NUMBERS

ROMP IN THE MEADOW

Canadian-bred MAREN'S MEADOW (photo at right by Cindy Pierson Dulay is from this spring) , bred in Ontario by Ted Burnett's JOSHAM FARMS rolled to a 4 1/2 length win in the Grade 3 MONMOUTH OAKS yesterday and is headed to the Breeders' Cup.
The MEADOWLAKE-GOLD LIAKA, YUKON filly is a 3yo who was sold for $25,000 as a yearling.
She had already won the Bourbonette Stakes this year and was 7th in the Black Eyed Susan Stakes after losing a shoe.
Rover Ridge Ranch owns the filly and Larry Jones trains.



RING THE BELL FOR CHANTAL

Jock wins 5 of Woodbine card,
has two 2nds


The big story at WOODBINE on Saturday, other than the weather, and was the cleaning up procession by jockey CHANTAL SUTHERLAND who won 5 races, half the card and probably could have won 2 more (one was a big favourite).

(Photo from Mike Smith's website of Chantal, Mike and Azeri)


While her cohort EMMA-JAYNE WILSON was out of town riding SECRET GETAWAY in the Grade 1 SECRETARIAT STAKES (read more below), SUTHERLAND took over the racing at the home track.

Her fives wins pulled her even with Wilson in the jocks standings while both chase Jim McAleney.

Sutherland won the stakes race on the card, stealing away what appared to be the 1st stakes winner for TYLER PIZARRO in the final yards when her filly SUGAR BAY was up to win the 7 furlong DUCHESS STAKES by a tiny nose.
George Strawbridge's homebred filly by his own stallion SYNCLINE raced 7 furlongs over a very wet and springy Polytrack in 1:22 1/5.

Sugar Bay beat Pizarro's mount VERDANA BOLD who took the lead off the turn and led very late. The early pace in the race was so very slow - champion DANCING ALLSTAR was bent in half down the backstretch by Jim McAleney but stopped to a walk anyway - that the deep closers had no chance.

The results on the day - when it simply never stopped raining, and the thunder and lightning was frequent for the last part of the card - saw the highest priced horse pay just 8 to 1.

Here's a wrap of some of the winners:

SUTHERLAND SCORES: STORM THE CASTLE in race 3 won a dull 1 1/2 maiden allowance that came off the grass but gosh he won by 21 LENGTHS!.
Okay,so it was a bad field of maidens and the race went in 2:30 4/5 but the Smart Strike colt from the Sam-Son Farms sured loved the trip and the Poly.

OURANIA finally won for the first time this year with the drop from $40K to $25K in race 4. She came from less than 6 lengths back to go past a very brave Brahms Beauty to win for trainer Dave Bell for trains the filly for a partnership.

DOZEN DANCER won a bizarre 8th race, an allowance/optional claimer that came off the grass. The race was wiped out by scratches and everyone was left scramling to re-adjust their picks.
Main track onyl SALTY LANGFUHN was the fave, stakes placed SOCIETY'S CHAIRMAN was well bet and recent grass winner SAFETY ZONE was another contender. But it was the Chief Seatle fellow Dozen Dancer who held off the really good RYE ON THE ROCKS to win by a nose.

SALTY LANGFUHN was vanned off - the 2nd Steve Asmussen trainee to be vanned off this week.
SOCIETY'S CHAIRMAN was eased up.

And BOLD COURSE won her career debut under Sutherland with a last minute surge to win by - a nose! That was race 9 for maiden allowance fillies. JOhn Unger's homebred was 7 to 1 and not really fancied by many (even the red-hot trainer Debbie England was not brimming with confidence) but she won over favoured CORBIN'S BAY anyway as that filly seemed to defiitely fall asleep in the 5-6 length lead into the stretch.




SUGAR BAY'S DUCHESS WRAP
from Woodbine media


TORONTO, August 9 - Sugar Bay closed determinedly in the stretch to
capture Saturday's $150,000 Duchess Stakes at Woodbine.

For the Augustin Stable homebred, the seven-furlong event was her first
career stakes victory and third victory lifetime from nine starts.

