ANOTHER BIG WEEKEND

BIG BROWN, WIN AND YOU'RE IN at Woodbine and just a month until the big racing day locally on Oct. 4.

Lots of rains expected today through Sunday so there is not likely to be much grass racing and the Natalma (the dam of Northern Dancer, photo at right from Canadian Horse Racing Hall of Fame) a 2yo filly race and a WIN AND YOU'RE IN event (well, there are 3 gals in the race who are not Breeders' Cup eligible, so technically, they wouldn't be automaticall in - they are Freyga, Koonunga Hill and After the Applause) could be run over a soft surface.



UTTERLY EXCITING

Certainly it is too early to start hailing any 2yo a super horse as many in the mainstream media tends to do at this time of year.
Nut it is hard not to get a bit keyed up by the sizzler by UTTERLY COOL yesterday in the prep for the SUMMER STAKES, a Win and You're In event coming up on Oct. 4 at Woodbine.
Of course, the Summer is sure to attarct something good from the U.S. and already some have declared trainer Mark Casse as the holder of a likely Summer winner, but UTTERLY COOL is 2 for 2 in his career, both on turf, and he was barely asked for run in his 7 1/2 length romp yesterday.
Oh yes, his Beyer for the 7 furlongs in 1:23 4/5 was an 86.
Owned and bred by Mel Lawson's Jim Dandy Stable (Ginger Gold, Jiggs Coz etc. lately), Utterly Cool is a Smoke Glacken steel grey out of the Housebuster mare Destroy.

The longer distances could very well play havoc with this colt but drawing off at 7 furlongs suggests he is okay at a one-turn mile.

DESTROY is a daughter of Lawson's super filly from years ago, ETERNAL SEARCH. Destroy has produced good turf and dirt sprinters Search the Church, Morado and Quench.


Speaking of undefeated 2yo's, the quick filly HIGH MIST made it 2 for 2 in race 7 at 6 1/2 furlongs. The Olmodavor-High Humidty gal, owned by Wendy Anderson and N.C. Stable and trained by Reade Baker, ran an 82 Beyer Figure for 6 1/2 furlongs in 1:16 4/5. She is an Ontario bred.

OTHER WINNERS

RACE 1- The famed Hendire silks were in the winner's circle on TRADE FAIR, a grey Langfuhr miss bred by the Everatt family. The fily rallied from far back to win the $19,000 claimer for fillies & mares, non-winners of 2 for trainer Mike Doyle.

RACE 2 - What a beautiful ride by Constant Montpellier on the 2yo PURE PASSION, , who also took a huge class drop from maiden allowance to maiden claiming to help him get over the maiden hump. The Porto Foricos gelding, bred by Gus Schickedanz, was wrangled off the pace in his first attempt at 7 furlongs, covered up between rivals and then got lucky when a path opened up on the rail off the turn. He had lots left thanks to the thinking of his rider.
The youngster is owned by Schickedanz, Howard, Kenny and O'Leary.

RACE 3- Predictable win by invader CARGO MATE, saddled by Julia Carey, who claimed the 3yo colt by Greatness to his 3rd career win in 12 races fpr $37,500 claiming. The colt had not raced since March.

Tough races for American Signature, who raced like a wild horse o nthe pace and ran out of gas and WOOKIN TO RUN, who swooped rivals into the turn while very wide but moved too soon and predictably stalled.
RACE 4- Owner Anne Perron won again. This time with MEADOW PRINCESS, who took her 3rd score of the year in her 8 starts and posting a 72 Beyer Figure in the $40K claimer.

RACE 6 - RUNOFF TO L.A. won his maiden in his 13th start and was in for $19,000 for Kingfield Farms and Catherine Day Phillips. The 4yo Ontario bred us by Runaway Groom.

In the finale, the 2yo filly BEDTIME STORY looked strong and powerful in er maiden score in her 2nd start and first at a route distance. Corey Fraser, who gets a lot of work from Mark Casse but had not been lucky enough to win many races for the trainer, as board this nice one by Pleasantly Perfect. The Beyer was a 67.



KEENELAND DAY 4

ROGER ATTFIELD paid $215,000 as agent for a Kentucky bred filly by Tiznow out of the unraced Storm Cat mare Storm Reply, a daughter of Grade 1 wnner Phone Chatter.

A Canadian-bred colt by Smart Strike-Bienandanz by Bien Bien sold for $240,000 by Windfields Farms, agent II to Blandford Bloodstock.

A Canadian (Ontario) bred colt by Stormy Atlantic out of Enchanted Spell, a half to stakes winner Galadriel and currenlt stajes placed 2yo El Brujo, colt for $155,000 by Warrendale Sales, agent for Whitechurch Farm to Mark Dedomenico LLC.

Cam Allard paid $210,00 for an ONtario bred Street Cry filly out of Marvellous Silver, .sold by Windfields Farm, agent.

DONVER STABLES bought of Giant's Causeway filly and a half sister to Brother Derek for $280,000. The filly is a Califonia-bred.

And Adena Springs, through Hidden Brook, sold an Ontario bred Awesome Again-Moonlight Affair colt for $250,000 to Ben Glass. The filly is a half sister to stakes placed Love You Crazy (who sells in November at Keeneland).


