Fair Grounds photo
O JOY! IT’S A VICTORY!
JOYFUL VICTORY runs CAREER BEST Beyer Figure
Ontario bred JOYFUL VICTORY got back on the winning track with a win in the Tiffany Lass Stakes yesterday at Fair Grounds. The grey 4yo by Tapit – Wild Lucky Blac, Wild Again won by half a length in 1:45.09 for 1 1/16 miles on the dirt, good for a 95 Beyer Speed Figure.
She was bred by Bill Graham’s Windhaven and is owned by Fox Hill Farms Inc.
HOLLINGER, SOLID 2ND IN GP TURF ‘CAP – GRADE 1
Ontario bred HOLLINGER gave a good chance to the very tough front runner GET STORMY yesterday in the Grade 1 Gulfstream Park Turf Handicap, but he could only get within a length of the white-faced ‘Stormy at the end of the 1 1/8 mile race run over a soft grass course.
Hollinger, a homebred for Robert Harvey is trained by Roger Attfield.
The champion 2yo of 2009, missed time from June 2010 to April 2011 and he has been doing well in grass events since then. He has won once since he was 2, a turf sprint at Woodbine last summer, and he has now been 2nd three times and third once in stakes races in his last 4 starts.
Yesterday, the grey son of Black Minnaloushe – Dynamite Cocktail, Dynaformer, ran a 96 Beyer Figure.
Jockey Jose Lezcano (Hollinger) – “The pace was too slow. My horse run a good race he just had to make up too much ground. The winner is a really good horse and had the pace all to himself.”
DONN HANDICAP – Thorougblog’s 2 picks were 2nd and way back, MISSION IMPAZIBLE, who is notorious for the stalling move late in his races, had it happen again yesterday as he busted through an opening on the rail too soon and was caught by wet-track lover HYMN BOOK.
The Beyer Figure was 106.
Tossing the Preakness and Belmont winners from last year proved to be a good move when betting the race (if you came up with Hymn Book). Those 3yo events last year were so drab, it was not a surprise to see Shackleford and Ruler on Ice disappear yesterday.
OTHER STUFF
PATRICK HUSBANDS rode a winner at his home track in Barbados, the Garrison Savannah, yesterday but he was likely expecting more from Woodbine shipper DANCIN DAVID in the Rotherley Construction Inc. Challenge Trophy at 1 1/8 miles. Dancin David, a nominee for stakes events next month including the Barbados Gold Cup, was 5th of 7 at 3 to 5 odds behind Island Memories.
DANCIN DAVID, formerly trained by Roger Attfield, won his maiden in August at Woodbine for $40,000 claiming with a 69 Beyer Figure. The distance and company likely were beyond the son of Omega Code.
SCOTT FAIRLIE, as owner and/or trainer, has had a productive winter in the U.S. and yesterday, KALAMBAKA QUEEN won a starter allowance for Fairlie. The Florida bred by Pico Central (Brz) was 7 to 2 and she is now 2 for 3 since being claimed by Fairlie for $10,000 at Woodbine. She posted a 73 Beyer Figure yesterday in the win at 6 furlongs.
Tiny fields are cheap, cheap racing is the norm at BEULAH PARK (still not sire why this track is still going) and yesterday 5 of the 8 races had winners that paid:
$3.00
$2.60
$5.80
$2.20
$3,20 – this one is a filly by Medaglia d’oro that won for $5,00 claiming!
Hey sleepy! Willow Ridge Farm recently welcomed this little one -a filly by Trajectory out of Ms Rudy Pants foaled on Feb. 8
Bonnie Greener Rowntree photo
TRENT FRAYNE, 93
Well known sportswriter also wrote for Canadian Thoroughbred magazine
I had the pleasure of meeting TRENT FRAYNE one afternoon when I drove to downtown Toronto to his house to pick up a story he had written on the Queen’s Plate.
I was fresh our of university, working on the backstretch at Woodbine and working as a co-editor at CANADIAN THOROUGHBRED magazine. And we had some stunning writers back then.
It was the late 80′s, or early 90s, and stories from Mr. Frayne and Jim Proudfoot, who also wrote for Canadian Thoroughbred, came to us typed out, double spaced, on paper. So most of the time, I had to go pick the stories up from the writers.
To think that I would take these stories back to the office in Aurora, Ontario and read then, edit them (LOL, who edits those guys?) and then put them in our little magazine – well, it was little, it still the no. 1 Canadian TB magazine out there.
Mr. Frayne really liked horse racing.
I have a very old copy of his 1959 book “THE QUEEN’S PLATE, the First 100 hundred Years“, it’s a treasure of mine.
Toronto Star report, Michael Lewis Staff Reporter
Trent Frayne, one of Canada’s greatest sportswriters whose career spanned more than 60 years and who became a mentor to a generation of young journalists, has died at 93 of complications related to pneumonia.
Known for his elegance and style in prose and in life, Frayne worked as a reporter, columnist and feature writer for a host of publications — covering everything from Wimbledon to the World Series, including his first in 1941 when he interviewed legendary Yankees slugger Joe DiMaggio
http://www.thestar.com/news/obituary/article/1129904–trent-frayne-dead-at-93-among-greats-of-sportswriting-game
With all due respect (and I mean that, your blog is great), I am not sure a staunch supporter of Fort Erie is the most appropriate advocate for closing down struggling racetracks. Beulah Park and Fort Erie both have an awful lot in common.., A person could easily pick a Fort Erie card and say, “still not sire why this track is still going.” Horse people in Ohio need all the help they can get, someone as supportive of Fort Erie (a small, struggling track ) as you are probably should understand that and not belittle small tracks outside of your home area…
hello Just Sayin
I agree – although comparing the two tracks would likely show that Beulah is a lot cheaper and with a lot smaller fields. The fields are tiny, tiny there, it seems some of these lesser tracks with the very small fields all the time are too numerous. I’m just saying.
but point taken!!
Sure…DRF has purse value index for every track in North America. Woodbine got a 53, Fort Erie a 17 and Beulah an 8. Of course that figure is aided by Slots, which Fort Erie had installed a long time ago… In fact, according to DRF, Fort Erie has the lowest purse index of any North American track with slots. Every other track with slots installed has a purse index of 25 or higher (except Fort Erie)… Most big league tracks have purse indexes above 35, most mid-level tracks are between 20-35 and most small time tracks are below 20…
But I am not trying to knock “The Fort”, it’s a lovely historic track (like Beulah, you should visit it sometime, like Fort Erie, Beulah is very charming). I am just saying, when big leaguers talk about closing down minor league tracks, they lump Fort Erie and places like Beulah together. I think most people understand that and supporters of those tracks shouldn’t poke fun of their small time brethren.
Anyway, I love your site, been following and enjoying it for years, I am not trying to spark an argument, I am just shocked and a little disappointed to see someone like yourself(considering your advocacy of Fort Erie) poke fun of a small track, Times are tough in Ohio and in Fort Erie/ Buffalo, lets not kick good, hard working people while they’re down…
actually, i have been to beulah, years ago, i was looking at the signs in the parking lot with horse names and remember that one was named for Cannonade and it was spelled Cannonaide!
I don’t want to kick the hard-working people when they are down, that was not my intent.
thank you for the nice comments on the blog!