COOL

POSTS FOR CANADIAN INTERNATIONAL...


There will be ADVANCE WAGERING on SATURDAY'S CARD plus a SPECIAL PICK 4 ON THE 4 STAKES RACES that begin in race 7.

RACE 10: 71st PATTISON CANADIAN INTERNATIONAL-G1; Woodbine racetrack, Saturday October 4; Purse $2,000,000-guaranteed; winner's share: $1,200,000; 3-year-olds & upward; 1 1/2 miles; turf; post time: 5:48 p.m. The Score 4-6 p.m (ESPN HD)

THE FIELD

Post Horse Jockey Trainer Odds

1 MOURILYAN J. Egan H. Brown 15-1
2 MARLANG R. Dos Ramos D. England 15-1
3 DOCTOR DINO F. Dettori R. Gibson 2-1
4 QUIJANO A. Starke P. Schiergen 4-1
5 CHAMPS ELYSEES G. Gomez B. Frankel 7-2
6 MARSH SIDE J. Castellano N. Drysdale 15-1
7 LAURO E. Pedroza A. Wohler 20-1
8 SEASIDE RETREAT P. Husbands M. Casse 10-1
9 LUCARNO J. Fortune J. Gosden 8-1
10 SPICE ROUTE J. McAleney R. Attfield 20-1








(photo below...) GEORGE STRAWBRIDGE has had a good year at Woodbine with his horses SUGAR BAY and ICE BEAR...he has the imposing LUCARNO in the Canandian International on Saturday..photo from KristaVanderVooden on her Little Bit of Photography site...

CANADIAN INTERNATIONAL 71

Saturday Oct. 4

Plus E.P. Taylor, Summer and Nearctic Stakes

The Score 4-6 (ESPN feed)

Post Positions will be drawn today (Noon, Woodbine tent) for the big 4 races at Woodbine on Saturday, graded stakes on the grass and all WIN AND YOU’RE IN events.

The Euro’s were the topic on my post yesterday..all looked happy and well since arriving Sunday evening.

The heavy rain yesterday morning was not great for favourite DOCTOR DINO but the cool temperatures and breezes from now until Saturday (with a bit more rain added apparently) should not make the grass too soft.

Indeed, when STARTICUS, a Nearctic Stakes contender, went by me yesterday on the grass, it was still quite firm.

(At right is HERO'S REWARD, back to his favourite course for the Nearctic Stakes...www,horse-races.net photo)

Entries will be known for the 4 races later this morning…and an update will be posted on this site on several occasions today so stay tuned..

Currently the International is 10, Taylor is 9 or 10, Summer is 4 , Nearctic could be as many as 14.

(at right is HERMAN MOORE, IN TOWN WITH Mourilyan for the Canadian International. The colt is named for a town in Australia.)

TOO MANY RACES?

The Breeders’ Cup Challenge program features dozens of races all over North America leading up to its 2 day championship event and it simply appears as it there are just too many races – period.

For instance, the Miss Grillo and Pilgrim Stakes for 2yos on the grass are today at Belmont and Saturday’s Summer Stakes, for 2yo boys on the grass, is feeling the punch.

The field will be mostly locals and a small one at that.

And not many invaders racing this weekend at Woodbine would seem to have their targets as the Breeders’ Cup, which is just three weeks away

(okay, 20 years ago, three weeks would have been perfect, now it’s too close!??).

From BILL TALLON’S COLUMN in DAILY RACING FORM tomorrow….

The question, however, is whether the Win and You're In clause actually will come into play for the 1 1/2-mile Canadian International and 1 1/4-mile E.P. Taylor, which earn the winner a spot in the Breeders' Cup Turf (International) or Breeders' Cup Filly and Mare Turf (E.P. Taylor).

The fact that the races are just three weeks out from the Breeders' Cup could be a major stumbling block.

Horses such as leading Canadian International candidates Doctor Dino and Quijano, both Group 1 winners and experienced world travelers, already are looking beyond the Breeders' Cup. Both horses will be nominated to the Group 1, $1.8 million Hong Kong Vase, a 1 1/2-mile turf race in which they ran one-two last year. They are likely to return to that venue.

"I think that Hong Kong is the more probable option," said Doctor Dino's trainer, Richard Gibson.

Then, there is the question of Breeders' Cup eligibility.

Four of the five European invaders for the Canadian International - Doctor Dino, Quijano, Mourilyan, and Lauro - are not Breeders' Cup nominated.

J'ray, Folk Opera, and Toque de Queda, who will be the top three choices for the E.P. Taylor - also are not paid up to the Breeders' Cup program.

