DIFFERENT DRUMMER

As trainer MARK CASSE said yesterday - the local 3yo's continue to just take turns beating each other. The low Beyer Figures earned by this group don't excite but perhaps the top 3yo colt is LEONNATUS ANTEAS, who hit an impressive peak in Beyer-land yesterday.
Not likely to see Marchfield much (or again) this year though, so Mike or Alezzandro need to step up to re-claim some glory.

South-side, ANY GIVEN SATURDAY crushed CURLIN (he's beatable after all!) and jons the fray for top 3yo colt in America.

Today, champion FINANCINGAVAILABLE (whom Casse bought for a pittance as a yearling, then sold her to KK Sangara) tries for her first graded stakes win in the ROYAL NORTH (a top class filly for Stafford Farms years back).
Many promising first-timers compete on a nice card for this holiday Monday (Civic Holiday). Whispers are out on STONE SLINGER, a 2yo from the Stronach Stables in race 5 but beware of STEP ON UP from the Catherine Day Phillips barn.
Out west, the MANITOBA DERBY has a competitive field of 12 with Woodbine-based ANGEL OF THE HOUSE the 5 to 2 favourite for Dominion Bloodstock, Galbreath, Ball and Peacock and trainer Dave Cotey.

MARCHFIELD STOMPS HOME

Melnyk picks up another big win
84 Beyer Figure for the win

The way yesterday started for trainer Mark Casse and jockey Patrick Husbands they didn’t think it would end with a victory in the $500,000 Breeders’ Stakes at Woodbine.

While Casse barely avoided a head-on collision in his car at 5 a.m. on his way to work, Husbands - still nursing a sore shoulder from two horse accidents earlier in the week – hurt his other shoulder and ankle falling from another horse.

Everything went smoothly later yesterday afternoon, however, when the pair got together with Eugene Melnuk’s regally bred 3-year-old colt Marchfield to win the 1 ½ mile Breeders, the third jewel of Canada’s Triple Crown.

It was the first start on the grass for Marchfield, whose mother Pico Teneriffe won over $500,000 while racing almost exclusively on that surface.

The win was an extremely satisfying one for the team, who has been on a serious stakes win roll all summer but had been frustrated by Marchfield’s performances.

The son of world class sire A.P. Indy was once thought be good enough for a shot at the Kentucky Derby but physical ailments sidelined the colt in March.

After a pleasing outing in the Plate Trial Stakes when second, the colt fizzled in the Plate when sixth and Prince of Wales, finishing fifth.

“He needs pace, plain and simple,” said Casse, last year’s Sovereign Award winning trainer. “He’s also bred for the grass so he was doing what he was bred to do.”

But Casse wasn’t all that certain that Marchfield was going to be a factor early in the race when the colt trailed by up to 19 ½ lengths at one point.

Husbands, however, was not worried.

“I could not get my colt on the bridle but that told me they were going too fast up front,” said Husbands, who has now won three of the last five Breeders’ Stakes.

“When the leaders starting coming back to me and I was still going the same speed, I was very confident.”

Like a slingshot off the last turn, Marchfield came from last-place in the nine-horse field and blew past the fading leaders and the new front runner, Twilight Meteor.

Despite jumping onto his wrong galloping lead in deep stretch and cocking his head towards the large crowd, Marchfield zipped past Twilight Meteor for a one-length score. Longshot It’s Like This, at 48 to 1 chance, finished a strong third.

Queen’s Plate winner Mike Fox was one-paced throughout the race and finished fifth while Prince of Wales winner, Alezzandro, one of the softened pace runners, faded to sixth.

It’s a Danzig, who shipped in from Arlington Park on Thursday was a late scratch.

Casse agreed with Husbands during Breeders’ week that taking the colt’s blinkers off, in the hopes of getting him to relax, would be beneficial.

Following an easy grass workout last Sunday, Husbands convinced Casse to not give up on the colt and enter in the Breeders’.

Casse suggested Marchfield, who has been training hard since the winter may now go on vacation at Melnyk’s farm in Florida for some rest.

