The 4-year-old filly broke cleanly from the outside, taking up position behind Toffen and Hell N Wild in the early part of the seven-furlong Seaway. On the turn, jockey Luis Contreras took Boardroom four wide, easily finding the front as her stablemate Fiduciary moved with her. Into the stretch, though, Boardroom poured on the speed, drawing away with ease and leaving no room for anyone to challenge her at the finish. Our Secret Agent was second, with graded stakes winner Amalfi Coast third. Golden Vision, Hell N Wild, Fiduciary, and Toffen rounded out the order of finish.

The fractions for the seven furlongs were :23.34, 45.39, and 1:10.24 with a final time for the seven furlongs of 1:22.02. Find this race's chart here.

Boardroom paid $4.40, $2.60, and $2.10. Our Secret Agent paid $3.10 and $2.30. Amalfi Coast paid $2.40.

Bred in Kentucky by Polo Green Stable, Inc., Boardroom is a daughter of Commissioner out of the Rahy mare Money Madness. She is owned by LNJ Foxwoods and trained by Josie Carroll. Consigned by Q Bar J Thoroughbreds, she was sold to Solis and Litt for $475,000 at the 2019 Ocala Breeders' Sale Two-Year-Olds In Training Sale. With her win in the Seaway, Boardroom has five wins in seven lifetime starts, for career earnings of $283,569.

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More and more states are authorizing sports betting, with Canada close to approval as well. New Jersey lawmakers have recently passed legislation that would permit fixed odds wagering on horse racing, allowing bookmakers there to set betting prices on horses as they do on baseball, football and other sports.

Are there opportunities for horse racing to grow, even though the amount already being wagered on sports far exceeds horse racing's annual betting handle? While fixed odds wagering opens up new types of bets and guaranteed payoffs, could it  have unintended consequences on racing's traditional pari-mutuel pools or on the computer-assisted “whales” who get rebates in return for their betting volume?

To discuss these and other issues, Pat Cummings, executive director of the Thoroughbred Idea Foundation (www.racingthinktank.com), joins Ray Paulick and Joe Nevills in this week's edition of the Friday Show. Ray and Joe also review Woodbine's Star of the Week, LNJ Foxwoods' Boardwalk, a Constitution filly who won her first graded stakes last week in the Whimsical Stakes.

Watch this week's show, presented by Monmouth Park, below:

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With regular rider Luis Contreras up for Hall of Fame trainer Josie Carroll, Boardroom made her seasonal debut a winning one in the six-furlong stakes event for fillies and mares four years old and up.

Golden Ami, the winner's stablemate, held a narrow lead while flanked by 2019 Champion Female Sprinter Summer Sunday and the reigning divisional champ Artie's Princess through fractions of :21.93 and :43.93 over the fast Tapeta surface. Following close to the pace just behind the top trio, Contreras had positioned Boardroom to strike down the stretch and the talented filly out-finished the competitive bunch to score by a neck in a sizzling time of 1:08.35.

“Reading the program and by the way the track has been playing, that was pretty much the thing to do. Everything worked perfect. Every single step of the race I was right there,” said Contreras. “She's so amazing.”

Boardroom paid $5.70 to win as the 9-5 second choice. Our Secret Agent closed widest from the back to finish second, three-quarters of a length ahead of Amalfi Coast, who rallied between rivals to take third prize. Golden Ami finished fourth, a neck back, followed by 6-5 favorite Artie's Princess and Summer Sunday. Chart and Sav were scratched.

“I think she's a really special filly and the race set up beautifully for her, Luis sat patiently just off of them and the filly proved what she is,” said Carroll. “I wasn't [surprised how close she was] with the way this track is playing. This track is very speedy today, so she was a little closer than maybe we had anticipated prior, but the way the day's been unfolding, I wasn't that surprised.”

