FOR THE KIPPER

BLACK ATTACK!

Trainer Ian Black (pictured below with wife Janet at the Sovereign Awards) has 2 shots at a WOODBINE
MILE UPSET with WOLLEMI PINE (Kinghaven Farms, Harvey Clarke, Greg Thompson) and RAHY'S ATTORNEY (Ellie Boje et al) , pictured below







WOODBINE MILE 12
Sunday Sept. 7, 1 mile, turf, $1 million

PROBABLE FIELD FOR THE WOODBINE MILE

Horse/Owner/Trainer/Jockey


Ice Bear/Augustin Stable/Mac Benson/Chantal Sutherland

Last 3 Beyers: 94, 92, 98

*Quirky fellow just won a Polytrack stake for Canadian-breds by a nose

Just Rushing/Tucci Stables/Sid Attard/Jim McAleney

Last 3 Beyers: 102, 99, 95

*Old-timer won the Play the King just 2 weeks ago, running a career best Beyer

Kip Deville/IEAH Stables, Pegasus, Roberts & Cohen/Richard Dutrow
Jr./Cornelio Velasquez

Last 3 Beyers: 109. 105, 108

*Breeders' Cup Mile champ has not lost since 2nd in the Woodbine Mile last year


Mulmur/Sam-Son Farm/Mark Frostad/Eurico Rosa da Silva

Last 3 Beyers: 96, 100, 75

*Fast improving Sam-Son gelding has blossomed since getting to the grass

Rahy's Attorney/Ellie Boje Farm, Mitch Peters, Dean Read & Jim and Jean
MacLellan/Ian Black/Slade Callaghan

Last 3 Beyers: 93, 85, 94

*He's been in races too long for him, not on grass but a turf mile is best

Ventura/Juddmonte Farms Inc./Robert Frankel/Garrett Gomez

Last 3 Beyers: 102, 103, 92

*Filly is a Grade 1 winner with a strong stretch kick

Wollemi Pine/Kinghaven Farms, Harvey Clarke & Greg Thompson/Ian
Black/Emma-Jayne Wilson

Last 3 Beyers: 99,99, 95

*Stretch runner comes off a pair of top efforts and traded blows with Just Rushing


MEGA PICKS!!

Fans...fon't forget to enter the MEGAPICK CONTEST put on by Woodbine starting with the WOODBINE MILE..

A free-to-enter, lottery-style contest called the Woodbine $1,000,000
Megapick asks fans to choose the exact order of finish for the entire
field from three of Woodbine's six Breeders' Cup Challenge Series races,
the Woodbine Mile on September 7, the Natalma Stakes on September 14 and
the Pattison Canadian International on October 4.

The contest, powered by 123racing.com, opens after the draw for the
Woodbine Mile on September 4 and runs through to October 4. You can
enter at www.theracetrack.ca. It's powered by Racingworld Technology
Limited.

For each race, the fan who can predict the correct first-to-last finish
for any one of the races (Woodbine Mile, Natalma, Pattison Canadian
International) will win $100,000.

If one fan can predict the order of finish for all three races, they
will receive all three $100,000 prizes, as well as a $700,000 bonus,
totaling $1,000,000!

If no one predicts the exact order of finish of any one race, a
consolation prize of $10,000 will be awarded to the individual who gets
closest to the exact order in that race.

There's an added bonus for those who play. After making their
selections they can print off a ballot and take it to one of the
participating locations to enter a draw for a trip for two to the
Breeders' Cup. There's one draw for each of these races.

Fans can visit to www.theracetrack.ca to play. Fans can register and
enter their selections onsite at other WEG venues (Greenwood, Mohawk,
WEGZ Stadium Bar) through kiosks that go up after each race draw and are
onsite until race day.



from the WOODBINE MEDIA OFFICE:

FRANKEL LOOKING FOR A THIRD WOODBINE MILE WIN

Hall of Fame trainer Bobby Frankel will be looking for his third win in
the Woodbine Mile on Sunday, when he sends out Juddmonte Farms' Ventura
in the Grade 1, $1 million turf classic.