As for the Melnyk operation, Casse said “you’re just starting to see the homebreds now. Eugene and Laura have done everything first class and they are great owners.”

MORE SUNDAY STUFF:

SHEPPERTON STAKES, RACE 5– 6 ½ furlongs –

90 Beyer Figure

EXECUTIVE CHOICE broke slowly and then rushed up to stalk the pace but the fractions were doomsday for those not on the pace:

A 23 2/5, slow first quarter and it was stablemates (and half-brothers) MAIN EXECUTIVE and COOL SELECTION dueling each other through 46 3/6 and the race was over.

Main Executive edged clear of his old-timer mate and sped home in 1: 16 3/5.

The Bruno Bros.

“Cool Selection can relax sometimes but he was really sharp today and he almost tried to beat the other one through the lane,” said trainer Radlie Loney. “Cool Selection just wanted to show his little brother he can do it too.”

“I was very happy to get back on this horse, he ran hard and the other part of the entry scared me a bit too,” said Richard Dos Ramos, who used to ride the 5yo Bold Executive gelding. Todd Kabel had been riding Main Executive but was named on Dancer’s Bajan for the Shepperton and that horse was then scratched.

Dos Ramos has nine more wins to 2000 career scores.

Last year’s CHAMPION 2YO LEONNATUS ANTEAS had perhaps the most impressive outing of the afternoon when she ground down the very tough, older speedster AS EXPECTED to win the 6th race, an allowance/optional claimer in a sharp 1:20 3/5 for 7 furlongs on turf. That was a 100 Beyer Figure.

As Expected cleared the field and got away with a 22 4/5 first two furlongs, was just galloping into the stretch but Leo ran him down in his 2nd start of the year and first since an infected foot threw him off the Queen’s Plate trail.

Race 7, maiden allowance 2yo fillies, was spiced up early when the Terry Jordan trainee SINIBIX ran off strongly under Emile Ramsammy down the backstretch for 3/8 of a mile before post time.

The Tactical Cat filly was still allowed to run and she was virtually eased early in the race and when she crossed the finish line, the crowd roared.

More interesting was the move that ADVANCED GREEN made from second-last place off the turn, bore out turning into the stretch under David Clark and then blew past the leaders in the last couple of jumps.

The sizy, long-legged Kentucky-bred by the hot Maryland sire Malibu Moon, is out of an undefeated mare, Miss Jealous Sword and she was bought by Robert Tiller and Frank DiGiulio, J. D’Onfrio and J. Peri for $50,000 as a yearling in October.

Here Beyer was a 59.

More excitement (not the good kind) in race 8 when THE REAL ME ran off with Richard Dos Ramos into the backstretch during the running of the 1 1/16 mile race and caused great commotion. Once she bore out on the last turn and was pulled up, a match-race developed between Baroness, owned by Tucci Stables, and Rare Paradis from the 3 Sons Stable.

The stretch battle was a doozy as Emma-Jayne Wilson’s hard riding and pushing (no stick used) got Baroness to win by a short head.

Notes:

You can always find neat things on YouTube...here's Woodbine stakes winner DONERAILE GEM working 4 furlongs a while back - from the view of his rider!

POP ROCKET, making his first start since Jan. 2006 and second career start, won a maiden allowance at Delaware Park on Saturday with a 76 Beyer Figure. The 5yo gelding is by Golden Missile out of Poopsie and is owned by Stronach Stables and trained by Justin Nixon.

WOLF EYE, another Canadian-bred, won an allowance race at Charles Town yesterday in his 5^th outing since being claimed for $6,500. He’s a Wild Rush 6yo out of Lucky Marty.

Three-year-old HEDGE FUND HARRY beat 15-year-old HERMOSILLA in a $2,500 claiming race at Wyoming Downs yesterday. The race went in 57 flat for 5 furlongs.

Virgina-bred CULPEPER MOON, who didn’t do much while racing at Woodbine last year, won for the second consecutive time last night, taking the WINNIPEG SUN STAKES by 7 ½ lengths.