Boardroom put together a 3-1-1 record while earning more than $140,000 during her debut season last year as a three-year-old despite a few eventful trips. The Kentucky-bred daughter of Commissioner had closed her five-race 2020 campaign by winning the Duchess Stakes and finishing a head shy of Artie's Princess in the Grade 2 Bessarabian.

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When last seen in the fall in the Grade 2 Bessarabian Stakes, Artie's Princess prevailed by a diminishing margin to win by a head over Boardroom, who had encountered stifling traffic on the far turn. Prior to that Boardroom had won the Duchess Stakes while Artie's Princess had won the Ruling Angel Stakes.

Our Secret Agent hopes to turn the tide on both fillies after finishing second in the Ruling Angel and Duchess before ending up third in the Bessarabian. Summer Sunday also has the credentials to run well, having taken the Belle Mahone Stakes last September three races following a third place effort in the 2020 Whimsical.

Chart is a stakes winner as well, having captured the Grade 2 Ontario Colleen Stakes on turf last summer at Woodbine. Amalfi Coast won the 2019 Bessarabian Stakes then 11 months later in October 2020 won the Sweet Briar Too Stakes so fits on all counts with these.

Sav has finished first or second in 11 of 16 career starts, with her best effort in a stakes coming when third in the Grade 3 Ontario Fashion Stakes last September. Golden Ami won the first two races of her career last March and November before a sixth place finish in the Grade 3 Sugar Swirl Stakes in her only try at this level.

Boardroom gets slight preference to win this year's Whimsical Stakes. She might be a perfect-five-for five in her career except for two things beyond her control- broken equipment and severe traffic trouble. After easily winning the first two starts of her career last June and July, Boardroom suffered from a piece of broken equipment in the Ruling Angel Stakes (won by Artie's Princess) which denied jockey Contreras steering control. The fact that Boardroom finished third in that race was a testament to her desire to win. Next up in October, Boardroom won the Duchess Stakes, earning a career best 101 Equibase® Speed Figure in the process, which was the same figure Artie's Princess earned for her Ruling Angel victory.

When these two fillies next met in the Bessarabian in November, Boardroom was in position to win on the far turn when a horse boxed her in, forcing her and jockey Contreras to wait for a break in traffic when otherwise she would have been in high gear. After circling four paths wide on the turn while the winner got a much better trip, Boardroom was closing with every stride when the wire came, missing by a head with another 101 figure. With the outside post in the Whimsical, Boardroom should be able to avoid traffic while it is likely Golden Ami sets a brisk pace, chased closely by Sav, giving her the opportunity to close nicely to win this race.

Summer Sunday loves to win races, as evidenced by her record of eight victories from 12 starts on the all-weather main track at Woodbine. As a four year old (the same age as Boardroom and Artie's Princess) in 2019, Summer Sunday won the Hendrie Stakes and Royal North Stakes in succession, then in her 2020 debut she finished third in the Whimsical. Later last season she won an allowance race during the summer before taking the Belle Mahone Stakes in the fall, with the better of those two efforts earning a 100 figure good enough to be competitive with the main contenders if repeated.

Artie's Princess won the first two starts of her career in the summer and fall of 2019, then nearly won the Frost King Stakes with a career-best 102 figure. Resting from November of that year to last June, Artie's Princess returned to win easily with a 99 figure then two later won the Ruling Angel with a 101 figure effort. Duplicating that in the Bessarabian and having won all three races in her career when returning from a layoff as she's doing today, Artie's Princess has every right to add to her already strong five-for-six record on the main track at Woodbine with a win in the Whimsical Stakes.

The rest of the field, with their best Equibase Speed Figures, is Amalfi Coast (103), Chart (85), Golden Ami (100), Our Secret Agent (100) and Sav (99).

Win Contenders:
Boardroom
Summer Sunday
Artie's Princess

Whimsical Stakes – Grade 3
Race 9 at Woodbine
Saturday, June 19 – Post Time 5:31 PM E.T.
Six Furlongs on all-weather
Fillies and Mares, Four Year Olds and Upward
Purse: $150,000

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Eight starters are set to go postward in the Whimsical, a 6-furlong main track event for fillies and mares, 4-year-olds and up, while eight hopefuls chase top prize in the 6-furlong main track Star Shoot for 3-year-old fillies.

