GRASS KICKIN

Coming up this weekend in racing - Canada's 3rd jewel of the Triple Crown, the Breeders' Stakes, is an age-old classic, read more below..BIG BROWN is up for the Haskell, HARLEM ROCKER will await the Travers (remember a grey Canadian-bred that won the Travers yars ago?)..



BREAKING NEWS -

There are reports this morning that a tentative agreement has been reached between the OLG and the security guards on strike at Woodbine and other locations. Indeedthe presence of picketers at Woodbine has caused much grief for horse racing fans despite the strike not being "targeted" at racing.
(Thoroughblog's comment box gets full from those concerned about the goings-on during this strike, thankfully, it appears to be over)


press release...

OLG and CAW reach tentative agreement

New three-year deal provides enhanced wages, benefits to more than
800 employees

TORONTO, July 30 /CNW/ - Ontario Lottery and Gaming Corporation (OLG) Chief Executive Officer Kelly McDougald and Canadian Auto Workers Union (CAW) Hemi Mitic announced a new three-year tentative agreement reached today between the OLG and its employees represented by the Canadian Auto Workers union (CAW). A series of ratification votes are expected to take place on
Wednesday July 30 in Toronto, Brantford and Sudbury. If successful, OLG is hopeful the facilities at Brantford and Sudbury will re-open this weekend.






BREEDERS' STAKES
SUNDAY AUGUST 3, 2008

HAS A MAIDEN EVER WON IT?



It's quite late in the racing season for a maiden to be one of the favourites for a classic event.
Sunday's Breeders' Stakes, 1 1/2 miles on the grass, the 3rd jewel of the Triple Crown, will be run for the 118th time.

Joseph Seagram owned the first Breeders' winner, HELEN LEIGH, in 1889.

It is hard to imagine that a maiden has won this race in modern history, a brief look at the past winners indicates no. In fact, it has probably been decades since it has been done, maybe it never has.

(photo at right, MARLANG, one of 2 stakes winners entered in Sunday's Breeders' Stakes. He is a son of Langfuhr. www.horse-races.net)


SOLITAIRE is a maiden who will be one of the favourites for the Breeders' on Sunday. He was a wide, closing 3rd in the Queen's Plate in his 3rd career start. He just about won his career debut which came on the grass.

The last 2 winners of the Breeders, MARCHFIELD and ROYAL CHALLENGER, are owned by Eugene Melnyk and Stronach Stables respectively.

Both barns have contenders this year in PALMERS and SLIGOVITZ.

And the last FIVE Breeders;' have been won by either Patrick Husbands or Jono Jones, the latter who won it twice.

(photo right, EAST END TAP, 2nd in the Prince of Wales, is by a classic, long distance grass sire, Pleasant Tap. www.horse-races.net)







10 PREVIOUS BREEDERS' WINNERS

2007 Marchfield Patrick Husbands Mark E. Casse Melnyk Racing Stables
2006 Royal Challenger Patrick Husbands Brian A. Lynch Stronach Stables
2005 Jambalaya Jono Jones Catherine Day Phillips Catherine Day Phillips
2004 A Bit O'Gold Jono Jones Catherine Day Phillips Kingfield Racing Stables
2003 Wando † Patrick Husbands Mike Keogh Gus Schickedanz
2002 Portcullis Slade Callaghan Mark Frostad Sam-Son Farm
2001 Sweetest Thing Jim McAleney Roger Attfield Canino, Werner, Attfield
2000 Lodge Hill Mike E. Smith Todd Pletcher Eugene Melnyk/R. Bristow Farm
1999 Free Vacation Laurie Gulas Roger Attfield M. & P. Canino
1998 Pinafore Park Robert Landry Roger Attfield Anderson & Ferguson


THIS YEAR'S BREEDERES' FIELD - POSSIBLE LINEUP

CRYPTONITE KID - Cryptoclearance-Cozy Up Doc, Explove Red
$28, 918 yearling
Bred by Paul Ponnopspri,Phil Teinowitz (Alberta)
Owner: Class Action Trainer Dan Vella

DEPUTIFORMER Silver Deputy-Barney's Mistress, Dynaformer.
$90,000 yearling
Bred by Windfields Farm (Ontario). Owned David James. TrainerMike DePaulo.

DYLAN'S CHOICE Silgo Bay-Grooms Derby, Groomstick
$3,500 yearling
Bred by Adena Springs
owner: Winter Road Racing Corp. Trainer Desmond Maynard

EAST END TAP - Pleasant tao-East End Lady, On to Glory
Bred by Jim Sabiston (Ontario)
Owner: Sheikh Yobuti Stable Reade Baker
$42,000 yearling

GO IN PEACE - Northern Strike-Host of Royalty, Native Royalty
Bred by Silver Duck Racing (Ontario)
Owned by Silver Duck Racing Suzanne Drake

MAMMA'S KNIGHT - Ascot Knight-Bob's Choice, French Deputy
$19,881 yearling
Bred by Auchamore Stud
Owner: Mike Kowalski. Trainer: Sam DiPasquale

MARLANG Langfuhr-Marienburg, by Conquistador Cielo
Bred by Gus Schickedanz
Owner: Gus Schickedanz. Trainer: Debbie England

PALMERS Grand Slam-Edy's Village, Silver Deputy
Bred by Eugene Melnyk
Owner: Eugene Melnyk. Trainer Mark Casse

PRONGER Stormin Fever-Our Lady's Wish, Secret Clairm
Bred by Jamwes , Arika, Janeane Everatty (Ontario)
Owner: Mario Forgione Trainer: Mike DePaulo

SLIGOVITZ Sligo Bay-Ms Deep Pockets, Buckaroo
Breeder: Adena Springs (Ontario)
Owner: Stronach Stables Brian Lynch

SOLITAIRE Victory Gallop-Ring Star, Great Gladiator
Bred by Windways Farm Ontario
Owner: William Clifton Jr. Trainer: James Bond



WEDNESDAY NIGHT LIGHTS


Eight races tonight with the feature being the 7th for fillies and mares , allowance/optional claimer, non-winners 2 'other than'.

