EYES

 

UPDATE – SOVEREIGN AWARD FINALISTS ANNOUNCED
The 2014 Sovereign Award Finalists, listed alphabetically in each category, are:

Champion Two-Year-Old Filly:
Brooklynsway
Conquest Harlanate
London Tower
Mississippi Delta

Champion Two-Year-Old Male:
Conquest Tsunami
Conquest Typhoon
Decision Day
Phil’s Cocktail

Champion Three-Year-Old Female:
Executive Allure
Lexie Lou
Paladin Bay
Sweater Weather

Champion Three-Year-Old Male:
Ami’s Holiday
Coltimus Prime
Florida Won
Heart to Heart

Champion Older Female:
Hillaby
Silent Star
Spring in the Air
Strut the Course

Champion Older Male:
Calgary Cat
Lukes Alley
Sharp Sensation
Sky Captain

Champion Female Turf Horse:
Deceptive Vision
Executive Allure
Lexie Lou
Royal Fury

Champion Male Turf Horse:
Dynamic Sky
Excaper
Heart to Heart
Sharp Sensation

Champion Female Sprinter:
Cactus Kris
Executive Allure
Hillaby
Spring in the Air

Champion Male Sprinter:
Calgary Cat
Excaper
Phil’s Dream
Sharp Sensation

Outstanding Broodmare:
Cruising Kris
Eye of the Sphynx
Star Guest
Uproar

Outstanding Breeder:
Adena Springs
Paradox Farm Inc.
Sam-Son Farm
William Sorokolit

Outstanding Owner:
Gary Barber
Conquest Stables, LLC
John C. Oxley
Sam-Son Farm

Outstanding Trainer:
Josie Carroll
Mark Casse
Brian Lynch
Greg Tracy

Outstanding Apprentice Jockey:
Damario Bynoe
Sheena Ryan
Ericka Smilovsky
Nick Webb

Outstanding Jockey:
Luis Contreras
Eurico Da Silva
Patrick Husbands
Rico Walcott

The three finalists for 2014 Horse of the Year honours will be announced on the evening of the awards ceremony.

Media Award Categories:
The judging for the 2014 Media Sovereign Award categories will be performed by the Journalism Professors at Humber, School of Media Studies & Information Technology, in Toronto, Ontario. The three finalists in each of the three media categories will be announced the week of February 23.

 

 

 

 

DECISION DAY BEGINS 3-YEAR-OLD SEASON IN HOLY BULL

Ontario bred DECISION DAY, winner of the prestigious CORONATION FUTURITY last fall at Woodbine and one of the leadign conteners for the Queen’s Plate this summer, will try his luck on dirt against early Kentucky Derby contenders this weekend. The son of Macho Uno is entered in the Holy Bull Stakes at Gulfstream Park on Saturday and John Velazquez has the mount.

Owned and bred by Vern and Donna Dubinsky’s Donver Stable (winners of the Plate with Inglorious in 2011), DECISION DAY will have a tough test ahead of him in addition to trying dirt for the fist time. Hotshot American 3yos UPSTART, BLUEGRASS SINGER and UPSTART are going to be tough to knock off.

Thoroughblog’s TOP 10 QUEEN’S PLATE CONTENDERS are up, check the lists out on the main page of the ‘Blog!

Saturday, Gulfstream Park, post time: 4:34 p.m. EST
HOLY BULL S.-GII, $400,000, 3yo, 1 1/16m
PP HORSE SIRE JOCKEY TRAINER WT
1 Frosted Tapit Ortiz Jr McLaughlin 116
2 Keen Ice K Curlin Zayas Romans 116
3 High Noon Rider K Distorted Humor Rosario Weaver 116
4 Bluegrass Singer K Bluegrass Cat Castellano Vitali 118
5 Juan and Bina K Indian Charlie Lezcano Delgado 116
6 First Down Street Sense Maragh Albertrani 116
7 Frammento K Midshipman Saez Zito 116
8 Upstart Flatter Ortiz Violette Jr 116
9 Dom the Bomb Bring the Heat Hernandez Rivelli 120
10 Decision Day Macho Uno Velazquez Carroll 116

SPORTS NETWORK – PREVIEW: Bluegrass Singer entered in both Holy Bull and Hutcheson
 
Hallandale Beach, FL (SportsNetwork.com) – Speedy gelding Bluegrass Singer has been cross-entered in both the $400,000 Holy Bull Stakes and $150,000 Hutcheson Stakes Saturday at Gulfstream Park.