(J'RAY and CALLWOOD DANCER, left to right, renew their rivalry in the E.P. TAYLOR on Saturday. J'ray is not Breeders' Cup eligible. www.-horse-races.net photo)

And from VIC ZAST over at horseraceinsider.com…

But here’s what a look at the upcoming (New York) schedule reveals. This Wednesday’s Belmont Park card will feature the Grade 3 Miss Grillo Stakes for 2-year-old fillies and the Grade 3 Pilgrim Stakes for 2-year-old colts, rescheduled from Friday’s cancelled program. On the weekend, the track will hold its last two Grade 1 stakes – the Champagne and Frizette, which are both Breeders’ Cup preps for 2-year-olds. Thereafter, Belmont’s only graded stakes will be six of Grade 2 or Grade 3 status – three before October 11 and three on the Breeders’ Cup weekend. Want to guess what kind of horses will be running in those?

“There’s a lot of races and not enough horses to go around, Campo explained. He indicated that Santa Anita, Hawthorne, Keeneland, Woodbine and, even Europe, are involved in the Breeders’ Cup preparatory exercise. The fall racing season at Belmont Park used to be a weekend-in, weekend-out festival of top-flight competitions. It’s a shame that it’s become a sort of qualifying ground.

VICTORIAN QUEEN REMEMBERED

Born 1971

Victoria Park-Willowfield, by Stratus

Bred by E.P. Taylor

Raced by Grovetree Stables

Winnings: 51 Starts: 12 - 14 - 4, $188,019

At 3:
2nd Long Island H. [G3] (40,000), Wonder Where S. (20,000), Heresy S. (15,000), Duchess S. (15,000)
3rd Chrysanthemum H. [G3] (25,000), Nassau S. (15,000)

At 4:
Won Ontario Sire S. (35,000), Canadian S. (25,000)
2nd Diana H. [G2] (50,000), Matron H. [G2] (50,000), Yo Tambien H. (50,000), Canadian Maturity S. (25,000), Tujunga S. (20,000)

Stakes winner VICTORIAN QUEEN has a race named after her and the 2yo filly event, tonight at Woodbine, is a cool race with some unbeaten gals knocking heads.

Victorian Queen’s impact on the Canadian racing scene was not her race record in essence.. but she produced a pair of Grade 1 winners . JUDGE ANGELUCCI, the white faced guy who once put Ferdinand and Alysheba to the test in the Breeders’ Cup Classic years ago is one of her sons as is Blue Grass Stakes winner WAR.

The race this evening features CAWAJA BEACH the Scott Fairlie/Hard Eight Stable owned gal by 1^st crop sire Where’s the Ring who is 3 for 3 in her career.

The filly drew the one-post tonight and is up against the sturdy KOONUNGA HILL (Wonneberg), who was recently 3^rd in the Natalma Stakes, a Grade 3 and promising gals STRANGER THINGS (Domasca Dan) and DASH IT DREAMER (Kiridashi).

The Victorian Queen, a 6 furlong race, is the 7^th event tonight.

You can watch the races on THE SCORE.

GIRL WANTS TO HELP HORSES

Her name is Yael Gottesman.

She is just 17-years-old but she’s determined to make a difference when it comes to eliminating the slaughtering of former racehorses in Canada.

Gottesman, who has spinal bifida and is often confined to a wheelchair, was at Woodbine racetrack recently for LongRun Thoroughbred Retirement Foundation day at the track where she was asking fans and horsefolks to sign her petition.

“I have been coming to the track most weekends for over five years,” said Gotteseman, who lives in Thornhill, Ontario.

Gottesman’s fight for the retired racehorses began soon after she read a story on horse slaughter in Canada that appeared on the front pages of the TORONTO STAR newspaper on Kentucky Derby day.

In July, she met with her municipality’s member of parliament, Susan Kadis, where she presented the newspaper story and her petition signed by more than 50 racing fans and horsepeople.

“She was totally shocked about horses still being slaughtered in Canada,” said Gottesman. “They don’t even do it anymore in the United states.”

With a federal election occurring in Canada in October, Kadis told Gottesman she will bring the petition to Parliament Hill late this year.

While encouraged by the support from Kadis, Gottesman is planning another trip to Woodbine on October 19 with another petition in hand.

“I was a bit discouraged from a recent letter I got back from a veterinarian,” said Gottesman. “I wrote a letter to the Canadian Food Inspection Agency and a vet there told me there was nothing he could do about (horses being slaughtered in Canada) and they were slaughtered humanely. He just sent me that comment back plus a pamphlet on how horses are slaughtered.”

“I haven’t had a lot of luck with peple yet but I just started this May,” said Gottesman, who said Sam-Son Farms’ Shoal Water is one of her favourite horses.

“I love watching the horses run and my parents love to come too,” said Gottesman. “I want to help them any way I can.”

You can visit Gottesman on her Facebook page.