ROAD RAGE- Historic street racing in CAVALLI , ITALY taken last week and on the page for Speccicchio on www.flckr.com










JOCKEY CLUB BREEDING STATS

2007 Jockey Club breeding statistics

Location mares bred live foals live foals Change

Kentucky 21,938 14,801 15,040 +1.6%
Florida 6,489 4,063 3,593 -11.6%
California 4,723 3,131 3,004 -4.1%
Louisiana 4,217 2,016 2,009 -0.3%
New York 2,067 1,316 1,098 -16.6%
Texas 2,290 1,213 1,055 -13.0%
New Mexico 1,952 997 911 -8.6%
Maryland 1,439 966 811 -16.0%
Ontario 1,455 783 768 -1.9%
Oklahoma 1,684 601 704 +17.1%
Pennsylvania 1,148 550 533 -3.1%


Province - Stallion Count- Mares bred - Live foals- %

Alberta 82 796 312 39
British Columbia 56 728 316 43
Manitoba 20 130 58 45
New Brunswick 1 1 1 100
Ontario 98 1,455 768 53
Saskatchewan 23 156 36 23


2008 live foals by Stallion'Ontario


STALLION MARES BRED FOALS %

Ascot Knight 13 6 46
Best of the Bests (Ire) 88 56 64
Bold Executive 48 26 54
Bold n’ Flashy 11 2 18
Dance to Destiny 14 8 57
Devil Begone 20 13 65
Domasca Dan 22 15 68
Fort Chaffee 12 5 42
Gone Fishin 16 2 13
Guaranteed Gold 15 8 53
Gun Power 14 2 14
Hubba Hubba 11 5 45
Impeachment 27 8 30
Kinshasa 13 5 38
Line of Departure 15 11 73
Mobil 38 23 61
Mr. Jester 44 21 48
Mr. Scotty 18 3 17
Niigon 91 49 54
Old Forester 123 70 57
One Way Love 38 25 66
Paynes Bay 17 10 59
Peaks and Valleys 47 29 62
Philanthropist 60 37 62
Saffir 16 8 50
Sambuca On Ice 17 7 41
Sardegna 17 6 35
Simple Faith 10 8 80
Solomon’s Decree 13 3 23
Strut the Stage 33 26 79
Survivalist 70 39 56
Swampster 15 2 13
Tejano Run 26 11 42
Tomahawk 35 21 60
Trajectory 63 34 54
Union Place 12 9 75
Valid N Bold 17 10 59
Where’s the Ring 37 23 62
Whiskey Wisdom 34 15 44



STATEN ISLAND ADVANCE TRACKSIDE

Big Brown faces his elders

Will Big Brown be a big bust?

There is always the chance that this 3-year-old colt, a stunning failure in his Triple Crown crusade in June and a routine winner over lackluster members of his age group in the Haskell on dirt last month, will get beat by older horses in the $500,000 Monmouth Stakes on grass tomorrow.

At least that seems to be the opinion of trainers Kieran McLaughlin and Bobby Frankel, and if these master conditioners think they have a good shot, we agree entirely.

Big Brown has won three Grade 1s on the main course: The Kentucky Derby, Preakness and Haskell. His lone start on turf was in his debut, in which he romped but only over maidens at Saratoga more than one year ago.

Facing 10 older grass performers, including a number who have won graded-stakes races on the sod, Big Brown could be vulnerable. He will probably go as favorite, but perhaps not at less than even money.

Read the rest at...
http://blog.silive.com/trackside/2008/09/big_brown_faces_his_elders.html



PRESS RELEASE
ONTARIO RACING COMMISSION

Welfare, safety and control of the horse: Productive Working Session on use of the whip

Toronto, ON – Over 50 representatives of the horse racing community attended a special working session yesterday in Mississauga to share their opinions on the use of the whip in Ontario horse racing. While there were varying opinions on the subject, the group agreed ‘the status quo’ was not an acceptable option, change was indeed required, and that the racing industry and the general public expect it.
The meeting, held at the invitation of the Executive Director of the Ontario Racing Commission (ORC), was an opportunity to make suggestions on the direction the industry should take, as well as suggest necessary changes to the rules and/or practices within the industry.
In terms of moving forward and next steps, there was a general acceptance of some “working principles,” including:
• A recognition that the use of the whip is a necessary “tool” in racing;
• An identification of the key considerations relating to its use, such as,
􀂾 The welfare of the horse, based on good research and science
􀂾 The safety for racing participants (including the horse)
􀂾 Simple, clear and consistent rules (and enforcement)
􀂾 Customer/public perception and education
􀂾 Support growth of the customer base


The “next steps” recommended by the group:

1. Establish breed-specific working groups to further explore necessary changes, and include cross-breed representation in each group;
2. Investigate innovations in equipment or technological changes as options to whips currently in use; and
3. Conduct customer surveys and focus groups on a variety of related subjects, such as what constitutes acceptable versus unacceptable practice.

Representatives of the horse racing community attending the meeting included current and retired jockeys and drivers, horsepeople associations, racetracks, animal welfare agencies and the equine veterinarian community. A list of attendees is appended to this release.
Submissions provided to the ORC prior to the meeting are available for viewing from the main page on the ORC website at www.ontarioracingcommission.ca. The information includes the actual submissions, as well as background articles, Letters to the Editor, statistics, and existing rules from Ontario and other jurisdictions. The ORC will continue to post material on this issue as it is received going forward.

The ORC believes this close examination of the degree of acceptability of the practice is both appropriate and timely, within the framework of social responsibility and concern for the welfare of the horse.


Contact:

http://www.ontarioracingcommission.ca/initiatives.aspx?id=506