ENTER AND BREAK!

UPDATE: 3:09
101 HORSES ENTERED FOR 10 RACE CARD

An average of 10 horses per race is a good opening for Woodbine on Saturday.
Seven fillies were entered in the La Voyageuse Stakes - six betting interests as there is an entry.
All the races are 5 furlongs.
Post time is 1:10 p.m.





ENTRY DAY IS HERE! LA VOYAGEUSE STAKES returns
The fields should be sizy enough for the first day of racing at WOODBINE on Saturday, based on the increased number of workers in the last couple of weeks.

Still, opening day has never been a powerhouse when it comes to field size as many barns have yet to arrive,

The new LA VOYAGEUSE STAKES is the opening day feature (a 3yo filly race, Ontario foaled), making its return after a 5 year hiatus. The race used to be for older mares at 5 furlongs, now it is a springboard to the Fury Stakes.

Heading Saturday's LA VOYAGEUSE should be SHILLA, owned by Brian Cullen and trained by Nick Gonzalez.


A THOROUGHBLOG reader asked yesterday about some of the willow trees in the Woodbine walking ring (right)...as I reported last week, some of the trees were replaced by younger ones because of the dangerous, crashing branches off the old ones..








GATOR IS GOOD

Trainer Danny Vella said COOL GATOR, the Queen's Plate winterbook favourite, came out of the Florida Derby well and will be back at Woodbine early next week.
"He spread a shoe pretty good, probably at the start of the race, so I was very pleased with his race," said Vella.
"We also rushed him a bit to stay closer to the pace, which was really fast, and that took him out of his game."
Vella, who owns part of Hidden Brook Farm in Kentucky (the group that bought BIG BROWN as a yearling for Paul Pompa) said the colt could start next in the Marine or Plate Trial Stakes.



HARLEM ROCKER, A VENTURE IN FUN

The ADENA SPRINGS RACING VENTURE offers up its 2006 batch of horses to purchase and it's 2005 group included the hotshot colt HARLEM ROCKER, a favourite for the Queen's Plate.
Harlem Rocker is one of 6 sophomores that is owned by Stronach Stables (80%) and the Adena Racing Venture (20%).
The colt is 2 for 2 in his career and trainer Todd Pletcher has said he has several options up next for the colt but the long-range plan is the Plate.


STUFF FROM YESTERDAY
Ontario bred UNTOUCHED (Touch Gold-Touching, Kris S) won an allowance race on the dirt at Tampa Bay Downs for her 5th win in 34 starts. The 5yo mare is owned by
Eqest Racing Stable LLC and was bred by Adena Springs.


IN THE WORKS

NOT BOURBON, a Queen's Plate contender, worked a bullet 5 furlongs from the gate at KEENELAND yesterday, presumably with stablenate Boldly Seductive, who was clocked in the same time. Not Bourbon is by Not Impossible and is trained by Roger Attfield for Charles Fipke.

other Plate contenders:
KESAGAMI (Carson City) worked at Woodbine on the Polytrack in :51.
D. FLUTIE (Langfuhr), 1:02.29, SILVER JAG 1:01 .40


50/50 RACING SYNDICATE

It filled up quickly and is now closed so I have taken the ad down. Good luck to 5050 Racing at Woodbine this year.



KENTUCKY DERBY PREPS AND ODDS
This is a big weekend coming up for the Kentucky Derby hopefuls with WAR PASS meeting up with some other fellows in the WOOD MEMORIAL STAKES on Saturday. Also on Saturday, the SANTA ANITA DERBY and the ILLINOIS DERBY.

Here are the latest odds in the Future Wager..

2008 Kentucky Derby Future Wager Official Field - Pool Three # Name Pool One Pool Twos M/L Odds Final Odds 1 Adriano - - 20-1
2 Atoned - - 30-1
3 Big Brown - - 3-1
4 Big Truck - - 20-1
5 Blackberry Road 47-1 45-1 50-1
6 Bob Black Jack 58-1 49-1 30-1
7 Colonel John 19-1 17-1 12-1
8 Cool Coal Man - 26-1 15-1
9 Court Vision 15-1 16-1 20-1
10 Denis of Cork 46-1 12-1 15-1
11 El Gato Malo 16-1 15-1 12-1
12 Gayego - 111-1 30-1
13 Liberty Bull - - 50-1
14 My Pal Charlie - - 50-1
15 Pyro 5-1 4-1 4-1
16 Salute the Sarge - - 50-1
17 Smooth Air 159-1 192-1 50-1
18 Tale of Ekati 33-1 47-1 30-1
19 Tomcito - - 30-1
20 Visionaire - 19-1 20-1
21 War Pass 6-1 9-2 6-1
22 Yankee Bravo 48-1 41-1 30-1
23 Z Fortune 37-1 33-1 50-1
24 All Other 3 YO's 3-1 6-1 15-1
M/L = morning line



EXCERPT.. LASIX ALSO ONE OF THOSE DRUGS WITH NO PLACE IN THE GAME By Bill Finley Special to ESPN.com
While horse racing is making very slow but somewhat steady progress in its fight to rid itself of scourges like steroids and a number of illegal drugs, it shouldn't continue to ignore another drug that has no place in the game.
It's time for Lasix to go.
Anyone who still thinks Lasix is necessary would have a hard time explaining the results of the Dubai World Cup Day races.
Fifteen U.S.-based horses competed and, of course, all 15 used Lasix when running in North America. The United Arab Emirates, like every other country in the world not named the United States, does not allow horses to compete on that or any other drug. But our drug dependent thoroughbreds did just fine without their fixes.
Including Curlin, who was brilliant when winning the Dubai World Cup, three American horses won on the six-race card. Plus, Idiot Proof was second in the Golden Shaheen and Well Armed was third in the Dubai World Cup.
It doesn't seem that any of our horses were put at a disadvantage because they didn't have their supposed anti-bleeding drug. Apparently, neither were any of the 68 non-American horses who ran that day at Nad al Sheba Racecourse. Not that this was a surprise. Since the inception of the Dubai World Cup in 1996, dozens of U.S. horses have gone to Dubai, run drug free and done just fine.
Back when Lasix was a hot-button issue and was not yet legal in all states, trainers and veterinarians argued vehemently that the drug was necessary to keep their bleeders racing. Without it, they claimed, an abundance of horses would be sidelined, unable to make money for their owners and fill out racing cards. Racing commissions and commissioners bought it.
In 1995, the lone holdout, New York, caved in, and Lasix was officially everywhere.
As the years went on, the idea that Lasix was strictly for the horses who needed something to help their bleeding problems became a joke. On any day at any track, virtually every horse racing runs on Lasix.
On the same day as the Dubai World Cup, 107 horses raced at Gulfstream and 105 of them ran on Lasix. That includes all 12 starters in the Florida Derby.
That these 105 horses all have bleeding problems is laughable. Now, trainers use Lasix not to control bleeding but to make sure they are on a level playing field with everyone else. Horsemen obviously believe that their horses will run faster with Lasix than without it (which could simply be a case of horses being lighter after they take Lasix because, as a diuretic, it causes horses to lose water weight), and they don't want to be the one guy out there without that edge.
Thirteen years after New York legalized Lasix, we should be seeing the fruits of the medication.
With the help of this drug, horses should be running more than ever and lasting longer than ever and 12-horse fields....
http://sports.espn.go.com/sports/horse/columns/story?columnist=finley_bill&id=3324301