The chesnut three-year-old filly tagged Verdana Bold, who stalked the
pace from fourth, in the shadow of the wire for the nose score.
Gloriously finished third after prompting the pace.

Sugar Bay, who was ridden by Chantal Sutherland, traveled seven
furlongs in 1:22.38.

The Ontario-bred, who finished sixth in the Woodbine Oaks and fourth in
the Bison City, saved ground in sixth, advanced on the inside around the
turn and angled outside in the stretch.

Sutherland asked her for her best inside the furlong marker and she
caught Verdana Bold right at the wire.

"I was hoping," said Sutherland when asked if she thought she would be
up in time. "I wasn't really sure. I knew I had some momentum. I was
lucky to sneak through on the rail when I did. It just all worked out,"
said Sutherland.

"The two times I've rode her, she's given be (ME) great
(late) run."

Sugar Bay appears to have found a niche sprinting. She is 3-for-3 in
races less than one mile in 2008.

Trainer Mac Benson said two key ingredients worked in sync to get the
daughter of Syncline to relax.

"Time and patience," said Benson, of the filly who elevated her
earnings to $215,460.

Sugar Bay returned $9.60, $4.60, $3.60, combining with Verdana Bold
($4.10, $3.50) for a $40.80 exactor. Gloriously ($4) rounded out a
triactor worth $150.50.



MAURALAKANA (photo by Vaness Ng from earlier this year) is a monster. She won her 4th stakes event in succession yesterday in the GRADE 1 BEVERLY D.







WILD RACE-RIDING IN ARLINGTON MILLION

ARCHIPENKO may have been
best

Read the story from PRESS ASSOCIATION:


SPIRIT ONE IN A MILLION - OUI!

Mike De Kock was less than happy after Archipenko was edged out by French raider Spirit One in the Arlington Million in Chicago.

The Philippe Demercastel-trained winner bounced out of the gates under Ioritz Mendizabal and was soon at the head of affairs. Aidan O'Brien's Mount Nelson came to challenge the leader in the back straight but could not sustain that effort under Johnny Murtagh.

Archipenko, winner of the Summer Mile at Ascot last month, travelled strongly throughout in behind those two rivals but failed to get the gaps at a crucial stage and flashed home to take second.

De Kock was furious with Murtagh's ride on Mount Nelson and said: "There was no need for Johnny to keep us in like that. That is the most ungentlemanly piece of riding I have seen in a long time. I am very surprised at Johnny, it was as if he was looking at the horse from the start."

Archipenko's jockey Kevin Shea added: "I had so much horse I should have never lost. Johnny had me trapped and when it was time to go, I begged him to let me go and he wouldn't let me through."

In contrast, Demercastel was delighted with his charge and admits he could be tempted to return to America for the Breeders' Cup meeting at Santa Anita.

The trainer said: "I was always confident as everything in the preparation had gone really well." When asked about the Breeders' Cup meeting, for which he will now have an automatic entry, Dermercastel added: "Why not? We will give him time off as this was a tough race and he has never travelled before."

The Dermot Weld-trained Winchester ran out a hugely impressive winner of the Secretariat Stakes under Rene Douglas.

Hot favourite Tizdejavu led the field in the early stages of the mile and a quarter contest but Winchester swept past him soon after turning for home. The three-year-old went further clear in the straight and scored readily from O'Brien's Plan, giving Ireland a 1-2 in the Grade One contest.

Weld said: "When he won his maiden he beat the filly who won the Irish Oaks (Moonstone) and she is obviously top-class. I think he's a very progressive horse and I will need to discuss it with the owners, but don't be surprised if you see him come back for the Breeders' Cup Turf."


TODAY AT WOODBINE 2 STAKES - in same PICK 4 -

and more rain coming!!

The VANDAL for ONTARIO-FOALED 2yo colts is a 5 horse field but it's a decent match-up between rivals BUCEPHALUS (Cape Canaveral) and El Brujo (Candy Ride).