Ventura, a four-year-old daughter of Chester House, has won three of
her five starts this year after campaigning in England as a two and
three-year-old. She'll also try to become the first filly to win the
Woodbine Mile in its 12 editions.

In her last start, the $750,000 CashCall Mile at Hollywood Park on July
5, Ventura dropped a nose decision to Diamond Diva after being rank for
much of the trip.

"She just got beat an inch, but I think the one-turn mile (at Woodbine)
will set up good for her," said Frankel. "I've had five Eclipse
Award-winning fillies, but I'd rate her (Ventura) pretty good."

Frankel saddled Mile winners Riviera, a 10-1 longshot in 2000 and
heavily-favoured Leroidesanimaux in 2005. A win by Ventura would allow
him to tie Neil Drysdale for most Woodbine Mile wins amongst
conditioners.

Ventura will be piloted by North America's leading rider, Garrett
Gomez, who won last year's Woodbine Mile aboard favoured Shakespeare. A
victory would not only tie Gomez with Kent Desormeaux and John Velazquez
at two Mile wins apiece, but he would also become the first rider to win
back-to-back Woodbine Miles.


ICE BEAR TO ICE COMPETITION

He was able to 'Ice' the competition in his last race, but can Ice Bear
maul them all in his biggest race to date, the Grade 1, $1 million
Woodbine Mile?

A gelded son of Maria's Mon, Augustin Stable's Ice Bear enters the Mile
off a gutsy score in the With Approval Stakes on August 10. The
Ontario-bred had a nose for the wire, winning by that margin in the 1
1/8-mile Polytrack event.

"He's a smart horse," said jockey Chantal Sutherland, who was aboard
for the With Approval win. "He's very athletic and he has a ton of
heart. He gives you plenty of pump down the lane. He is a perfect
gentleman."

Trained by Hall of Fame conditioner Mac Benson, Ice Bear, who has
finished worse than fifth just twice in his 16-race career, will look to
keep his perfect record at one mile on the turf - two-for-two - in
Sunday's classic.

With four consecutive races boasting a 90-plus Beyer figure (Daily
Racing Form speed rating) under his saddle, the four-year-old has been
at the top of his game.

Benson hopes he'll be even better on September 7.

"I wish we had gotten more out of him as a two-year-old, but it just
didn't pan out. His three-year-old year was an odd one. He showed
promise, but he didn't always deliver the way you expected. But he has
matured."


STRETCH RUNNING WOLLEMI PINE DANGEROUS PROSPECT IN MILE

Ian Black trainee Wollemi Pine could be a late-running longshot in the
$1 million Woodbine Mile on Sunday.

The Kentucky-bred is three for six in 2008 and has hit the board in his
only two stakes attempts.

"He's greatly improved from three to four. It's definitely maturity,"
said Black.

Owned by Kinghaven Farms, Harvey Clarke and Greg Thompson, Wollemi Pine
rallied smartly to finish second in the recent Play the King Stakes.

"He was getting to (Just Rushing) late. For those kind of horses, the
first quarter (:23.33) was probably slower than we would have liked. If
you look from the half-mile to home and see how quick they ran (:34.25),
that's how quick we would have had to run to catch them."

Wollemi Pine will be ridden by Emma-Jayne Wilson.

Note: The Score will televise the Woodbine Mile live in a special
presentation from 4:00 pm ET - 6:00 pm ET. Post time is 5:35 pm ET. It
will go as Race 9.


