'KONGQUERING" RACING

UPDATE...2:42 p.m. - Bartenders/servers on strike at Woodbine??

(from cnw.com)

Possible Strike at Three Woodbine Entertainment Group Locations

TORONTO, Dec. 4 /CNW/ - One hundred & eighty bartenders and servers
represented by the CAW at three Woodbine Entertainment Group locations will be
on strike as of 4:00 p.m. today if an agreement with the employer cannot be
reached. Negotiations have been ongoing since mid-September.
"The company has tabled a list of concessions and seems to be provoking a
dispute," said Hemi Mitic, Assistant to CAW National President Buzz Hargrove.
The strike would take effect at both Woodbine and Mohawk Racetracks and
at Greenwood Teletheatre located at Kingston & Queen Street, Toronto and will
also affect beverage services at OLG Mohawk and Woodbine Slots operations.
"In an environment where the employer is reaping greater profits, it's
time to share that with the workers who make it all happen," Mitic added.
Picket lines will be set up at all locations in the event of a strike.

(Above, EMMA-JAYNE WILSON) and OLIVIER PESLIER at the press conference for the Hong Kong Jockey's Challenge yesterday after a looong flight)

Bitter cold temperatures and chilling winds greet the folks looking after the racehorses at Woodbine this week - 5 days left before the season wraps up.
Tomorrow night - 9 races on the card including the re-scheduled ONTARIO LASSIE STAKES - and Thursday - 11 races and over 120 horses entered.
In the news today - tomorrow morning's Hong Kong Jockey Challenge, Mark Casse's class droppers, classy returnees, might get him to record plus Sovereign Award voting (see below right, who is owner of the year?)

Thanks to everyone for the comments in recent days about THOROUGHBLOG...the Blog will be updated most mornings through the winter months as Canadian horses and people are going to be busy everywhere in the United States.

Thank you to Klaus over at HPI TV for his comment and he welcomes readers to offer some comments for the network.

Bit of trouble with the Blog this morning, fonts, etc....more updates later..

Wilson "honoured" to be part of Cathay Pacific IJC 4 December 2007 As the 12 participating riders in the Cathay Pacific International Jockeys Championship (CXIJC) assembled for a photo call at Happy Valley racecourse on the eve of the 2007 edition, much of the attention focused on the first female to take part in the series, the Eclipse Award winning Canadian rider, Emma-Jayne Wilson. "When I started in racing my dream was to ride in maybe five races and if I'd finished last in all of them, well, I still would have been happy to have given it a shot. To be stood here in this company, with the best jockeys in the world is just amazing. It's a great honour," said Wilson who contested her first ever race as recently as August 2004. "I've watched Hong Kong racing on television, but the pictures don't do the track justice when you see it in real life. I've been told my horses have chances so I'm hopeful I can perform well. There is also connection to home in one of my mounts, Mega Bullet, who is by a Canadian sire in Langfuhr and foaled of a Canadian mare," she added. Richard Migliore, another North American rider to have won an Eclipse Award and also making a first visit to Hong Kong, was equally impressed with unique Happy Valley circuit. "I walked the track and it's a real nice surface - I wished a lot of the American turf tracks were as good as this. In the US we have a lot of turf courses of about 1400m like this because they are inside the dirt courses. Back home the turf turns can be like hairpins, but it looks a little more gradual here with a shorter homestretch," he said. "I've ridden under lights at the Meadowlands on many occasions before and I'm really looking forward to the occasion. I see that I'm riding eight-year-old and nine-year-old horses and I guess it fits because I'm easily the oldest jockey in the competition!" Ryan Moore, the 2006 British champion, is certainly keyed up for the event. He remarked: "I've never won one of these Jockeys' Championships. I've just come from one in Mauritius and had no luck there. I've done well at the Shergar Cup at Ascot but that's a team event, not for individuals. I'd love to win this." Olivier Peslier won a second CXIJC title last year when Classa Supreme won in perhaps the most unorthodox way imaginable as he repeatedly veered away from the rail and the luck of the draw decrees the pair will team up again 12 months later. "I think I will ride Classa Supreme the same way as last year. We won then, didn't we? So why not?" he smiled. Japan's jockey of the moment, Yasunari Iwata, also makes his Hong Kong debut. Still flushed from his recent victory Japan Cup, Iwata said he was "honoured to be selected" for the CXIJC 2007. FIRST RACE OF CHALLENGE (FOR MORE, SEE HONG KONG JOCKEY CLIB SITE)

