officer in Pursuit won a 7 furlong stakes race at Belmont recently with a 90 Beyer Figure and she will be dangerous.

SANS REWARD won on Polytrack overseas and was recently 2nd in a Poly allowance at Arlington. She is light in the Beyer Figure department.

A big field on maiden allowance 2yo fillies forms race 4, an Ontario-sired event.

Tough call in this first leg of the Pick 4 (it’s wide to check the odds board on all 2yo races at Woodbine). Reade Baker has 2 in the race, they cannot be ignored. GATTINA is by Cat’s at Home from a good female family and Cat’s Got Class is also by that sire out of Regal n’ Classy, a local winner.

KRZ EXEC is three-quarter sister to millionaire KRZ RUCKUS and her trainer Mike DePaulo won a 2yo race yesterday. AVA LAUNCH is a Bold Executive filly and her 2nd dam is PROSPECTIVE DOLLY, a top sprinting mare.

More maiden 2yo’s are in race 8 – boys on the grass and an open race.

Casse has an A.P. Indy colt for Woodford Racing called BRICKYARD CROSSING that is worth a look. Baker has BEARS TIGER (by Hold That Tiger, 0 for 20 with 2yo debut winners) and the promising first crop sire Milwaukee Brew has CANADIAN BREW in the race for Coast to Coast Stable.

Other news….

TODD KABEL was fined $500 for cutting and causing a welt on the right flank fold of millionaire FINANCINGAVAILABLE during the running of the Royal North Stakes last weekend.

TYLER PIZARRO was fined $200 for ”blowing over” (breath sample had an excess of 50 milligrams of alcolhol in 100 milliliters of blood) on August 9.

WEG Cuts Off Premier Turf Club

(Standardbred Canada) August 10, 2007

Woodbine Entertainment Group announced today that it has cut off Premier Turf Club for breach of their simulcast contract, effective immediately.

According to a statement posted on the WEG website, the organization cautiously allowed Premier Turf Club to participate in its pools recently after agreeing on specific terms and an appropriate host fee. These terms clearly indicated that Premier Turf Club was not permitted to take account wagers from Canadian residents but WEG has indisputable evidence that they signed up a resident from WEG's home market area and permitted the account holder to wager on Woodbine.

"We are very disheartened by the issue", said Sean Pinsonneault, WEG's vice president of Wagering Services. "We acted in good faith with Premier Turf Club and they demonstrated just the opposite. It's a shame that it had to come to this but we are not prepared to do business with rogue operators under any conditions. Operators such as this threaten the integrity and viability of our industry's pari-mutuel system."

(WEG)