More interesting is the last race, a maiden A allowance with a couple of youngsters coming out of the very fast race from July 9 won by Grazettes Landing (94 Beyer).

GALILEAN (Gal-il- layin) is a homebred for Silver Duck Racing of Suzanne and Tim Drake (who have a horse in the Breeders' Stakes) and he was 2nd to Grazettes Landing. He is a Piccilo Pete gelding.

HAT TRICK KID (Trajectory) was 3rd in the race another 3 3/4 lengths behind Galilean for Sue Leslie et al.

Also in the dash is the 2nd starter for Horse of the Year WAKE AT NOON, named AWAKE BY NOON. And KNIGHT'S QUEST, a firster by Ascot Knight for Kingfield Racing Ltd. has had some big workouts in company as he has prepped for his debut.

Don't forget THE SCORE'S 1-2-3 contest, enter for free and pick your winners.....
check out www.thescore.ca and cloick on Contests.

*Note - no racing tomorrow as we head into a long holiday weekend...



HENRY TO NAVIGATE GLORIOUS GOODWOOD

GROUP 1 SUSSEX STAKES TODAY..

(from Press Association)


Henry older than his years - Murtagh

19 hours ago

Johnny Murtagh is bullish about Henrythenavigator proving up to the task as he takes on his elders for the first time in the BGC Sussex Stakes at Goodwood.

The Aidan O'Brien-trained colt has shown himself to be the king among milers of his own generation by winning three Group Ones this season. He completed a Classic double with two victories over subsequent Derby winner New Approach in the English and Irish 2000 Guineas and then beat Raven's Pass in the St James's Palace Stakes.

"He's in good form and his work has been good since Royal Ascot. It is his first run back since Royal Ascot but the trainer is happy with him and I rode work on him the other morning and he felt great. It's his first time against the older horses but I am really looking forward to it," said Murtagh.

Raven's Pass is expected to provide the main opposition to the odds-on favourite from his own generation while connections of the two older horses in the field, the four-year-olds Major Cadeaux and Tariq, appreciate the task facing their charges.

Tariq, winner of last year's Betfair Cup over Goodwood's seven furlongs, goes in search of a first Group One success as he bids to prove he truly stays a mile. After finishing a highly-promising third in the Lockinge Stakes over this trip, the Peter Chapple-Hyam-trained runner could make no impact in the Queen Anne Stakes.

"It was one of those things at Ascot, but he likes Goodwood and he looks a million dollars," said Tony Nerses, racing manager to owners Saleh Al Homaizi and Imad Al Sagar.

"He should stay the mile, we hope he does and he's in terrific form. We are going to roll the dice and see what our luck will bring. With the likes of Henry and Raven's in the race one can only hope."

Major Cadeaux's trainer Richard Hannon said: "We are probably running for a place but ours is in good form and has had a break. We'll give him (Henrythenavigator) a race."



POLYTRACK OR DIRT?
Zito says no, Casse says yes

Yesterday at the Fasig Tipton sales pavillion, trainers such as Nick Zito, Todd Pletcher, Mark Casse and Dale Romans discussed their feelings about Polytrack versus dirt.
Many papers did stories about it, here is an excerpt from one...the PostStar


EXCERPT: The great debate: Polytrack vs. Dirt

By TIM McMANUS
tmcmanus@poststar.com


SARATOGA SPRINGS - Nick Zito and Mark Casse sat a few feet away from each other at the Fasig Tipton Sales Pavillion on Tuesday afternoon. As far as their vision for the future of horse racing, they may as well have been on different planets.

Along with Todd Pletcher and Dale Romans, they were here to discuss racing on synthetic surfaces, thought by some to lessen the risk of injury and breakdowns for horses.

The all-day symposium, organized by the New York State Taskforce on Retired Horses, also included input from jockeys, track owners, and veterinarians.

No one more starkly illustrated the divide in the industry than Casse, who runs his horses almost exclusively on synthetics, and Zito, who keeps his on dirt. Their sharpest difference occurred over the future of the Triple Crown if either Churchill Downs, Pimlico or Belmont where to switch to synthetics.

"If you went to synthetics, you'd change history," Zito said. "You'd change the whole thing."

"I hate to rock the boat…but our industry is in big trouble," Casse countered. "What is more important, history or our great sport to continue? We're a few more Eight Belles away from being done."

High profile fatalities like Eight Belles' death in the Kentucky Derby last year and Barbaro's injury in the Preakness have thrust the issue of safety into the public consciousness. In the past few years, Keeneland and Turfway in Kentucky, as well as all of the state tracks in California, including Santa Anita, where the Breeders Cup will be run the next two years, have switched to synthetics.

Casse, who trains out of Woodbine, a synthetic Polytrack surface in Toronto, says the difference in his horses since the switch two years ago has been dramatic.

Casse said in two years he's made 13,000 training runs and 425 starts on synthetics and has had two fatal breakdowns. He said his horses had seven tibia fractures during the time, and three came on conventional dirt.

In season-ending X-Rays of his horses, he found the incidence of operations necessary to remove bone chips down from 20 percent to five percent since the switch. His horses also encountered none of the soft tissue injuries that some claim comes as result of synthetics.