STRIKE IT RICH

9 a.m. update...WILSON 6TH WITH 6 POINTS IN JOCKEY CHALLENGE..

WILSON BEATEN 3/4 OF A LENGTH IN 2ND RACE OF HONG KONG CHALLENGE!!

Emma-Jayne Wilson and VINCERE poked a head in front in deep stretch in the 5th race today in the Hong Kong Jockey Club Challenge race #2. The pair then were surprised on the rail by SUPER SURPRISE, ridden by Chris Soumillon.
"Nice ride by Emma-Jayne Wilson" says the announcer in this replay of the race....cool stuff...
watch the race!!!..

http://www.hkjc.com/english/replay/replay.asp?lang=e&race_date=05/12/2007&race_no=5&speed=57&venue=HV


WILSON 6TH IN FIRST HONG KONG JOCKEY CHALLENGE RACE

DOUGLAS WHYTE won the first race at the Hong Kong Jockey Club Challenge today (this morning at 7:30 on favoured CHAMPION LAD, by Langfuhr.
The top four finishers listed all European or Hong Jong jockeys taking the top four positions. Emma Jayne Wilson was on Mega Bullet, a Langfuhr colt out of Woodbine runner Try My Thai.
More to come…

MORE TODAY…

Nothing official from anyone at WOODBINE ENTERTAINMENT or the CAW Union but word is, the picketers are out at Woodbine and Mohawk again as 180 bartenders and servers have hit the street and are ON STRIKE.
According to the press release published on this site yesterday, the union was in a strike position as of 4 p.m. While there has been no news released, THOROUGHBLOG has learned that the strike is on…last year’s Queen’s Plate was marred by a strike and of course, the most famous events came just before the Breeders’ Cup in 1996. The last two were mutual clerks strike and lockout respectively.

Meanwhile, let’s hope we get the last 5 days of racing in while the temperatures plummet in Toronto. Tonight is a 9-race card including the ONTARIO LASSIE STAKES, which was originally scheduled for Sunday.


LASSIE PREVIEW

SHORT SHORTS, while getting some pre-race press, was a 15 to 1 longshot for the race this evening but will compete in an allowance race instead. That leaves a field of 10 scheduled to travel 1 1/16 miles. The Ontario-bred 2yo filly race is leaded by SIX PACK SAMMY, whose trainer Mark Casse needs 6 wins to tie the record of most winners by a trainer at Woodbine (89 by Frank Passero). SAMMY is owned by Richard Lederman and she was bred by Denny Andrews. The Yonaguska filly was recently 4th in the Grade 3 Pocohontas Stakes at Churchill Downs.
MRS. BEGAN (pronounced Bay-gan) won the Princess Elizabeth is somewhat ugly fashion but the improving Jump Start filly got a 75 Beyer Figure and that makes her solid.
What about the improving BROKEN VOW filly ROSES ‘N’ WINE? She won her maiden with a 70 Beyer Figure over the highly regarded Mascara.
And Stronach Stables have GINGER BREW (Milwaukee Brew) in the race following a smart debut win with a 72 Beyer Figure.
The pace should be honest, if not strong, the track could be..well, who knows what we’ll get with Polytrack this evening as the temperatures drop.

As an aside…perhaps Wednesday evening racing should be stopped a bit earlier than Dec. 5? Perhaps racing at Woodbine will be stopped earlier than Dec. 9 and started earlier than the very late start date of APRIL 5 next spring.

CANADIAN-BRED MAREN’S MEADOW ‘SPONGED’

The promising Canadian-bred 2yo filly Maren’s Meadow is the filly at the heart of the sponging disaster at Delaware Park.
This truly is a disturbing story…..

