GAMES

Stardom Bound, Breeders' Cup Juvenile Fillies winner, is among many stars in action today....photo by Terence Dulay.








WOODBINE STAKE SCHEDULE

If you missed yesterday's posting, the Woodbine stakes schedule was released and it is packed with lots of big events and tons of money.

The track has been overrun with stall applications and even some very big name trainers in the US pondered sending strings up here.

The $22 MILLION stakes schedule can be found right below the picture of Victor Cooley on yesterday's post.

3YO'S MARK TODAY'S ACTION

The focus of racing today are the sophomores at Fair Grounds and at Santa Anita.

Woodbine-based trainer has a colt in the Robert Lewis Stakes out west in Shafted, an American-owned and bred colt.
At Fair Grounds, no local interest but the exploits of Friesan Fire will reflect on PATENA, who is in the barn of Rick Dutrow Jr. now and is headed to the Louisiana Derby.

And Canadian older horses, FRENCH BERET, GOOD AND LUCKY and BLUE EXIT are in the Fair Grounds Handicap, Colonel Power and Strub Stakes respectively.

Fair Grounds H. (G3)
February 7, $125,000, 4yo & up, 11⁄8mT, Fair Grounds, 3:25 PM CT
P Horse Sire Jockey Wt. Trainer

1. Jimmy Simms Lost Soldier Shaun Bridgmohan 117 Steven Asmussen
2. Sidcup Running Stag Jesse M. Campbell 117 Walter Bindner Jr.
3. French Beret Broad Brush James Graham 120 Mark R. Frostad
4. Corrupt Belong to Me SD Robby Albarado 118 Neil J. Howard
5. Windward Islands Cozzene Corey J. Lanerie 118 Mark R. Frostad
6. Diamond Tycoon Johannesburg SD Julien R. Leparoux 116 Andrew McKeever
7. My Happiness (Arg) Festin (Arg) Edgar S. Prado 114 Jerry D. Calvin
8. Demarcation Gulch SD Jesus Lopez Castanon 120 Paul J. McGee
9. Brothers Nicholas Smart Strike SD James Graham 115 Louie J. Roussel III


CHAMPION MARCHFIELD RACING TOMORROW

San Antonio H. (G2)
February 8, $200,000, 4yo & up, 11⁄8m, Santa Anita Park, 4:07 PM PT
PP Horse Sire Jockey Wt. Trainer

1. Dakota Phone Zavata Rafael Bejarano 116 Jerry Hollendorfer
2. Becrux (Ity) =Glen Jordan (GB) Chantal Sutherland 116 John W. Sadler
3. Stream Cat Black Minnaloushe Joseph Talamo 115 Patrick L. Biancone
4. Magnum (Arg) =El Compinche (Arg) Joel Rosario 113 Darrell Vienna
5. Marchfield A.P. Indy Patrick Husbands 116 Mark E. Casse
6. Racketeer Awesome Again Tyler Baze 112 Barry Abrams
7. Ferneley (Ire) Ishiguru Victor Espinoza 115 Ben D. A. Cecil
8. Tiago Pleasant Tap Mike E. Smith 119 John A. Shirreffs
9. Champs Elysees (GB) Danehill Garrett K. Gomez 120 Robert J. Frankel
10. Well Armed Tiznow Aaron T. Gryder 119 Eoin G. Harty
11. Informed Tiznow Michael C. Baze 113 Doug F. O’Neill


NOT SO BRILLANT
So Shiny upsets UAE Oaks

The mad success of INDY SHINER continues as his daughter SO SHINY won yesterday's UAE OAKS in Dubai leaving Godolphin hotshots SOS Brillant (Dance Brightly) and Devotee in her dust.

So Shiny led all the way under Mick Kinane.
Her sire, INDYGO SHINER is also the sire of My Indy, a World Cup hopeful.

Woodbine fans might remember Indygo Shiner (RIGHT), a flashy A.P. Indy fellow. He was 2nd in the Grey Stakes behind Macho Uno years ago at Woodbine.
A Grade 3 winner, Indygo Shiner is back in North American after some stud time in Argentina - and what a time it was. He sires the winners of the Oaks and Derby there in the same year, a record.

You can find Indygo Shiner at Hill 'n' Dale in Kentucky standing for just $7,500 US.


VIBANK'S FIRST FOAL REPORTED

The Thoroughbred Times reports that the Silver Deputy stallion VIBANK was represented by his first foal on Feb. 1 when Pyrite Select produced a filly at Park Stud where the stallion stands.


FORT ERIE STORY
http://www.niagarafallsreview.ca/ArticleDisplay.aspx?e=1424824

EXCERPT:
Track needs more than horses
Focus needs to be on finding ways to attract more people to Fort Erie oval, Smitherman says

Posted By TONY RICCIUTO, REVIEW STAFF WRITER

There's still hope the Fort Erie Race Track can survive -but it has to be more than just a means of subsidizing horses running around a track, says Ontario's minister of energy and infrastructure.

"It's an entertainment product that has to have people interested in it to make it successful," George Smitherman said Friday, while attending an Ontario Liberal party conference this weekend in Niagara Falls.

Premier Dalton McGuinty and Finance Minister Dwight Duncan were joined by several hundred MPPs and Liberal organizers from across the province. The conference is being held at the Crowne Plaza hotel.

Smitherman acknowledged the track has a historic role in Niagara and many people are working vigorously to make sure it remains open.

The 111-year-old border oval, one of only two thoroughbred tracks in Ontario along with Woodbine in Toronto, is owned by Nordic Gaming Corp., a subsidiary of El-Ad (Canada) Ltd.

The track has been losing money for years due to a variety of factors, including Ontario's ban on indoor public smoking, competition from other gaming venues and online wagering. There was also a steep decline in American visitation after the Sept. 11, 2001 terrorist attacks.

Most of the track's 300 employees have been issued layoff notices in recent months, and there's a real concern the track might not open for a new season this spring.

The town's Economic Development and Tourism Corp. has put in a proposal to the government to pay $35 million to purchase the track from Nordic Gaming.

The EDTC, an agency of the town of Fort Erie, wants to borrow the money from the province to set the track up as a not-for-profit corporation.

According to the town, up to 2,500 direct and indirect jobs in Niagara depend on the race track's survival.

Smitherman said he responded ...CLICK THE LINK ABOVE TO READ THE REST.