HONOURED

It was just another day at Fort Erie yesterday but significantly, ROBERT TILLER (pictured at right with DANCER'S BAJAN) won a race with PEOPLE DON'T CHANGE in a rare visit to that track by one of Woodbine's all-time leading trainers.

It has not been a great spring for the Tiller runners - 3 winners and a whole lots of 2nds and 3rds - but things got a lot better when he was announced as a 2008 inductee in the CANADIAN HORSE RACING HALL OF FAME. Ceremony is in August.
Congratulations Robert!

(Yesterday's post has the release about all the Hall of Fame inductees on the thoroughbred side)



COOL! WOODBINE TONIGHT

It will be cold and perhaps rainy but there's an 8 race card tonight with some sizy fields and if you've been paying attention, the payoffs on Woodbine racing have been super.
There are THREE MAIDEN ALLOWANCE races this evening and the rest are claiming events.

Race 1 - Have to think it's time for CAPPAL MOR to win his maiden. He just could not reel in Drunken Love last time but is not meeting much in this Ontario sired event. The Dan Vella barn has been on a roll all spring.

If he is a professional maiden, however, BEARS TARGET should get it done for the Bear people.

Race 3 is scheduled for the grass and if it stays on turf, ATHENA'S GIFT looks super solid for trainer Malcolm Pierce. Her owner, Richard Lister, has had a strong season already with homebreds. Athena's Gift is by Fusaichi Pegasus.

Race 6 - at just 5 1/2 furlongs,it's for Ontario sired fellows and DRUMBO will be well bet in his 3rd career start based on 2 good outings to begin his career. He's by the red-hot Bold Executive.
Firsters to watch in the race include KINSHASA'S PARADIS, who has worked fast and took a bit of betting support for a race before he ran off recently.
NO MOLESTAR is bred to be very fast by Elajjud out of a Geiger Counter mare.


**The best production on the Woodbine schedule, the Wednesday night SCORE SHOW is pre-empted tonight again but you can still play the 123 challenge to win some money.
The Score show will be back on next week.

To enter...

http://thescore.123racing.ca/



QUEEN'S PLATE NEWS

SEBASTIAN'S SONG worked a sizzling 5 furlongs in 58.20 yesterday on the Woodbine Polytrack as he preps for an upcoming test and a final Plate prep. The Cherokee Run colt is owned by Centennial Farms Niagara Inc.

Longshot hopeful MARLANG worked a bullet 4 furlongs yesterday in 47.60 for trainer Debbie England. The Langfuhr colt is owned and bred by Gus Schickedanz and he comes off a maiden win.
He is possible for the 9 furlong allowance race coming up that will feature lots of Plate hopefuls.


TOP PLATE CONTENDERS - Next races


HARLEM ROCKER - graded SW - next race OHIO DERBY or Plate Trial
COOL GATOR - stakes placed - Plate Trial
NOT BOURBON - SW
NIAGARA THUNDER - stakes placed
TOOK THE TIME - winner
SEBASTIAN'S SONG - winner
PALMERS - winner
GRAZETTES LANDING -maiden
MARLANG - winner - allowance race
SHADOWLESS - winner
PEWTER - winner
SOLITAIRE - maiden
SILVER JAG - maiden

Others that are teetering.. GIQUERE, D FLUTIE, ONE ADAM TWELVE, HARVEST HOME




SCOREBOARD AUDRE AND STEVE
Here you go - how about a tie on top of the Woodbine trainer standings between STEVE ASMUSSEN and AUDRE CAPPUCCITTI.
While the Asmussen barn wins sporadically during the week and some of the the winners are often hard to predict, the Cappuccitti barn has been simply on a roll.
Other hot barns include DAN VELLA, MIKE DOYLE, and ALEC FEHR.




WOODBINE TRAINERS

Steven M. Asmussen 46 9 4 7 $443,903
Audre Cappuccitti 56 9 4 5 $230,955
Mark E. Casse 52 8 9 8 $632,597
Daniel J. Vella 36 8 6 3 $466,355
Nicholas Gonzalez 34 8 3 4 $641,026
Reade Baker 47 7 5 3 $413,203
Michael J. Doyle 50 6 6 8 $274,120
Scott H. Fairlie 40 6 6 4 $183,042



WOODBINE JOCKEYS - A GOOD BATTLE

Eurico Rosa Da Silva 120 22 8 10 $916,558
Emile Ramsammy 142 21 16 23 $1,164,416
James McAleney 119 20 15 15 $1,087,848
Patrick Husbands 94 19 19 10 $1,142,376
Tyler Pizarro 105 18 12 10 $683,854
Emma-Jayne Wilson 137 15 17 18 $919,463
Jono C. Jones 106 15 10 10 $778,428
David Clark 97 10 16 6 $683,941




LEADING ONTARIO SIRES BY MONEY WON according to equineline.com,
as published in Thoroughbred Times Today

Bold Executive 80 25 2 $1,022,802
Peaks and Valleys 64 20 1 577,508
Tejano Run 47 16 2 528,840
Trajectory 42 12 0 346,811
Bold n’ Flashy 49 11 0 334,604
Tethra 49 14 0 319,950
One Way Love 37 11 0 315,960
†Not Impossible (Ire) 14 4 1 238,237
†Ascot Knight 34 5 0 $212,415
†Cat’s At Home 41 8 0 210,226
•Perigee Moon 34 9 0 191,798
Rock and Roll 19 8 0 184,813
Whiskey Wisdom 39 5 0 179,518
Impeachment 31 6 0 134,518
Foxtrail 29 4 0 132,910
Paynes Bay 22 4 0 130,777
Best of the Bests (Ire) 46 9 0 129,197
Compadre 34 4 0 129,161
†A Fleets Dancer 23 5 0 120,078
Ciano Cat 14 4 0 115,730
Devil Begone 10 3 0 100,288

Editor's note - BOLD EXECUTIVE is having another good year but he's not the leading sire in Canada by earnings. Who is?
Answer at the bottom of today's post.