EARLY LOOK AT THE $750,000 NORTHERN DANCER, PRESENTED BY V-TECH

Horse/Owner/Trainer/Jockey

Better Talk Now/Bushwood Stable LLC/Graham Motion/Ramon Dominguez
*Breeders' Cup winner is as good as ever

Champs Elysees/Juddmonte Farms Inc./Robert Frankel/Garrett Gomez
*Started the year with a bang, has slid off form

Cloudy's Knight/S J Stables LLC/Frank Kirby/James Graham
*Last year's Canadian champion turf male and Can. International winner is far below his best form

French Beret/Sam-Son Farm/Mark Frostad/Eurico Rosa da Silva
*Regular fringe player in the big races tries a longer distance

Frost Giant/IEAH Stables, Cohen & Pegasus/Richard Dutrow Jr./Rudy
Rodriguez
*Won a modest Grade 1 on dirt in New York, handles grass

Marsh Side/Robert Evans/Neil Drysdale/Indefinite
*Has some back class but in drab form of late

Quijano/Stiftung Gestut Fahrhof /Peter Schiergen/Andreas Starke
*The star of the race as Group 1 winner who ran well in the Can. Internaional last year

Seaside Retreat/W.S. Farish, Jr./Mark Casse/Patrick Husbands
*Going forward as a leading turf player locally

Spice Route/Harlequin Ranches/Roger Attfield/Jim McAleney
*Just emerged onto the scene with a win in his Canadian debut

Strike A Deal/Jayeff B Stables/Alan Goldberg/Rajiv Maragh
*Worked hard when narrowly beaten by Seaside Retreat



WOODBINE WEDNESDAY NIGHT

Winning is fun! Except when your horse is a bit odd



SHADOWLESS, a very promising 3yo colt who was considered a longshot contender in the Queen's Plate this summer, finally broke through for an overdue win with a strong score in a 6 1/2 furlong allowance sprint on turf last night, race 2 - 1:14 3/5 over a rock hard grass course. It was his grass debut.

But the drama was after the race when the quirky fellow propped and dropped jockey EMMA-JAYNE WILSON and briefly ran away.
Wilson was okay, sore shoulders and head, and the horse was fine too.
Wilson did book off for the rest of the night complaining of a headache.

"He's a bit interesting, he does different things in the morning," said Wilson on THE SCORE.
" I handicapped the race,thought I had lots of pace to run at and there I was sitting second. So I just held him as long as a I could. He ran all the way down the stretch with his ears up."

Shadowless is owned and bred by Heather Takahashi, it is the only horse she owns. David Bell trains the son of Stormy Atlantic-Life in Fiction.


OTHER WINNERS

The turf is very, very firm and the Polytrack was dug out considerably on Monday and tuesday it seems because the times were slow.

ANDALUSIAN won the night's opener at 1 1/8 miles on turf in 1:46, getting his preferred trip from off the pace in the $37,500 claiming event for older guys. Th light grey guy was winning for the 4th time in 35 races for Janice Attard and Jessica Pastorek and trainer Sid Attard.
Jim McAleney rode the big guy for the 2nd consecutive race - they were 3rd in an off-the-turf event last month.

Race 3 - A very brave 2yo filly SPARKLES PLENTY was on the pace on the inside, was passed and under a hard ride, came around and engaged favoured Gray N Away, took the lead, was passed by Lights on Broadway near the wire and then came back on to win her maiden for $20,000 for Heillibrogt Stable and Steve Asmussen. Another win for McAleney.
The winner, a Toccet-Box of Jewels, Half a year filly making her 4th career start and coming in from Presque Isle carried out longshot Lights on broadway for last last half a furlong when being hit left handed.
No claims of foul, no inquiry sign, slight delay, no change. The head-on clearly shows Sparkles Plenty herding the runner-up quite a bit.

Race 4 - Trainer SCOTT FAIRLIE was featured on THE SCORE show in a neat TOP FIVE MOMENTS segment and went out and watched his trainee TEE BISKET win the 4th for maiden fillies for $12,500.
It was the 2nd consecutive race that a heavy favourite from the Dave Cotey barn led and then was passed - this time WILD WEST BELLE.
The winner is owned by The Stablemates and partners, co-breeders with Shale Wagman, and is a Royal Academy gal out of a longtime local favourite Crumpet, a Bold n' Flashy mare.

