Woodbine
Wrong-Way Goes Okay
Neat — Woodbine tested a clockwise turf race on Monday:
“There were no major problems, and that was one of the key things,” [jockey Emma-Jayne] Wilson said. “That’s the biggest thing. We wanted to make sure that everything would go smoothly. This was as close to a race scenario as possible and everyone handled it well. There is still a learning curve to it. The horses that have never done it will take a second to say, ‘Ok, now I get it, I’ve got to take a right turn.’”
Woodbine management will run as many as 40 clockwise turf races during the 2016 meet. The intent is to spice up the racing programs and to use a part of the turf course (the clubhouse turn) that is rarely run over since most normal races over Woodbine’s expansive grass course are run around one turn. The first clockwise pari-mutuel race is scheduled for June 10.
Sounds as though the “wrong-way” races could be dramatic:
“It’s a very short homestretch,” Ramsammy said. “You are looking for a horse that has a good spurt early, definitely a speed horse.”
A Good One
He’ll be missed:
Strait of Dover often wore a quizzical gaze and his cocky personality won over his handlers along the backstretch. He had an unusually large head, so they called him “Potato.”
The 4-year-old 2012 Queen’s Plate winner died of colic on July 14. Robert MacLeod’s account of his final days is heartbreaking.
How Things Change
Jeremy Plonk has a realization re: how betting is changing at Woodbine:
It reminds me a lot of playing online through Xpressbet and other ADW outlets. We trust ourselves and trust the technology every single day we play. We just don’t typically do it at the racetrack, because we’re often too stuck on tradition to realize how society has changed.
Journalism changes, too: Steven Crist on 35 years at Saratoga.
Woodbine Wrap-Up
The horse, the jockey, and, of course, the roast beef sandwich. It’s Canadian International day 2012, as seen by Ernie Munick:
A few odds and ends from International weekend …
Next Question will be the sole Breeders’ Cup Challenge winner from Sunday to ship to Santa Anita. Prepping for the Turf Sprint in the Nearctic Stakes worked for Regally Ready in 2011, but Next Question will have to contend with the downhill turf course and reproduce the best race of his career to win.
Is there a bigger international racing star than Frankie Dettori? People love him. They love his exuberance. They love his flying leap. It’s no exaggeration that the second loudest cheer of International day, after the cheer at the International finish, came from the crowd when the rider launched himself off Joshua Tree in the Woodbine winner’s circle.
The roast beef sandwich sold in the grandstand really was as good as it looks in Ernie’s video, but the dishes and desserts — seasonal cold salads and roasted vegetables, short rib sliders and spicy shrimp and fava bean croquettes, pumpkin brûlée and florentines dipped in chocolate — turned out by the Woodbine kitchen, headed by chefs Joseph Lesch and Michael Mortensen, and served at the Canadian International draw luncheon and cocktail party, were exceptional. I haven’t eaten so well at a racetrack, ever.
Also notable was Chef Joseph’s chocolate plum cake.
And the avocado panna cotta, part of the raw bar spread.
My thanks to Woodbine media coordinator Keith McCalmont (@tripledeadheat) for inviting me to visit, and to everyone I met for their hospitality. It was a terrific weekend, and I hope to make it back next year.
Canadian International Live
12:30 PM: Hello from Woodbine!
Because I’m here, and because I’ll be running around today to catch the Win and You’re In action for the Breeders’ Cup (follow @breederscup or like the Breeders’ Cup), I thought I’d try something I haven’t done in a while — live blogging. I might be rusty — we’ll see how it goes this afternoon.
Anyway, the post times for today’s Challenge stakes are 3:04 PM ET (Nearctic, Win and You’re In the Turf Sprint), 4:38 PM ET (E.P. Taylor, Win and You’re In the Filly and Mare Turf), and 5:44 PM ET (the main attraction, the Canadian International, Win and You’re In the Turf). For even more on-track International coverage, follow @woodbineracing or @tripledeadheat.
12:45 PM: Despite rain that fell until about 11:00 this morning, only Al Khali has scratched from the International. Trainer Bill Mott cited the altered turf condition — it’s currently listed as GOOD — as the reason. There are no scratches in the Nearctic or the Taylor.