From THOROUGHBRED TIMES..
Delaware officials investigating sponging
by Pete Denk

Veterinarians at Rood & Riddle Equine Hospital in Lexington were prepared to operate on two-year-old filly Maren’s Meadow to remove a tumor from her nasal passage in late October, but they found something else lodged in her nostril—a sponge.
Now the Delaware Thoroughbred Racing Commission, the Thoroughbred Racing Protective Bureau, and Delaware State Police are involved in the investigation, said John Wayne, executive director of the Delaware Thoroughbred Racing Commission. Wayne declined further comment, citing the pending investigation. But owner Sandra Rasmussen spoke about the incident.
“I was relieved it was not a tumor because that was a big question,” said Rasmussen, whose River Ridge Ranch in Runnells, Iowa, owns Maren’s Meadow. “She had gone to Rood and Riddle because of this bad discharge she had, and then they look in there and see this blue-green thing and it looked like a nasty tumor.
“They got her down anesthetized and, heaven sakes, here’s a sponge.”
Maren’s Meadow was sent to Rood and Riddle following a disappointing loss as the heavy favorite in a Delaware Park allowance race on October 16.
The two-year-old Meadowlake filly out of Gold Liaka, by Yukon, was coming off a fourth-place finish in the Matron Stakes (G2) at Belmont Park on September 15 and was the .90-to-1 favorite in the $42,000 non-winners of one allowance race at Delaware.
After showing speed for a half mile, Maren’s Meadow tired and finished third in the five-horse field, beaten 6 1/4 lengths by the winner Piker.
“After the race we were all very puzzled because she had a good chance to win,” Rasmussen said. “[Trainer Larry Jones] thought [jockey] Mario Pino didn’t follow directions in the race at first, but of course we didn’t find this out before it was a week down the road.”
Large amounts of mucus drained from the nostril in the days following the race, and antibiotics failed to clear it up.
“At first I was relieved and then I was so angry,” she said. “I’m a small breeder in Iowa, and to think somebody ... why do this at all? I guess there are people who can manipulate anything.”
Jones has a watchman at his barn. Rasmussen believes a fire at a nearby trailer may have distracted him two or three nights before the race.
Jones declined to comment on Tuesday, saying that Delaware investigators asked him not to talk to the media while the investigation is pending.
“I have not been turned loose to talk about it yet, so I have to leave it at that,” Jones said. “The filly is in training at Fair Grounds and she’s doing well.”
Pete Denk is a Thoroughbred Times staff writer

SOVEREIGN AWARDS NOMINEES TO BE ANNOUNCED SOON

The three nominees for each category in the Sovereign Awards should be announced Friday by the Jockey Club of Canada (run by the tireless Bridget Bimm).
The awards dinner and ceremony is December 14 in downtown Toronto.
Here are some statistics published today on owners and breeders of Ontario-breds (not all Canadian-breds)..
The latest THOROUGHBLOG POLL suggests that Eugene Melnyk has a good chance to be named outstanding owner at the 33rd annual awards.
Melnyk has never won an outstanding owner or breeder award. His SEALY HILL, a homebred, could be named Horse of the Year.

LEADING OWNERS OF ONTARIO-BREDS BY EARNINGS
(from Equineline.com, published by Thoroughbred Times)

Owner Starters Winners Earnings

Melnyk Racing Stables 45 20 $2,595,446
Sam-Son Farm 29 12 1,544,002
Stronach Stables 38 21 1,479,094
William A. Sorokolit Sr. 19 9 1,276,505
Kingfield Farms 9 3 $1,271,115
Knob Hill Stable and
Estate of Steve Stavro 17 8 1,245,042
D. Morgan Firestone 1 4 6 1,187,931
Gorman, Mark, Mestrandrea,
Nick J., and Perry, Jim 1 1 852,600
Woodford Racing LLC 17 8 786,655
Jim Dandy Stable 9 5 763,802
Bruno Schickedanz 59 34 760,078
K. K. Sangara 4 3 737,763
Bruno Brothers Farms 6 6 696,403
Colebrook Farms Stallion Station 30 16 565,424
Chiefswood Stables Ltd. 11 4 531,946
Tucci Stables 9 4 526,133
Kinghaven Farms 6 4 480,825

LEADING BREEDERS OF ONTARIO-BREDS BY EARNINGS

Breeder Starters Winners Earnings

Adena Springs 148 138 $4,481,297
Eugene Melnyk 80 87 3,934,657
Sam-Son Farm 35 30 1,704,948
William Sorokolit 26 26 1,615,043
Gustav L. Schickedanz 28 20 1,600,287
Kinghaven Farms 28 27 $1,542,285
Gardiner Farms Ltd. 59 36 1,468,774
Knob Hill Stable 21 24 1,287,164
Michael C. Byrne 41 33 1,011,337
Mike Carroll & John Harvey Jr. 3 5 927,515
Spring Farm 41 37 910,538
Minshall Farms 39 24 890,074
Mel P. Lawson 10 9 831,773
Hope Stock Farm 24 28 800,667
Josham Farms 27 23 686,514
Chiefswood Stables Ltd. 13 14 668,490
Firestone Farm Ltd. 1 2 657,431
Colebrook Farms Stallion Station 39 29 655,457
Beclawat Stable 14 14 580,826
Garland E. Williamson 8 6 536,874