ONE MORE SLEEP

UPDATE - 10:50 A.M.
LATE SCRATCHES IN 'CUP- ATTILA'S STORM (SPRINT), DIXIE CHATTER (JUVENILE)

CLEARLY FOXY at Monmouth. Same post that her sire Volponi had when he won the Classic!
Cindy and Terence Dulay's www.horse-races.net has weather reports and lots of photos and quotes each day...check it out!

THOROUGHBLOG CHALLENGE - THE DRAKE has offered up his picks - top 3 - for each Cup race. He has offered up a challenge to other readers (see his comment on yesterday's post). He also wants to change Wait a While for Honey Ryder..okay okay.
SEND YOUR PICKS IN THROUGH THE COMMENTS BUTTON AND GOOD LUCK!!!

SASKAWEA – 91 BEYER IN RULING ANGEL WIN

Messy,messy night at Woodbine last evening – not because of the weather – but because of incidents with jockeys and horses.

The long delay before the first running of the RULING ANGEL STAKES was because the ambulance crew had to load jockey SHANE ELLIS on a stretcher and take him to the hospital. No reports on his condition were available before I left last night.

The trouble for Ellis came when 2yo GUN HIGHWAY broke a bit slowly from the gate in race 6 (from the rail) and then the horse veered left into the plastic portable railing and tossed Ellis. The horse ran away, Ellis did not.

The RULING ANGEL was run in track record time (I know, a reader asked me how many track records have been set – that is a job for later this year when things aren’t so hectic).

SASKAWEA (Stormy Atlantic) was trained to perfection by Steve Attard – the King of Wednesday nights – to win off a short layoff. The long and impressive-looking 3yo filly held off fast closing runners like MY LIST and PROPHETICALLY to win in 1:15 2/5…or a 3/100s faster than the previous record.

How about Gus Sanci and Dominic Polsinelli claiming CLEARLY IN CHARGE from Gardiner Farms for $10,000 – put her on Lasix and then win a $62,800 allowance race last night.

The win, the first Woodbine score for jockey JOHANN DUQUET, was the 2^nd in 20 starts for the Bold Executive filly who had not won this season. She had never been on Lasix.

Little BLIND RAGE won her maiden in race 4 for the Minshall Farms, Barb Minshall seemed quite confident in a pre-race interview on THE SCORE and the filly ran hard for her. The homebred is by Storm Creek out of Rare Vision.

Apprentice TYLER PIZARRO is not giving up the rider’s race without a fight. He was 3 wins behind Pat Husbands heading into last night and won on Blind Rage and then right back on the very cool gelding CAPTAIN KYLE. This gelding, a 3yo by Compadre-Belong to Katie by Belong to Me was claimed for $10K earlier this year by Rainbow Stables and he’s won 3 times for $16K, 20 and last night for $32K. He’s won 4 of 11 this year.

That race was very messy for SERGEI who looked super in post parade for Knob Hill Stables and surely would have got a piece as he was rallying in the stretch, Instead, the colt ran up on heels and almost fell down and it was amazing that apprentice MELANIE GIDDINGS stayed on.

The 6^th race was marred by the antic of Gun Highway but the 2yo race was won by the little tiny gelding FIVE AND OFF (Ciano Cat-Hollywood Blvd by Farma Way). Bred by Gardiner Farms and a $10,712 yearling purchase by Mike Coll and the Nick Gonzalez team, the gelding was claimed from his latest, his 7^th start as a 2yo, for $50,000 by Frank Romano and trainer Mike DePaulo. He won last night under Emma Jayne Wilson with a strong inside rally to beat Senor (Cactus Ridge).

Good to see JACK (JOCKO) LAUZON win the finale while waiting for that one mount all night. He rode TEE PAINT with confidence and the gelding won his maiden for $12,500 for A. McMurry.

TODAY AT WOODBINE

Not many hours after a very fast Polytrack last night and we have a bright, bright, bright sunshiney day today and a series of cards of racing coming up that are very juicey.

Note – GREG BLANCHARD will be calling the races at Woodbine through Saturday as Dan Loiselle calls a race at Monmouth today for an All Star day.

Interesting horse today – GIANT’S FORZA in race 3 is a first-time starter for SJB Stable et al and is a half-brother to sprint star FRIENDLY ISLAND, a millionaire

BREEDERS’ CUP STUFF

Updates on some of the locals are below and read the WOODBINE MEDIA office updates on the Woodbine website.

The TV department has a crew down there and are posting a Breeders’ Cup diary on www.woodbineentertainment.com. The clips are reasonable, although the narrator mumbles and whispers and is hard to hear. The actual news on the locals and news on the track etc. in general is almost non-existant.

What can be gleaned is that is rained a lot there yesterday, the track seemed to play favourably to inside runners after watching most of the races there…if it dries out like a regular dirt track does..look out for speed and inside big time. The stake on the grass went to a horse who came from far, far behind and rallied wide and there was a definite”cut” in the ground.

FROM ASSOCIATED PRESS – PRINTED IN THE TORONTO STAR

WITH CANADIAN UPDATES…

By Richard Rosenblatt, THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

OCEANPORT, N.J. - Todd Pletcher is back at the Breeders’ Cup in a big way again, and this time he’s hoping for better results than last year.