Race 3 CATHAY PACIFIC INTERNATIONAL JOCKEYS' CHAMPIONSHIP(HANDICAP) - 1ST LEG , 20:10 , Race Class: 4, Turf, "B" Course , 1650m , Good

Tick checkbox to select horses	Allup Formula :

No. Color Name Draw Wt. Jockey Trainer WIN PLACE WIN & PLACE 1 SUPER FIGHTER 7 133 Y Iwata T W Leung 38 7.7 --- 10 2 CLASSA WIN 3 132 D Oliver L Ho 7.9 2.3 --- 3.0 3 BIG KAHUNA 10 129 O Peslier P O'Sullivan 7.0 2.0 --- 2.6 4 FREEBIRD 11 128 Y T Cheng D Cruz 12 2.5 --- 3.3 5 JOYFUL WORLD 6 126 A Starke A Lee 16 3.8 --- 5.1 6 PICTURE PERFECT 8 125 P Smullen Y S Tsui 16 4.5 --- 6.0 7 LIMONCELLO 1 124 R Moore A T Millard 9.2 2.7 --- 3.5 8 SOHNA 12 124 C Soumillon S Woods 4.6 1.9 --- 2.3 9 CHAMPION LAD 9 120 D Whyte J Moore 4.7 2.1 --- 2.8 10 MEGA BULLET 4 119 E Wilson C Fownes 12 2.9 --- 3.8 11 NEW COMMAND 5 118 T Durcan C H Yip 23 5.8 --- 7.8 12 WATCHMAN 2 116 R Migliore B K Ng 17 3.7 --- 5.0

Mark Casse nears Woodbine record for victories
(he's hoping racing will be held on all of the next 5 days!)

 TORONTO, December 3 - A prohibitive favorite to collect his second

consecutive Sovereign Award as Canada's Outstanding Trainer later this

month, Mark Casse has a longshot chance to tie the record for most wins

(by a conditioner) during a Woodbine season.

The Indianapolis native has scored on 83 occasions at the Toronto oval.

The record is 89, which was set by Frank Passero Jr. in 1995.

With five racing days left before the curtain falls on the 2007 season,

Team Casse would need to connect with six of its pupils to share the

record. 

Casse said he didn't realize until last week that he was approaching

the mark.

"We still have a lot of horses to run. It's getting more and more

difficult to get the horses in," he said. "Of course, I would like to

break it. Any time there's something out there, you would like to win.

Has it changed any way that I am doing anything? Not one bit. If it

happens, it would be nice."

Record or no record, Casse has spent the 2007 season establishing a new

standard for himself. 

The 46-year-old's win total eclipses his previous high (69 in 2002) by

13. Casse's 83 wins came in 345 attempts - which translates into a 24

per cent strike rate. Casse's Woodbine starters haven't scored at a

 clip

that high since 1999, when he was 40-for-163.

Casse, who is 47 victories from the 1,000 plateau, is also enjoying a

career year in two other key categories. He's saddled the winner of 15

added-money races, including a sweep of the three events that comprise

the Triple Tiara: the Labatt Woodbine Oaks, the Bison City and the

Wonder Where, which were all captured by Sealy Hill. 

This year, Casse's starters have racked up over $5.7 million in

earnings, well above his previous career-high of over $4.4 million,

which came last year.

Casse has five runners entered in four different races on Wednesday

night's nine-race card, which kicks off at 6:45 p.m. He is slated to

saddle four on Thursday's 11-race programme.

MARK CASSE ENTRANTS FOR WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 5

RACE - HORSE - OWNER - JOCKEY

Race 2 - Seamans Village - Melnyk Racing Stables - Patrick Husbands

Race 5 - Baywoods - Melnyk Racing Stables - Patrick Husbands

Race 7 - Six Pack Sammy - Richard Lederman Racing Stables Inc. -

Patrick Husbands

Race 7 - Tip Toe Annie - Meadowlane Stable - Patrick Husbands

Race 9 - Xaler - Robert Caporella - Patrick Husbands

MARK CASSE ENTRANTS FOR THURSDAY, DECEMBER 6

Race 1 - Box Wine Betty - Mark Casse and Star Valley Thoroughbreds LLC

- Patrick Husbands

Race 2 - Chaplain - Woodford Racing - Patrick Husbands

Race 3 - Grandeza - Sheik Yobuti Racing Stable - Patrick Husbands

Race 4 - Oistins Bay - Melnyk Racing Stable - Patrick Husbands