Woodbine Releases 2023 Stakes Schedule

Woodbine Entertainment unveiled the stakes schedule Monday for the 2023 Thoroughbred racing season at Woodbine Racetrack in Toronto, Ontario.

The program will offer more than $17 million in purses, including 39 graded stakes, five Grade I events and two $1 million classics, The King's Plate and Ricoh Woodbine Mile.

“Highlighted by the return of the Canadian International, and the first running of The King's Plate in 70 years, this year's stakes program at Woodbine will be as exciting as ever,” said Jim Lawson, CEO, Woodbine Entertainment.

The 164th running of The King's Plate is schedule for Sunday, August 20 to launch the OLG Canadian Triple Crown. The $400,000 Prince of Wales will be run Tuesday, September 12 at Fort Erie Race Track, while the $400,000 Breeders' S. will be contested Sunday, October 1.

The GI Ricoh Woodbine Mile is accompanied by the $500,000 GI Johnnie Walker Natalma S. and $500,000 GI Summer S. Saturday, September 16. The trio of Grade I events are all part of the Breeders' Cup “Win and You're In” Challenge Series.

The biggest addition to the 2023 stakes schedule is the return of the Grade I Canadian International. The race will have its 84th running Sunday, October 8 at a new distance of a mile and a quarter over the E.P. Taylor Turf Course. The GI E.P. Taylor will also be contested on October 8.

The $500,000 Woodbine Oaks Presented by Budweiser will launch the Canadian Triple Tiara Sunday, July 23. To view the entire 2023 Thoroughbred stakes schedule, click here.

The 2023 season at Woodbine Racetrack opens Saturday, April 22 and runs through Sunday, December 10.

The post Woodbine Releases 2023 Stakes Schedule appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions.

Source of original post

Week In Review: Another Milestone For Kentucky Downs

Another record was set Saturday at Kentucky Downs when $21,065,982 was wagered on the 12-race card. Perhaps even more impressively, Kentucky Downs out-handled Del Mar, where $19,423,928 was bet. Del Mar ran 11 races on Saturday.

That a wagering record was set was hardly a surprise considering that the card at Kentucky Downs was also the best ever offered at the sport's most unique racetrack. There were six graded stakes on the card and five of them were worth $1 million. The average field size was 11, the type of number horseplayers love.

Kentucky Downs is improving every year, but there is a way to make to make it even better. Largely because of the width of the turf course, fields are limited to 12 horses. In many races, there are 16 horses entered in a race, with four on the also-eligible list. For most tracks, limiting the number of starters to 12  wouldn't be an issue. But, according to Kentucky Downs Senior Vice President and General Manager Ted Nicholson, it's not uncommon for as many as 30 horses to enter a race, particularly in maiden races.

If Kentucky Downs does as well as it does limiting the fields to 12 horses, imagine how much more they could handle if allowing 16 horses to race. And why limit things to 16 horses? What's wrong with a 20-horse field, a 22-horse field?

Nicholson said track management is exploring its options relating to field size. It would take widening the course, particularly on the turns.

“Increasing the amount of horses that can run is something that we have talked about, but talks haven't gone that far,” he said. “We've been content with having 16 possibles and scratching down to 12. This is one of those things we probably should consider even more for next year.”

Nicholson added that the track decided to card more maiden races, which almost always have oversubscribed fields, this year. There were four on Saturday's card. It was done so that horsemen with maidens would have a better chance of getting into races rather than being shut out for the entire meet because it has been so difficult to get into those races.

“I'd much rather run a maiden race with 12 than throw up a claiming race that might scratch down to seven or eight,” Nicholson said.

Saratoga Is Growing But Is The Sport?

It was announced last week that the Saratoga meet set still another wagering record with $878,211,963 bet on the meet, a 7.7% increase over what was a record handle in 2021. If the trends continue, we may be only three or four years removed from the meet breaking the $1-billion mark, an astounding number.

But while this is good news for Saratoga and NYRA, the numbers suggest that the handle increases are not a matter of the pie growing but Saratoga taking a bigger slice of the pie. According to Equibase, through August, total handle is up just 0.24% on the year. In August, which includes the bulk of the Saratoga season, wagering was down 0.86%.

It's not just Saratoga. The numbers coming out of the top-tier tracks, particularly the boutique meets, continue to be good. That probably means that customers continue to turn away from the second and third-tier tracks and are focusing their wagering dollars on the very best simulcasting signals.