The Holy Bull and Hutcheson are important prep races for 3-year-olds leading to the Florida Derby on March 28.

Bluegrass Singer, owned by Cross Sabres Farm and trained by Marcus Vitali, has drawn post 4 for the 10-horse, 1 1/16-mile Holy Bull and the far outside post for the eight-horse, seven-furlong Hutcheson. Top jockey Javier Castellano has the Holy Bull mount while Rafael Hernandez is listed for the Hutcheson.

Bluegrass Singer, with Castellano riding, led most of the way in winning the Mucho Macho Man Stakes at Gulfstream on Jan. 3.

“It was very impressive,” the jockey noted. “He went really fast in the beginning, but the way he did it in the last part and kept going and kept digging all the way to the end, I’m very impressed.”

Bluegrass Singer has won three of seven starts for $119,835.

“We’re bringing him up slow to the two turns,” Vitali said. “We’re trying to prepare him properly, if he is what we think. If not, we’re having a lot of fun right now. He’s a good horse; he’s doing everything right. Time will tell. Everything’s a possibility.”

The Holy Bull has an approximate post time of 4:34 p.m. and the Hutcheson 3:30 p.m. ET.

Read more here: http://www.sunherald.com/2015/01/19/6026345/bluegrass-singer-entered-in-both.html#storylink=cpy

 

OHRIA Thanks Nick Eaves and Welcomes Jim Lawson to its Board

As he prepares to step down as president and CEO of the Woodbine Entertainment Group, the board of directors of the Ontario Horse Racing Industry Association (OHRIA) would like to thank Nick Eaves for his inspiring and tireless support of the Ontario horse racing industry.
During these last few tumultuous years with the very future of the sport hanging in the balance, Nick provided the kind of passionate leadership that helped stabilize Ontario racing and set it on a path toward sustainability. “His candour, courage and business acumen will be greatly missed by the OHRIA board and we wish him well in future endeavours,” said Sue Leslie, OHRIA President.
According to by-laws, the new Woodbine president will replace Mr. Eaves as an OHRIA director.  Therefore, at the end of March, OHRIA will enthusiastically welcome WEG’s soon-to-be interim president, Jim Lawson, to its board.
Mr. Lawson will provide continuity to Woodbine’s contribution to OHRIA’s efforts for a sustainable future and that should bring confidence to the horse racing and breeding industry.  “I have been fortunate to know Jim for a long time. He has been deeply involved in negotiations with government and brings a wealth of experience to the OHRIA table,” commented Sue Leslie.

 

 

HORSE RACING HIT HARD BY BAD SEEDS AGAIN –

JOCKEY TWICE SUSPENDED FOR BUZZER, UNDER INVESTIGATION AGAIN

Jockey ROMAN CHAPA has been suspended twice for using a buzzer. His name is brought up in the well-known PETA video that has footage of a dinner in which GARY STEVENS talks about Chapa and buzzers. Now the rider has been photographed winning a stakes race by a track photographer carrying something in his hand other than the reins.

Chapa rode Quiet Acceleration to first place in Saturday night’s $50,000 Richard King Stakes at Sam Houston Race Park. A 10-1 long shot, the horse burst from well behind in the home stretch to an easy win.

This is not an uncommon scene as there is a long list of riders who have been found with buzzers and a number of racetracks that seemingly do not do the necessary policing to rid the sport of this type of cheating. From Louisiana to New Mexico and Texas, incidents like this continue to tarnish this great sport.

(Not that buzzers have not been found at other, big-name tracks: there is that famous video of Thunder Gulch’s Kentucky Derby win where some people think Gary Stevens handed off a device to Pat Day and more recently, Woodbine officials found a buzzer on jockey Sunny Singh in 2013)

video and more:

http://www.drf.com/news/jockey-chapa-suspended-sam-houston

 

COADY PHOTO: