It wasn't a particularly memorable start, but it turned out to be an unforgettable finish for Sister Seagull, who rallied to win the $250,000 Wonder Where Stakes, final leg of the Triple Tiara for Canadian-bred fillies Sunday at Woodbine.
The 1 ¼-mile grass test saw Sister Seagull steadied slightly heading into the first bend, but when crunch time arrived, the Catherine Day Phillips trainee was in full flight down the E.P. Taylor Turf Course stretch.
Strega broke sharply and was sent to the front with Swoop to Finish, one of two Sam-Son runners taking up the chase in second, followed by Devil's Bit, Keep It Neat, Sister Seagull, and Whimsical Dance, the other Sam-Son colorbearer.
The first quarter, in :26.27, saw Strega holding a half-length lead over Swoop to Finish, as the running order remained mostly unchanged through a half in :51.69.
After reaching three-quarters, Swoop to Finish began to ratchet up the pressure on the leader, as Antonio Gallardo gave Sister Seagull her cue.
The chestnut came off the final turn needing to track down Swoop to Finish, who continued to run determinedly to the inside. Sister Seagull eventually got onto even terms with her rival and defeated that gutsy foe, winning by one length in 2:04.65 over firm going.
Devil's Bit was third and Whimsical Dance was fourth.
“I had to check just a little bit,” said Gallardo, of the less-than-ideal start. “But thank God it's one mile and a quarter because you have plenty of time to figure out and pull everything together again. She's a nice filly. I liked her more today because of the distance. It's perfect for her. I feel like she's more on the bridle on the turf. Today, everything was beautiful… really easy today.”
Bred by Sean Fitzhenry, who co-owns Sister Seagull with his wife, Dorothy, it was the second straight score and third in the last four attempts for Sister Seagull.
With the Wonder Where win, it gave the filly two triumphs in the Triple Tiara. After a second to Moira in the first leg, the Woodbine Oaks on July 24, Sister Seagull took the second leg, the Bison City, on August 14.
The daughter of Hard Spun now sports a record of 3-1-1 from eight starts.
“That was exciting,” said Sean Fitzhenry. “I figured the long stretch would help her and it did. It's [winning two legs of the Triple Tiara] a testament to what we do with our broodmares. It's a good source of pride.”
As it was for Day Phillips, who was celebrating her wedding anniversary with her husband, Todd Phillips, on Sunday.
The multiple graded stakes winning trainer felt the Wonder Where distance would be beneficial for her sophomore star.
“She's always acted like she wants to go further,” she said. “Her breeding suggests turf. But she's had two tough races coming into this, so that was a little bit of a concern. She's not a big, strong filly. If you see her, she looks bigger when she's coming to the wire than she does standing beside her. She just is all heart. I'm so proud of her.”
Sister Seagull, who returned $7.90, was produced by the Kitten's Joy mare Sweet Kitten.
The post ‘She Just Is All Heart’: Sister Seagull Shines In Wonder Where To Secure Two-Thirds Of Canada’s Triple Tiara appeared first on Horse Racing News | Paulick Report.
Edited Release from Del Mar
It has been a meet to remember for several Northern California trainers who like to summer at Del Mar, as well as one trainer who came to Southern California from Northern California and stayed.
Jonathan Wong rattled off seven wins in a week last month at Del Mar, winning 'Trainer of the Week' honors and climbing into the Top 10 in the trainer standings. He never left. Going into Sunday's final day of the Del Mar summer meet, Wong had notched 13 victories, good for a tie for sixth in the trainer standings and only six off the pace set by Philip D'Amato.
“Beyond pleased,” Wong says. “It's definitely exceeded expectations. I was hoping we could win six to eight and we've won 13 so far, so we've doubled what we were hoping for. Just amazing.
“We've had great help,” Wong continues. “We had owners that let us place horses where they could win, a great group of guys working back here for us, making sure everything was taken care of. Fortunately, we got lucky. Horses were just clicking at the right time, they got into their races and everything worked out perfectly.”
Wong still calls Golden Gate Fields his base, but he's training full time in Southern California. He's currently tied for first in the trainer standings at Golden Gate.
“I live down here, but a majority of our barn is up in the Bay Area,” Wong says, “and we're thinking about taking a string out to Keeneland for the meet and spreading out into the Kentucky area.”
Trainer Andy Mathis had his best meet ever at Del Mar this summer, winning 12 races, good enough for seventh in the trainer standings. Unlike Wong, Mathis has already returned to Northern California but he takes lasting memories of the 2022 meet.
“So much better than I would ever have imagined,” Mathis says. “It hasn't totally sunk in yet how good it worked out. I thought it would be more likely that I would win zero races than 12.
“It was one of those deals where we won a few races early and I thought if we could win six or seven races that would be really good,” Mathis added. “The next thing you know you're at six or seven and you say, 'Boy, nine would be a huge number' and then it was 10 and then last week we landed on 12.”
Mathis says he appreciates how difficult the summer meet is and how it takes a lot of good luck.
“It was a lot of good fortune throughout the whole meet,” he states. “Whether it was pace scenarios or horses that got into races and not on the also-eligible lists. Del Mar is hard. Training starts early, you have the later post times. You really need everybody on the same page. All the grooms and the riders. It's long days and hard work.”
That being said, Mathis says he'll probably be back next year.
“It's like playing blackjack and you're on a big roll,” Mathis says. “You can't just get up and leave. Once I recover from it, I'll be wanting to go back.”
Two other trainers at Del Mar for the summer are leaving town with victories under their belt. Quinn Howey calls Northern California home, but brought a string of horses to Del Mar and won three races. O.J. Jauregui did the same and pocketed one victory.
The post NorCal Trainers Clean Up at Del Mar appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions.
The final nine races on Kentucky Downs' Sunday card were postponed because of inclement weather and will be run Tuesday at the Franklin, Kentucky track.
The first post Tuesday will be 12:25 p.m. (CT).
A new program will be created to make the rescheduled races (Sunday's third through 11th) races 1-9. The races will not be redrawn, but all scratched horses have been reinstated into the fields. The new scratch time is 9 a.m. Monday.
“It's disappointing not to get the card in, because the turf course was perfect Saturday and starting our Sunday card,” said Ted Nicholson, Kentucky Downs' Vice President for Racing. “It actually benefited from some water because (track superintendent) Butch Lehr was cognizant of pending rain, and the course started the day very firm. While rain was intermittent, we had that one steady shower. It was a borderline call, but the safety for our human and equine participants is paramount.
“We now look forward to sunshine the next few days and to staging terrific cards Tuesday and our closing day Wednesday. We appreciate the patience shown by our horsemen, our guests and simulcast players.”
The final tournament of the King of the Turf Handicapping Challenge will be carried over to Tuesday's nine-race card and pick up where it left off Sunday with the postponement after two races. There will no new registrations and no refunds.
The post Kentucky Downs Reschedules Sunday’s Last Nine Races To Tuesday appeared first on Horse Racing News | Paulick Report.