The added-money offerings kick off Woodbine's lucrative 2021 stakes calendar, which includes the $1 million Queen's Plate (August 22), North America's oldest continually run stakes event, and first jewel in the Canadian Triple Crown series.

LNJ Foxwoods' stakes winner Boardroom, a finalist for the 2020 Champion Female Sprinter Sovereign Award, is set to vie for top honors in the Whimsical.

Trained by Canadian Horse Racing Hall of Fame inductee Josie Carroll, the 4-year-old daughter of Commissioner has assembled a 3-1-1 record from five lifetime starts.

“Solis/Litt bloodstock bought her at the OBS April 2019,” noted Jaime Roth of LNJ Foxwoods, whose top stars include multiple Grade 1 stakes champion Covfefe. “Her breeze was very special. Going 20.1 bounding over the track effortlessly was impressive. Also, when Josie called excited after her first 5-furlong work, we knew we may have a special filly.”

Boardroom's first two performances, both wins, justified the hype and hopes.

After breaking her maiden first time out on June 27 of last year, the bay, bred by Polo Green Stable, made it two straight scores in another strong outing, this time on July 30.

The Kentucky-bred finished third in the Ruling Angel, despite having a rein break while exiting the gate, in what was her first stakes appearance, on September 12. She then went on to notch her first added-money crown courtesy of a strong rallying effort in the Duchess Stakes on October 3.

“She's a wonderful filly,” Carroll said after the Duchess win. “This filly showed a lot of promise as soon as she came to me and she's lived up to every bit of it. This filly could be any kind. I think she's just going to get better.”

Roth was equally pleased with the victory.

“What impresses me most about Boardroom is her athleticism. She has a ton of class and is all business when she hits the track.”

Unraced as a 2-year-old, Boardroom will now contest her fourth consecutive stakes race, having finished second in the Grade 2 Bessarabian to close out her 2020 campaign.

Roth will be tuning in on Saturday to watch the Woodbine card.

“We are just so happy Woodbine has opened. While she may have been ready to run months ago giving her the winter off, in my opinion, is always good for fillies. It gives them time to relax, mature and grow.”

LNJ Foxwoods will also be represented in the Star Shoot, sending out Drunk Dial, a bay daughter of Dialed In who notched an impressive 5 ½-length win in her debut last November at Woodbine.

Kevin Attard, who won 43 races in 2020, and was a Sovereign Award finalist as Canada's outstanding trainer, sends out multiple stakes winner Amalfi Coast in the Whimsical.

The 5-year-old Terra Farms homebred endured an uneven 2020 campaign, winning one race and posting a third from six starts.

After a sixth-place effort to launch her season last June, a 7 ½-furlong allowance dash on the Woodbine Inner Turf, Amalfi Coast finished fourth to Elizabeth Way in the Grade 2 Nassau Stakes three weeks later.

The daughter of Tapizar was third and eighth, respectively, in the Grade 3 Seaway and Grade 2 Canadian, before a 4 ¼-length romp in the 6 ½-furlong Sweet Briar Too Stakes on October 23.

She closed out her year with a fourth in the Grade 2 Bessarabian.

“I think we were a little overambitious with her in a few spots,” offered Attard. “Right from the get-go, in her first start, she got slammed leaving the gate, and it was just a brutal trip. Then we had a little bit of a throat issue that we had to rectify and get sorted out. Then with the pandemic, getting off to a late start, things just kind of didn't get off on the right foot with her. She ended off her 3-year-old campaign so well, and then her 4-year-old year didn't start off as promising. But she showed she still had it with that win in the Sweet Briar Too. I was expecting a bit of a better race in her final start of the season, but she wintered well and looks good.”

Amalfi Coast brings a 5-2-2 mark from 14 starts into Saturday's engagement.

