CANADIAN OWNED DANCING IN SILKS A FINALIST FOR CHAMPION SPRINTER
in U.S.
The Eclipse award nominees were announced yesterday at Ken Kinakin’s DANCING IN SILKS is a finalist for the nation’s champion sprinter.
The gelding won the Breeders’ Cup Sprint for Kinakin, from Vancouver, and the owner was recently featured in a large story in CANADIAN THOROUGHBRED.
KEN KINAKIN and his pride and joy – DANCING IN SILKS after the Breeders’ Cup Sprint
www.horse-races.net photo
SPRINTER – MALE
Dancing in Silks (Black Minnaloushe) GI BC Sprint
Kodiak Kowboy (Posse) GI Carter/Vosburgh
Zensational (Unbridled’s Song) GI Pat O’ Brien
And Alberta’s Donna and Verne Dubinsky can be proud that their filly CARELESS JEWEL is a finalist for champion 3-year-old filly:
THREE-YEAR-OLD FILLY
Careless Jewel (Tapit) GI Alabama
Flashing (A.P. Indy) GI Test
Rachel Alexandra (Medaglia d’Oro) GI Preakness/Haskell/Woodward
SOVEREIGN AWARD VOTING IS OPEN!!
We have five days to log in our votes for the Jan. 29 Sovereign Awards and the question of who will be Canada’s
Horse of the Year is a perplexing one.
As discussed on a post before Christmas, there are many wide open divisions in the awards this year – champion
older male is an example.
But Horse of the Year is the most confusing. CHAMPS ELYSEES, RAHY’S ATTORNEY, MARCHFIELD, are just some of the
names being tossed around.
2-YEAR-OLD COLT:
HOLLINGER – unbeaten in 4 races and winner of the big 2 Caanadian – bred baby races: Cup & Saucer Stakes and
Coronation Futurity. Should be a hands-down winner for Bob Harvey, trainer Roger Attfield
BEAR TOUGH GUY & BEAR’S HARD TEN – a pair of Bears will garner many votes but they might split the remaining
votes between them. The former was unbeaten in 2 races and won the important Grey Stakes but he was injured in
the race. The latter ran a big Beyer Figure when he won the Display Stakes in his 4th race.
GHOST FLEET won 2 stakes in Ontario and was not far behind Hollinger in the big 2 stakes events.
2-YEAR-OLD FILLY:
BAY TO BAY – won the Grade 3 Natalma on the grass and was 2nd in the Mazarine (Grade 3) to BIOFUEL, her main
rival for this title.
BIOFUEL – won the Mazarine (Grade 3) Stakes convincingly and then was smashed in the late stages of the
Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies, beaten just over a lengtyh and should have been a lot closer.
NEGILGEE – Won a Grade 1 in Kentucky in her 3rd race after her 2 races at Woodbine (one was a 2nd in the Ont.
Debutante). She was the one who smashed Biofuel in the last furlong of the Breeders’ Cup.
FRANNY FREUD – she won 3 sprint stakes races in a busy campaign.
ROAN INISH won the Princess Elizabeth and RSENTLESS won the Lassie Stakes.
3-YEAR-OLD COLT:
This division is wide open, AWESOME RHYTHM reeled off 3 stakes wins against small field in the spring and
summer and did well in a tough Grade 2 against older horses late in the year.
EYE OF THE LEOPARD won the Queen’s Plate and Plate Trial but was a bust after that.
EL BRUJO won 2 graded stakes races in the States but they were sprints and he won the Queenston at Woodbine.
TOMMY DANZIGGER won the Grade 3 Canadian Derby with a 96 Beyer Figure.
3-YEAR-OLD FILLY:
MILWAUKEE APPEAL won the Oaks and placed in the Plate, Prince of Wales and Grade 1 Alabama. Did a lot more than
most horses who raced at Woodbine all season.
HOOH WHY deserves mention – she is eligible since she raced 3 times at Woodbine and she won the Grade 1 ASHLAND
at Keeneland.
FILLY/MARE SPRINTER:
New category came just in time for TRIBAL BELLE, won won 4 straight stakes, 5 of 6 on the year and posted a 102
Beyer Figure making her one of the fastest Canadian-breds of the year.