1:18 PM: About the turf … Ernie Munick talked to track superintendent Irwin Driedger on Friday about the grass. One part of the conversation that didn’t make it into Munick’s very informative video was about the backstretch rise, which apparently sounds more daunting than it actually is. According to Driedger, a retired Sovereign Award-winning jockey who knows the Woodbine grass on and off a horse, the ground slopes up about 3 1/2-4 feet over five eighths starting in the chute, but the rise is so gentle neither horse nor rider notice. Also of interest — the backstretch is always a little softer than the stretch. Something to keep in mind today.
1:30 PM: There are two things I always enjoy about visiting new tracks: Checking out the food (Woodbine’s is super), and the photos, posters, and ephemera that decorate the place (especially in the out-of-the way corners), like this old DRF poster hanging in the press box:
Or this one, honoring Deputy Minister, 1981 Horse of the Year:
2:06 PM: A horseplayer’s lament, overheard in the press box: “When you hit the ALL button, the chalk always wins.” The G3 Durham Cup, coming up at 2:31 PM, is the start of the guaranteed $100K Pick 4. I’m looking at a fresh Vertiformer for a little upset.
2:33 PM: Slow fractions, lone speed. Sometimes it doesn’t pay to stand against the favorite. Delegation, 6-5, wins the Durham … and I decide now is a good time to head toward the paddock for the Nearctic Stakes.
3:50 PM: John Velazquez comes to Canada to get beat by Ramon Dominguez. Next Question was 16-1, not the longest shot in the Nearctic field (that was Super Chunky at 33-1), but not well regarded coming off a win in a turf AOC, in which he was not claimed, at Belmont. The Nearctic horses were running in lane two of the turf course; the temporary rail has already been taken down for the E.P. Taylor and International, which will be run over pristine lane one.
4:05 PM: The Nearctic replay (chart).
4:10 PM: Back down to the paddock. Because one of her French connections ran a circuit around the International eve cocktail party, French flag streaming behind, I may take a flyer on Pagera. She’s 12-1, 26 minutes to post.
5:00 PM: Hey, second! That wild stab did better than most of my handicapped picks lately. (Oh, Fantasy ‘Capping! My $0 standing haunts me.) It doesn’t sound as if E.P. Taylor winner Siyouma will be taking her guaranteed spot in the Breeders’ Cup Filly and Mare Turf. Trainer Francois Doumen said after the race that she would be shipped home, and then might start next in Japan.
5:20 PM: The E.P. Taylor replay (chart).
Siyouma in the Woodbine winner’s circle.
5:22 PM: And back to the paddock for the Canadian International …
They’re off in the Canadian International!
7:15 PM: Joshua Tree is the third horse to win the Canadian International twice. Frankie Dettori is the second jockey to win the Canadian International three times. History was satisfied. The 5-year-old horse led from the start and quickened when asked — more than Dettori expected, which made the rider a little nervous, he said in the press box scrum after the race. “He gave me too much too quick.” And when the other horses mounted their challenges in the final furlongs? “I could hear the wind … I know what it’s like. I was the hare and the hounds were coming.” But wire-to-wire was the plan, and as they came down the stretch, “I knew I had plenty of horse left.”
(I would really like to quote what Dettori said in the elevator, as he made his way from the track to the press box, and his adrenaline was still running, and he felt free to be a little giddy and profane as he described the race to Sandy Hawley. But I didn’t capture his exact words, and I don’t want to paraphrase. There’s truly nothing like the excitement of a top-class race, and to see someone else feeling that much joy after winning one is wonderful.)
Joshua Tree parading in his International garland.
The Breeders’ Cup Turf is a day less than three weeks from the International, and the connections aren’t sure whether Joshua Tree will start at Santa Anita. It’s one of three races being considered for the horse. (The other two are the Japan Cup and the Hong Kong Cup, and the Japan Cup seems the likeliest. 10/15/12 Update: He’ll go to the Japan Cup next, it was announced.)
7:27 PM: The Canadian International replay (chart).
7:35 PM: Faces of the day:
The lad who led Dandino to the Woodbine paddock watches as the 25-1 shot finishes second. He’d been shouting, “C’mon, Jim.” And then he went silent.
Dettori is mobbed by autograph-seeking fans as he makes his way from the track. “Help, help,” he jokingly called as he shook hands and signed programs.
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Jessica Chapel is a digital producer and editor in Massachusetts. Railbird is a Thoroughbred horse racing blog published since June 2004. More / Contact
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