The WITH APPROVAL STAKES, scheduled for the grass (the course is simply water logged right now) could give George Strawbridge back-to-back stakes wins on the weekend - ICE BEAR is the likely winner if the grass stays on turf.

The CARRYOVER in the PICK 7 is $30,565 ACCORDING TO EQUIBASE.



CASSE WINS 1,000 RACE
FROM WOODBINE MEDIA


TORONTO, August 9 - Trainer Mark Casse celebrated his 1,000th victory
after Saturday's first race at Woodbine.

The Toronto oval's top two-year-old trainer for the past 10 years,
captured the milestone in a $66,000 maiden allowance with two-year-old
filly Laragh, a second-time starter by Tapit.

"It's exciting. It's nice to have everybody come up and congratulate
you," said Casse. "If you told me when I started I was going to win
1,000 races, I would be happy and excited about it."

The gray filly was piloted by Patrick Husbands, with whom Casse has
teamed for 451 victories.

"It was nice to do it with Patrick (Husbands). He's been a big part of
it," offered Casse.

Over the past week, as the 47-year-old trainer approached the
milestone, he said it's given him time to put the achievement into
perspective

"It's given me time to reflect upon all the places I've been and all
the different things that have happened during my career," said Casse, a
two-time Sovereign Award winner as Canada's Outstanding Trainer.

The Indianapolis native said his son, assistant trainer Norman Casse,
Jr., alerted him to the upcoming plateau.

"I hadn't even thought about it," said Casse. "Norm had first mentioned
it to me last fall or this past winter. He said, 'Dad. You're going to
get your 1,000th winner sometime this year.'"

Casse's 998th winner came at Saratoga with Skipadate. With the stable
operating a small contingent at Saratoga and racing a couple of horses
in stakes at Assiniboia Down, there was a chance that the milestone
could have been clinched away from Woodbine.

"I would have been disappointed had we done it somewhere else," said
Casse. "Honestly, I really wanted to do it at Woodbine."

On and off the track, Casse said he feels like he's an ambassador for
Woodbine, where he's won 545 races since starting his local stable in
1998.

"Everywhere I travel, everyone looks at me as being from Woodbine. When
I'm running somewhere else or talking about track surfaces, I feel like
I'm representing Woodbine. That's important to me.

"I have the greatest respect for David Willmot and the team that he's
put together. It's second to none. I'm proud to be considered part of
Woodbine. To win it somewhere else wouldn't have been as rewarding."



LECTURING LYNN SCHOOL FIELD Pulpit filly wins $100K race at Northlands Canadian Derby coming up Aug 23. by Jonathan Huntington

Tracy McCarthy couldn't get to Northlands Park to see the Sonoma Stakes - but the result was perfect.

The trainer of Lecturing Lynn planned on coming to Edmonton yesterday to watch the $100,000 race, but her flight was cancelled in Vancouver. Her fine filly didn't care, though, as she romped to a two-length victory in the highlight three-year-old filly race of the year in this city. "

We were quietly confident," said Edmonton-based conditioner Stu Simon, who has been handling the filly at Northlands Park this summer while McCarthy continued to be based in Vancouver. Sent to the front from Post 2 in the one-mile and one-sixteenth test by jockey Quincy Welch, Lecturing Lynn was tested for the entire first lap of the track by favourite Broken Hearted.

In 29 C heat, some sophomore thoroughbreds might have spit the bit and quit. But not Lecturing Lynn.

"I think that is her running style. I watched the replays from Vancouver and she likes to be up there and competitive," said Welch. "Last time I couldn't really give you an excuse for why she ran like she did."


That last race - the Northlands Oaks at the same long distance - proved to be too much for the daughter of Pulpit, as she faded to be fourth. But a sharp workout since that defeat tipped her hand that she was ready for another shot at a one-mile and one-sixtenth test. Welch also helped her cause yesterday by keeping her relaxed in the seven minutes from the post parade to the load into the starting gate. "I wanted to keep her calm," said Welch. "That helped a lot."
READ MORE AT

http://www.edmontonsun.com/Sports/OtherSports/2008/08/10/6404581-sun.html