Race 5 - The lowest level for winners, $12,500 non-winners of 2 and SPECIAL EXECUTIVE at 10 to 1 made a mockery of the field and looked good in his lopsided score.
It didn't matter that the Bold Executive-How Special, Sky Classic chestnut 5yo gelding was 0 for 9 at the 1 1/16 mile distance or 1 for 24 in his career, he romped for Bert and Lynn Simon who brought him back up from Fort Erie with jockey Rui Pimentel who had him on the pace all the way through slow splits.

Favourd BRAHMS BEAUTY not only dropped to a bew low level, $16,000 claiming, but for a nice stalking trip on the outside from David Clark and she strolled to a 2 length win for Parklane racing and trainer Norm McKnight. It was the brahms filly's 3rd career win in her 15th start.

The co-featured 7th race wnt to 13 to 1 shot SOMARVELOUS, a Kinshasa gelding out of High Que by Smarten, who was winning for the 3rd time in just his 6th career start. The gelding had won a non-winners of 2 Ontario sired allowance 2 races ago but was flat in his most recent on Aug 14 at the non-winners of 3 level.
Last night he escaped from a wall of horses and rallied in time from behind 24 4/5 and 50 1/5 fractions to win the 1 1/16 mile race in a cavalry charge by 3/4 of a length ovcer Power of Attorney.
Audre Cappuccitti owns and trains Somarvelous.

Everyone's favourite fellow LOUIE BONOMI would have been happy that his namesake finally won his maiden last night in the 8th race on the evening.
The equine Louie got up in the last jump to win by a scant nose as the favourite for Reade Baker Racing and jockey Jim McAleney.
The Harlan's Holiday gelding is a homebred out of Elusive Thought and he was winning for $11,500 claiming in his 6th race.




FUTURITY BLUES
Southern Exchange fizzles to 4th

It was good to see the folks running the Woodbine show on THE SCORE broadcast special coverage for fans fans of an out of town race with local interest.

SOUTHERN EXCHANGE, American owned and bred is trained by a Woodbine-based conditioner, Greg de Gannes, and he took his impressive 3 for 3 record to California but drew the 2 post for the Grade 1 Del Mar Futurity, 1 1/2 weeks after arriving there for training.
He was one of the last to break from the gate, rushed to pressed, took a short lead but could not keep it going in a very, very awkward trip for a colt who had looked good rallying in his Woodbine races.
Still, he leads the local 2yo colt division for now.


FORT ERIE HORSE RESCUE
INVESTIGATION ON 15 ABANDONED HORSES CONTINUES

More information will come out soon on who left these noble animals abandoned near Fort Erie.

ELISSA BLOWE has sent Thoroughblog a letter..


Hi Jen, My thanks to everyone involved with helping us out here in the Fort Erie area. I am happy to report that ALL of the horses which were surrendered to our care have found wonderful homes!!! T
his is under investigation by various operations and I cannot talk much about it at this time. I just want everyone to know that the horses are all fine, receiving veterinary care, food and shelter.
We bathed everyone today and cleaned up their wounds, all of them were so happy with the affection!
Im positive that everyone of these TB's will be wonderful in Phase 2 of their lives!!!

A special thanks to: The Fort Erie Humane Society
Lisa Filek
Kathy Koch
Dr. Charlotte King
Steve and Murrey from At The Wire Horse Transportation
Bill Bonecheif Horse Transport
Natalie Brinda
Minor Brothers Stevensville
Shelley Granger and Friends

Thanks again, the overwhelming support has been greatly appeciated and will not go unrecognized.

Elissa Blowe Phase 2 Thoroughbreds

Finding Second Careers For Ex Racehorses