MAKE A WISH

106TH KING EDWARD BREEDERS' CUP
Race named for Edward VII

Course is going to be quite SOFT...


The King Edward Breeders' Cup is one of Woodbine's oldest races.

It has lost much of its lustre in recent years as far as good fields but still offers a huge purse and Grade 2 status.

Named for Edward VII of the United Kingdom who had been crowned king in 1901, the race was created the following year with its first running taking place in 1903 as the King Edward Gold Cup. It was raced on dirt at the Old Woodbine Park until 1958 when it was moved to Woodbine Racetrack and changed to a turf race. Renamed the King Edward Breeders' Handicap in 2007 .

FRENCH BERET wants giving grass but will he be able to beat the very promising SOCIETY'S CHAIRMAN, a Canadian bred 5yo by Not Impossible out of the Olympion mare Athena's Smile?

The Chairman has the same owner, trainer and jock (and sire!) as Plate winner NOT BOURBON.

All the other grass races today figure to be taken off the turf - rain is expected all day and much of the weekend.



SOAP OPERA
Sudsy Baby wins!

The feature at Woodbine yesterdsay, race 3 an allowance optional claimer for non-winners of 3 'other than' was as much a story about SUDSY BABY winning her first race since JULY 2006 as it was the odds-on choice WHISPER TO ME fnishing a very bad last in the field of 5.
Sudsy Baby pressed the front running Rushen Heat (trained by Barry Abrams) all the way and won a stretch battle by about a length at a fat 10 to 1. The Florida bred is by Lite the Fuse and is trained by Roger Attield for Winston Penny.

There's a nice one in the works in STRAY CAT STRIDE, Ian Jamieson's homebred Cat's At Home colt out of Hasta Pronto by El Prado.
The colt had dead-heated for a maiden win last time in his 2nd career start and then was ultra tough on the pace yesterday to win an allowance race in 1:11.23 after battling Bold Finale to the wire.
He is trained by Danny O'Callaghan.


OTHER WINNERS


IZKRA won her 2nd consecutive race in the 1st event for $19,000, non-winners of 3. The Knob Hill Farms homebred by Iskandar Elakbar our ot Volterra, Cool Victor was riden by Jerry Baird. Kevin Attard trains the 5-year-old.

HIGH TABLE was the logical winner of race 2 for Rolph Davis and Robert Tiller. The Kentucky bred by High Yield won the non-winners of 3 with a 3 wide stalking trip and wore down front runner Spectacular Humor to win handily in the drop from $37,500 to $20,000. Emma Wilson was riding the gelding. A rallying Gold Cahet, off since last December, was 2nd.

RACE 4- Sometimes when you do all the right things to get a win, especially with a horse that has not won in a while, it still doesn't work. DASHING MONTY was plunging in for $12,500 yesterday, adding blinkers and he had some good back Beyer Figures. But he was sent hard to the lead, very hard, went too fast, and stopped to last.
Meanwhile DOWN RANGE came off a huge layoff from January at Tampa 9where he was beaten 35 lengths in 2 races,dropped in class as well, and won with a stalking trip.
The owner is Carlo d'Amato and it was trainer Abraham Katryan's 7th win of the season.
A pair of Kings finished the triactor - King's Missile by Golden Missile for Nick DeToro was 2nd and King Tate, who ran a weird race, closing fast late after stalling from the turn to the stretch, was 3rd for Andrew Smith.

Hmmm, INDIAN ARM won the 5th race by a long, long margin after a 3 wide pace duel in the maiden $11,500 sprint.
Okay, the grey 3yo had been 4 to 1 or less in all SIX of his previous races but his form was not great.
His last race? He was 3 to 1 at the same level and distance, cleared the field going 45 4/5 and stopped to be 10th beaten more than 8 lengths.
Why the sudden reversal of form?
Indian Arm was 7 to 1 and is owned/bred by Prairie Star racing, trained by Scott Fairlie and Na Somsanith rode the Mizzen Mast gelding.
The superfecta paid $14,000.

RACE 6 - The quirky JADER was so very, very game in the stretch as he battled all the way from the turn to the wire with TOBE SUAVE and won by a head. The Irish-bred has been strange since he arrived in Canada for Gary Tanaka. He was claimed by Tallyho and Norm McKnight for $25,000 last fall (never won for Tanaka) and was out of sorts the rest of the year.
He surprised with a big win for $11,500 on May 28, flopped in an off-the-turf race for $40K last time and then won for $12,500 yesterday. David Garcia rides him well.

Trainer PETER BERRINGER got his first win of the year when FROBISHER BAY won his maiden at 6 furlongs on the grass in his 12th career start. The Oxbridge Farm homebred is by Dayjur out of a Spend a Buck mare. It was his 2nd race of the year.

There was a good stretch battle in the last race too as BOARDROOM BEAUTY and BRACE YASELFSHEILA battled through the lane to the wire for $16,000 claiming for maidens.
The latter won by a head for Mike Ambler and friends and trainer Ian Black. Corey Fraser gave the filly a nice trip from the 14 post. She is a One Way Love 3yo.




WE WANT CURLIN!!

Thoroughblog picked up a note from the Louisville Courier-Journal a while back about Steve Asmussen and Curlin possibly coming to Woodbine for a gras srace as they prepare for the ARC.

He's by a Canadian-bred sire, out of a mare by a Canadian-bred sire so c'mon guys, bring CURLIN to WOODBINE for a turf race just like the great Secretariat did when he finished his career in 1973.