CANADIAN-BRED SELLS FOR $275,000

The Fasig-Tipton Midatlantic 2yo salewrapped up yesterday after 2 sessions and there was a lot of Canadian content.
The topper, a Lion Heart colt, was a Kentucky bred out of Bye the Bye, a former Canadian mare who produced Grade 1 winner Schossberg for Knob Hill Stables.
Speaking of Knob Hill, another topper, a Speightstown colt that sold for $300,000 is out of Lady Aloma, a stakes winning half-sister to champion Benburb.

A CANADIAN BRED colt by Alphabet Soup out of B Gone Blues, bred by Adena Springs, brought $275,000 from Kaleem Shah.



WHOA,NOTHING COMPARES TO SECRETARIAT EXCERPT from RAY MCNULTY www.tcpalm. com (Florida)


Contrary to a pop-culture belief that everything today is superior to anything made or done yesterday, newer isn't necessarily better.

The latest isn't always the best — especially in an America in decline, in a nation where standards of excellence keep getting lowered, just to make sure people don't need to do anything extraordinary to feel good about themselves.

Secretariat, though, was truly extraordinary. He was the first Triple Crown winner in 25 years, accomplishing a feat many believed was no longer possible. He was the best I've ever seen, probably the best anyone will ever see.

His mesmerizing, 31-length victory in the Belmont, where he ran away from the field and into history, is as much a part of our sports lore as DiMaggio's 56-game hitting streak and Jack Nicklaus' 18 majors and the 1980 U.S. hockey team's "Miracle on Ice."

But his greatness went far beyond one unforgettable race.
Secretariat won all three Triple Crown races in record time, although a controversial timing dispute added a full second to his time and robbed him of his Preakness record. And to this day, 35 years later, his Derby and Belmont records still stand.

There's more:
• In covering the Derby's 1 1/4 miles in 1:59 2/5, Secretariat ran each quarter-mile at a faster pace — 25 1/5, 24, 23 4/5, 23 2/5 and 23 seconds — and was still accelerating on the final leg.

• Though not officially recognized, Sham, who finished 2 1/2 lengths behind Secretariat, actually ran the second-fastest Derby ever (1:59 4/5).

• Not until Monarchos' 1:59 4/5 in 2001 did another Derby winner finish in under 2 minutes.
Likewise, no horse has come close to Secretariat's record time of 2:24 in the Belmont, where he broke the race record by more than two seconds and ran the fastest 1 1/2 miles on dirt in history.

Finally, Secretariat raced against strong competition. In addition to Sham, winner of the Santa Anita Derby and runner-up in the Wood Memorial, he beat three-time "Horse of the Year" Forego in the Derby as well as 1972 Derby and Belmont winner Riva Ridge in the first Marlboro Cup.
Big Brown?
By most accounts — and all the oddsmakers — he has beaten nothing but nags. That's not his fault, of course, but it raises questions.
Great horse? Or great hype?
Either way, he's no "Big Red."
Not even close.



MORE BIG BROWN

Finally, someone wrote about that really cool SPOT he has behind his left-fore elbow...

"You believe that the spot was placed there by the hand of God." - Eddie Woods
http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2008/writers/tim_layden/05/20/preakness0526/




BUILDING AWARENESS

The topic is rampant - the TORONTO STAR had a giant story on Derby day, the NEW YORK TIMES on Preakness day and HBO had that incredible documentary.
HORSE SLAUGHTER...
check out this little newscast about SUGAR CREEK AUCTION in the US

(FYI, it's tough to watch and yet just listening to those people makes you just shake your head)

http://www.wkyc.com/video/player.aspx?aid=64287&bw




AND from The Rail Blog at the New York Times..

Gina Rarick, a trainer overseas writes mentions this GOOD IDEA..

Since last year, thoroughbred breeders and owners have been allowed to declare on a horse’s papers that the animal is not intended for human consumption, so therefore cannot be slaughtered.

This coincides with the formation of Ligue pour la Protection du Cheval, which is funded by France Galop, the governing body of racing in France, and by check-offs from owners and trainers who agree to contribute a percentage of purses.

The Ligue will take possession of racehorses that can no longer compete, provide veterinary care for injuries and then place the horse in a new job or in retirement, depending on the age and ability of the horse. The Ligue retains possession of the animal for life, to avoid unscrupulous new owners selling the horse on for slaughter ....

read more..http://therail.blogs.nytimes.com/2008/05/20/they-eat-horses-there-dont-they/


QUIZ ANSWER


GILDED TIME, standing in Alberta for the first time this year, is leading all Canadian sires by earnings. No, he's not very Canadian, but he'll have more Canadian-breds soon.