“She was with me in Caledon [Ontario] in the winter. She came to Woodbine in the spring and hasn't missed a beat. I'm excited to see her get going. It might be a tad short of her best, distance-wise, but she's good and sharp.”

The Whimsical goes as race nine with a 5:31 post time. The Star Shoot is slated as race seven with a 4:28 p.m. post time. Fans can watch and wager on all the action via HPIbet.com.

FIELD FOR THE WHIMSICAL

Post – Horse – Jockey – Trainer

1 – Amalfi Coast – Justin Stein – Kevin Attard

2 – Chart – Jerome Lermyte – Mark Casse

3 – Summer Sunday – Gary Boulanger – Stuart Simon

4 – Sav – Keveh Nicholls – Ricky Griffith

5 – Golden Ami – Daisuke Fukumoto – Josie Carroll

6 – Our Secret Agent – Emma-Jayne Wilson – Mark Casse

7 – Artie's Princess – Kazushi Kimura – Wesley Ward

8 – Boardroom – Luis Contreras – Josie Carroll

FIELD FOR THE STAR SHOOT

Post – Horse – Jockey – Trainer

1 – Sweet Souper Sweet – Patrick Husbands – Michael Trombetta

2 – La Libertee – Jerome Lermyte – Mark Casse

3 – Magical Soul – Leo Salles – Pat Parente

4 – Polyanthus (S) – Kazushi Kimura – Mark Casse

5 – California Lily – Emma-Jayne Wilson – Mark Casse

6 – Can't Buy Love (S) – Justin Stein –Michael Trombetta

7 – Drunk Dial – Luis Contreras – Josie Carroll

8 – Dirty Dangle – Daisuke Fukumoto – Mark Casse

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The trio of Jakarta, Souper Escape and Artie's Princess zipped out of the gate in the seven-furlong Bessarabian, matching strides through an opening-quarter mile in a swift :22.31. It was Jakarta who eventually assumed command with her other two rivals tracking her every move. Artie's Princess, who came into the race off a sharp score in the Ruling Angel Stakes on September 12, sat in third for Kazushi Kimura.

Jakarta continued to call the shots on the front end, taking her rivals through a half-mile clip in :44.41, as Princess Artie kept the pacesetter well within her sights.

As the field turned for home, Artie's Princess surged to the lead, holding a two-length advantage at Robert Geller's stretch call. Looking like a lock mid-way down the lane, the Wesley Ward trainee had to fend off a late-race meeting with hard-charging Boardroom, who fell a head short of collaring the winner. Our Secret Agent rallied to net third, while Amalfi Coast, last year's Bessarabian champ, finished fourth.

“Basically, if I could go to the front I wanted to go to the front, but I knew that just the two horses wanted to go to the front, and it looked a little bit fast that's why I was just patient, watched from behind,” said Kimura, who earlier in the card teamed with Field Pass to take the Grade 3 Ontario Derby Stakes. “She was just so comfortable today.”

The final time was 1:20.90.

“I felt [jockey Luis Contreras and Boardroom coming] but she wasn't that tired and kept going,” offered Kimura. “I felt I could win.”

The ultra-consistent filly, bred and owned by Ken and Sarah Ramsey, now has three wins from four outings in 2020. Last year, the Ontario-bred went 2-1-0 from three starts, taking her first two races before a runner-up effort in the Frost King Stakes in November.

Her sire, We Miss Artie, also owned by Ken and Sarah Ramsey, won the 2014 Plate Trial at Woodbine before finishing third in the Queen's Plate.

Sent off as the 5-2 choice, Artie's Princess paid $7, $3.80 and $3.30. She combined with Boardroom ($5, $3.90) for a 4-2 $34.40 exactor. Our Secret Agent ($4.30) completed a 4-2-7 triactor worth $156.90. Amalfi Coast rounded a 4-2-7-5 $1 Superfecta that returned $277.35. Outburst was scratched.

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