BANK EMBLEM, a remarkable 20 for 45 in his entire career, won 3 stakes this season, 2 of them sprints with
Beyers in the 80s.
FIELD COMMISSION – knocked heads with the best and won a stake
EL BRUJO – He won 3 sprint stakes and 2 were graded events in the United States so that makes him tough.
HOLLYWOOD HIT ran Beyers of 108 and 104 this year but he tested positive in his stakes win. A superstar in the
making for sure.
FILLY/MARE TURF:
Wide open here, POINTS OF GRACE won 2 turf stakes inclusing the Grade 2 Dance Smartly…MUCH OBLIGED just won a
stake at Fair Grounds and was 2nd in Canadian (Grade 2)
MALE TURF:
CHAMPS ELYSEES won the big one, the Grade 1 Canadian International and placed in a few other graded stakes but
RAHY’S ATTORNEY won 2 graded stakes and the Bunty Lawless. Interesting matchup.
OLDER MALE (main track):
MARCHFIELD won the Dominion Day and a turf stake so he’s a possibility for voters. So is old timer PALLADIO,
winner of 2 stakes, the Autumn and Seagram.
OLDER FEMALE (main track):
SERENADING won the Grade 2 Falls City and Churchill and the Maple Leaf at Woodbine
and placed in two other stakes including a graded event. Her stablemate SMART SURPRISE had a good season too
and if you don’t mind voting for sprinters, TRIBAL BELLE could get some votes.
and finally…..HORSE OF THE YEAR:
There really was not a Horse of the Year in Canada but a lot of steady runners who did well south of the
border. CHAMPS ELYSSEES is an option since he won a Grade 1 at Woodbine and is eligible because he raced here 4
times.
Other division (possible winners) like MILWAUKEE APPEAL could get Horse of the Year votes. This will be a
closely contested category for all the marbles.
CANADIANS ELSEWHERE
MIKE WRIGHT JR., a Sovereign Award winning trainer from years ago who left the game for seevral years, is now the listed trainer for Bruno Schickedanz in Florida, coming full cicrle after a decade. Wright Jr. won his ESovereign thanks to a strong season training for Schickedanz in 1998.
Owner DAN VELLA won a race at Charles Towns on Wednesday when the fleet NNICE CASE, an Ontario bred by Gold Case – Nicely Nasty, by Defrere won a $7,000 claiming event by 8 lengths in fast time of 51.40 for 4 1/2 furlongs.
Saturday, Gulfstream Park
SUGAR SWIRL S.-GIII, $100,000, 4yo/up, f/m, 6f
PP HORSE SIRE JOCKEY TRAINER WT
1 Bold Union Dixie Union Bravo Breen 120
2 D’wild Ride D’wildcat Castellano Orseno 116 (Canadian/Manitoba-bred)
3 Warbling Unbridled’s Song Leparoux Kenneally 116
4 Tar Heel Mom Flatter Lezcano Hough 116
5 Sailing Time Unbridled Time Cruz DiMauro 116
6 Saratoga Tango Successful Appeal Saez Wolfson 116
7 Honchis’n Ponchis City Zip Maragh Romans 116
8 Thunders Dove Thunderello Velazquez Zito 116
9 Pretty Prolific Lion Heart Prado Baker 116
ON SUNDAY, THE CHAIRMAN IS IN
Gulfstream Park – January 10, 2010
Race 9 – 5:08 PM
STAKES
Ft. Lauderdale S. (Grade III)
Purse $100,000. For Four Year Olds And Upward. Free nomination by Wednesday, December 30, 2009, $1,000 to pass the entry box and $1,000 additional to start, with $100,000 Guaranteed. All fees shall be paid prior to the start of the race. The owner of the winner to receive $60,000, $20,000 to second, $10,000 to third, $5,000 to fourth, $3,000 to fifth and $2,000 to sixth. Supplemental nominations may be made at time of entry for a fee of $4,000, which includes entry and starting fees. Weight: 124 Lbs. Non-winners of a graded/group sweepstakes on the turf in 2009-2010 allowed 2 Lbs.; of a sweepstakes at a mile or over 4 Lbs., $45,000 at a mile or over since July 1, 6 Lbs. Starters to be named through the entry box by the usual time of closing. This race will be limitedto 14 Starters, with Also Eligibles. If more than fourteen (14) entries pass the entry box preference will be given to graded stakes winners, then highest 2008-2010 earnings. Trophy to the winning owner. (If deemed inadvisable to run this race over the tturf course, it will be run on the main track at One Mile) . One And One Sixteenth Miles. (Turf) (Rail at 72 Feet)