The DAILY RACING FORM reports that there is some legal troubles with licensing some of the colt's owners in various places - all the places they want to run him.

The timing of Woodbine's grass race, the NIJINSKY STAKES ON AUGUST 4 is not what they want...but who knows?!

Here is an excerpt from the DRF...

Legal web around Curlin
By MATT HEGARTY

LEXINGTON, Ky. - The racing options for the 2007 Horse of the Year, Curlin, have become increasingly complex because of the legal problems surrounding the colt's minority owner, Midnight Cry Stable, jeopardizing Curlin's ability to enter races in Illinois, New York, and France.

Curlin's trainer, Steve Asmussen, has mentioned the July 12 Arlington Handicap at Arlington Park outside of Chicago as a possibility for the 4-year-old colt's next stop and first grass race, but Illinois racing rules may disqualify Midnight Cry from an owner's license there. Similar rules are in place in other states, such as New York, where the July 12 Man o' War, also on grass, would seem to be an option.

In addition, the resolution of the legal problems surrounding Midnight Cry's owners could affect the ability of Curlin to race anywhere in the United States or abroad, racing officials said. Curlin's owners have said they are considering a start this year in the Oct. 5 Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe on the grass at Longchamp in France.



SUFFOLK DOWNS: ZERO TOLERANCE SLAUGHTER POLICY

from the THOROUGHBRED TIMES...


Suffolk Downs has established a new policy holding trainers accountable
when their horses are sold for slaughter.

Sam Elliott, the track’s vice president for racing, has informed the
leadership of the New England Horsemen’s Benevolent and Protective
Association that any trainer found to have sold a horse for slaughter will
have his stalls revoked and be denied stalls at any time in the future.
Elliott said the plan has the complete backing of Richard Fields, the
real estate and casino developer who purchased a controlling interest
in Suffolk Downs last year.
“If a horse goes from here to the slaughterhouse, that’s completely
unacceptable,” Elliott said. “That trainer won’t be here. I don’t think that’s
anybody we’d want to have around. Mr. Fields is a strong believer in the
retirement idea. He’s a big backer of it. The two are incompatible.”
Elliott commended local horsemen and several local Thoroughbred retirement
organizations for offering several options for retiring racehorses

Check out the Thoroughbred Times for more on this story.



DUTROW, ASMUSSEN POSITIVES...ACCIDENTS?

There is a good chance that both recent positives (and trainer Larry Jones also has one) for the top trainers Rick Dutrow and Steve Asmussen are barn mistakes, inadvertant accidents and certainly, the cases are going to be overblown the way racing is these days.
Jockey JEREMY ROSE'S whip incident as well, 6 months suspension, has attracted a ton of press and some think the suspension is too much.
(Daily Racing Form's STEVE CRIST...www.drf.com..today)

Here are Dutrow's comments from yesterday according to www.newsday.com

DUTROW: DRUG SNAFU NOT SUCH A BIG DEAL
from newsday.com

BY JOHN JEANSONNE | john.jeansonne@newsday.com


A drug positive on one of his horses "is not my fault but it is my responsibility," thoroughbred trainer Rick Dutrow acknowledged Friday during a half-hour session with reporters during which he wondered why he is being associated with "all this negative stuff."

Dutrow, a central character during this year's Triple Crown series by saddling Kentucky Derby and Preakness winner Big Brown, earlier stirred criticism in the racing industry by admitting he regularly administered the steroid Winstrol to his horses, including Big Brown, then failed to appear at last week's congressional hearing on horse safety.

Wednesday's news, that the Dutrow-trained Salute the Count - not part of Big Brown's IEAH Stables - was found with more than twice the allowable limit of the bronchial dilator clenbuterol in a May 2 race at Churchill Downs, now has Dutrow facing a 15-day suspension.

"I did a great job with that horse [Big Brown], and you all should be thinking about that and writing about that."

read more at newsday.com


BITS


UNITED THOROUGHBREDS is getting some attention (SEE AD AT RIGHT) AS THE NEWEST SYNDICATION option for folks wanting to race horses at Woodbine. Click in the ad for more info to get one of the last spots in the syndicate!

Today's HOLLYWOOD GOLD CUP lost 7 to 5 morning line choice HEATSEEKER due to an ankle ailment. The race becomes a bettor's delight now..

The FESTIVAL OF RACING at Prairie Meadows started up last night but Canadian-Bred MAREN'S MEADOW was scratched from the IOWA OAKS, won by the Sky Mesa filly STORM MESA.
TIZ NOW TIZ THEN then took the $250,000 Iowa Derby at 5-1 odds for his third consecutive victory.

Jockey DAVID CLARK is back riding today after being in court yesterday . Clark has plead guilty to impaired driving causing death and impaired driving causing bodily harm. His sentencing continues on Sept. 30.



SADDLE TOEWL MANIA

There was a spike in the action at eBay yesterday when some the Queen's Plate saddle towels, signed by the jockeys, started to get bids.

ONLY THREE DAYS LEFT FOLKS...do the right thing and bid on them for LONGRUN THOROUGHBRED RETIREMENT FOUNDATION.

No bids so far on QUEEN'S PLATE WINNER NOT BOURBON ($2,500 reserve) or runner-up GINGER BREW ($1,000).

Sign up for free and go HERE:

http://search.ebay.ca/queens-plate_W0QQ_trksidZm37QQfromZR40QQsatitleZqueenQ27sQ20plate