The leading trainer in the U.S. sent out a record 17 horses in seven of eight Breeders’ Cup races at Churchill Downs in 2006, but never made it to the winner’s circle. His only consolation was nearly US$3.5 million in purse money, primarily from three second-and three third-place finishes.

Not good enough for perfectionist Pletcher.

"I would have preferred to win them all," he said.

Pletcher entered 11 horses in six of the 11 Breeders’ Cup races at Monmouth Park this weekend, including two favourites Saturday - Lawyer Ron in the $5-million Classic and Indian Vale in the $2-million Distaff.

He has strong backups, too, with Haskell Invitational winner Any Given Saturday in the Classic and Grade 1-winning fillies Octave and Unbridled Belle in the Distaff.

In the turf races, Pletcher sends out English Channel in the $3-million Turf for the third straight year to take on 7-5 favourite Dylan Thomas and Honey Ryder and Wait a While are among the top choices in the $2-million Filly & Mare Turf.

Pletcher’s other runners are long shots, Icy Atlantic and Host are both 30-1 in the $2-million Mile and The Leopard is 8-1 in the new $1-million Juvenile Turf on Friday.

"From top to bottom, we’ve got a really, really strong group of horses," Pletcher said. "That’s what you hope for, and then you’ve got to get lucky and have things go your way on race day.

"Just because you bring a big group doesn’t mean you’re going to win a bunch of races."

There are 12 Breeders’ Cup contenders with some Canadian connections competing this weekend. One of those is Clearly Foxy, which will compete in the Juvenile Fillies event. The horse, trained by Mark Casse of Kleinburg, Ont., and ridden by Woodbine Racetrack veteran Patrick Husbands of Brampton, Ont., galloped and schooled in the paddock Wednesday.

"She’s as good as we want her to be," said assistant trainer Norman Casse, Mark’s son. "Wayne (Browne, groom and exercise rider) is happy with her and I’m happy with her."

Casse also said owner Charles LaLoggia is pleased with the No. 2 post the filly will break from Saturday.

Details surrounding some of other Canadian entries:

-Maryfield, entered into the Filly and Mare Sprint, galloped Wednesday. Maryfield is a Canadian-bred by Mike Carroll, of Guelph, Ont., and John Harvey Jr.

-Overextended, entered into the Juvenile and owned by John P. Reddam of Windsor, Ont., galloped Tuesday. Tale of Ekati, owned by Charles Fipke of Edmonton, jogged at Belmont on Wednesday and schooled in the paddock. He’s expected at Monmouth on Thursday.

-Arravale, entered into the Filly and Mare Turf, jogged 1 ½ miles and schooled in the paddock Wednesday. The horse is owned by Robert Costigan of Vancouver and trained by Mac Benson of Woodbridge, Ont.

"She’s doing well," said Barb Przedrzymirska, the assistant trainer for Benson, who is also her husband. "She shipped well and is eating well."

-Greg’s Gold, entered in the Sprint, galloped 1 ½ miles and schooled in the paddock Wednesday. The horse is owned by Calgary’s William Boswell.

-Host, which will run in the Mile, also jogged and schooled in the paddock Wednesday. Host is owned by Toronto’s Eugene Melnyk, who also owns the NHL’s Ottawa Senators.

-Silent Name, also entered in the Mile and co-owned by Frank Stronach of Aurora, Ont., was expected at Monmouth on Wednesday evening.

-Bear Now, owned by Edmonton’s Danny Dion and entered in the Distaff, galloped 1 ½ miles and schooled in the gate and paddock.

FROM THE GLOBE AND MAIL

Any Given Saturday hopes track familiarity pays off

LARRY MILLSON

Globe and Mail Update

October 24, 2007 at 1:29 PM EDT

OCEANPORT, N.J. — On St. Patrick's Day, Any Given Saturday proved the value of a good previous race over the same track when he gave Street Sense all he could handle in the Tampa Bay Derby at Tampa Bay Downs.

Street Sense defeated Any Given Saturday by a nose in the 1 1/16-mile race. It was the first start of the year for Street Sense who used one more race before winning the Kentucky Derby.

Going into the Tampa Bay Derby, Any Given Saturday already had a winning race at Tampa Bay Downs, taking the Sam F. Davis Stakes, also at 1 1/16 miles, one month earlier.

Any Given Saturday already has a big win at Monmouth Park, where the Breeders' Cup is being run this weekend.

Going into Saturday's 1 ¼-mile Breeders' Cup Classic with a strong field that includes Street Sense, Any Given Saturday has won three races in a row including the Aug. 5 Haskell Invitational.

That came between victories at New York's Belmont Park in the Dwyer Stakes and the Brooklyn Handicap.

"There are several horses that could be horse of the year but need to win the Classic to do it," Any Given Saturday's trainer Todd Pletcher said on a showery Wednesday morning. "We thought (Any Given Saturday) was one of the top three-year-olds going into the Kentucky Derby. He lost by a nose to Street Sense in Tampa in track-record time. Street Sense has gone on to win the Derby and the Travers. Any Given Saturday has won three in a row, including the Haskell right here at Monmouth. He has become the horse we thought he would."

Pletcher also trains the morning-line favourite in the Classic, the four-year-old Lawyer Ron.

In a development on Wednesday, Cry and Catch Me was scratched from the Juvenile Filly after she developed a temperature of 102. She was 6 to 1 in the early line.