PP Horse Virtual
Stable A/S Med Jockey Wgt Trainer
1 Yate’s Black Cat (KY) 7/H L* K J Desormeaux 122 D L Romans
2 Jet Propulsion (FL) 7/G L E Trujillo 122 M D Wolfson
3 Star Plus (ARG) 7/H L* R Maragh 122 A J Penna, Jr.
4 Dry Martini (FL) 7/G L J Castellano 124 B Tagg
5 Danak (IRE) 7/H L A Garcia 122 K P McLaughlin
6 Vacation (KY) 5/H L J R Leparoux 122 C R McGaughey III
7 Kiss the Kid (KY) 7/H L E Castro 122 A Tarrant
8 Sam P. (KY) 6/H L T Farina 118 W Bradley
9 Society’s Chairman (ON) 7/H L J Lezcano 122 R L Attfield
10 Wheels Up At Noon (FL) 6/G L E S Prado 122 H Pitts
11 Mambo Meister (KY) 5/G L* M R Cruz 122 P A Gleaves
12 Bittel Road (KY) 4/C L J R Velazquez 122 T A Pletcher
13 Duke of Mischief (FL) 4/C L E Coa 122 D Fawkes
14 Valtrus (KY) 6/H L* J Rose 118 B R Brown
Also Eligibles:
15 Wingedlie (FL) 4/C L A Lezcano 118 J Negrete
HORSE OF THE YEAR IN THE U.S. COMES DOWN TO THE GALS
Rachel Alexandra, Zenyatta in match race for Horse of the Year honours
By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS (CP)
It’s a match race for Horse of the Year honours between Rachel Alexandra and Zenyatta.
The star fillies were the only ones receiving votes for the award south of the border. The winner will be
announced Jan. 18.
The other Eclipse Awards finalists were announced Wednesday, with Rachel Alexandra and Zenyatta also up for
divisional championships. The 16 other Eclipse Award categories all have three finalists.
Rachel Alexandra is a finalist for top three-year-old filly after going 8-0 with a Preakness Stakes win one of
three victories over boys. Zenyatta is a finalist for best older female after a 5-0 campaign capped by a win
over the boys in the Breeders’ Cup Classic.
Mine That Bird, Canada’s champion two-year-old male in 2008, is a finalist for three-year-old male honours.
Mine That Bird stunned the racing world earlier this season by capturing the Kentucky Derby as a whopping 50-1
longshot.
http://www.google.com/hostednews/canadianpress/article/ALeqM5jet-g0qFYi3ye3l4iGH-_1rLSLRQ
FORT ERIE TRANSFER PROCEEDING
Horse track ownership transition done deal
Posted By JOHN ROBBINS , REVIEW STAFF WRITER
-When it comes to something as important as saving the town’s largest employer from going the way of the Dodo bird, you can’t afford to let the holidays slow things down.
And they didn’t, says Jim Thibert, manager of the Fort Erie Economic Development and Tourism Corporation.
Thibert said the onerous and complicated task of transferring operational control of the Fort Erie Race Track
from Nordic Gaming Corp. to a new, not-for- profit entity, the Fort Erie Live Racing Consortium, is proceeding
as planned.
“We were literally engaged with the lawyers … right up through Christmas Eve,” Thibert, who is acting as
chief executive officer of the consortium until things get off the ground, said Wednesday.
“But it worked out successfully. We got what we had to get done. We were able to complete the transaction.”
The Fort Erie Race Track opened in 1897. It’s one of only two thoroughbred racing facilities in Ontario. More
than 2,000 jobs are tied to the track directly and indirectly.
http://www.niagarafallsreview.ca/ArticleDisplay.aspx?e=2250328