Problems for the Canadian Triple Crown

For the second year in a row, the winner of the Queen's Plate will not be running in the second leg of the Canadian Triple Crown. When entries were taken last week for Tuesday's Prince of Wales S. at Fort Erie, the field,  as expected, did not include Queen's Plate winner Moira (Ghostzapper). She is being pointed for a Grade I race and trainer Kevin Attard said he is looking at either the GI E.P. Taylor S. at Woodbine or the GI Queen Elizabeth Challenge Cup S. at Keeneland. Attard wants to give her a chance in Grade I company to enhance her resume. You can hardly blame him.

The 2021 Plate winner Safe Conduct (Bodemeister) skipped the Prince of Wales because the connections thought me might have a hard time making the transition from Woodbine's Tapeta surface to the Fort Erie dirt track.

Also sitting out the $400,000 Prince of Wales will be Queen's Plate runner-up Hall of Dreams (Lemon Drop Kid) and Queen's Plate beaten favorite Rondure (Oxbow).  The 7-5 morning-line favorite in the race is Sir for Sure (Sligo Bay {Ire}), who was third, beaten nine lengths, in the Queen's Plate.

With the race being run three weeks after the Queen's Plate and offering a purse that is modest by today's standards, the Prince of Wales has become a weak link in the Canadian Triple Crown, which also includes the Breeders' S. at Woodbine. As is this case with the U.S. Triple Crown, there is talk that the series needs to be tinkered with. One thought is to bring back a bonus structure for any horse sweeping the three races, something the Ontario tracks have done off and on over the years. Throwing some money at the problem is one possible solution.

As for the Queen's Plate, it appears that is about to undergo a name change with the death of Queen Elizabeth II. Since its inception way back in 1860, the race has been named for the reigning British monarch and has been called the Queen's Plate since 1952. As long as Woodbine sticks to tradition, the race will be renamed the King's Plate in honor of King Charles III.

New Voices in NYRA Announcer's Booth

It was announced last week that Frank Mirahmadi will take over as the announcer at Saratoga next year. It was one of a number of changes when it comes to the NYRA race-callers. John Imbriale has decided to cut back on his duties and will call the races at Belmont only. Chris Griffin, currently the announcer at Parx, will take over the duties at Aqueduct.

Mirahmadi will split his time between two of the top tracks in the sport, Saratoga and Santa Anita. Considering those assignments, his popularity and the quality of his calls, it's easy to argue that Mirahmadi deserves to be recognized as the very best in his profession.

Mirahmadi will be leaving Monmouth at the end of the current meet. If he's amenable to the idea, isn't bringing Larry Collmus back to Monmouth an obvious move?

The post Week In Review: Another Milestone For Kentucky Downs appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions.

Source of original post

Moira Heads Colts at Queen’s Plate Draw

X-Men Racing, Madaket Stables LLC, and SF Racing LLC's Moira (Ghostzapper) was listed as the 5-2 morning-line favorite during Wednesday morning's post position Queen's Plate draw, held at Woodbine's newly-opened Stella Artois Terrace. In addition to the Woodbine Oaks winner, who will exit gate 8 with regular pilot Rafael Hernandez aboard, a total of 10 colts have signed on for Sunday's $1-million 10-furlong Classic, the first jewel in the Canadian Triple Crown.

“Typically, when you win the Oaks, depending on how impressive they are doing it, you always have to think of The Queen's Plate,” said trainer Kevin Attard, who is looking for his first Plate win. “It's something we have always had in the back of our minds, and we geared her campaign so the Plate would be her third race of the season and she'd be fresh.”

The double-draw format was in place for the session, with the order of selection first established beforee allowing the connections to choose their post positions.

Likely to draw plenty of support Sunday, Borders Racing Stable Ltd.'s Rondure (Oxbow) was allotted post 6. Trained by Katerina Vassilieva, the GIII Marine S. winner will be accompanied by Flavien Prat.

“He's not overly large in stature, but he's stout,” said Vassilieva. “He has a stout, muscular body and a big heart. He loves to sleep. Every day, around 10:30 or 11, he eats his breakfast and then goes to sleep. You will find him around that time, every day, sprawled out in his stall. Which is always a good sign to me, that he knows how to rest and relax.”

No stranger to the Queen's Plate, trainer Mark Casse, who won the Plate with Lexie Lou (2014) and Wonder Gadot (2018), will be represented by Heste Sport Inc.'s Sir for Sure (Sligo Bay {Ire}), who will break from post 10 as well as Gary Barber, Wachtel Stables, Peter Deutsch, and Leonard Schleifer's Hall of Dreams (Lemon Drop Kid), who breaks from the rail. The stablemates finished 1-2 in the Plate Trial July 24.

“The Plate Trial was actually my second choice,” said the dual Hall of Fame conditioner of the likely more fancied of the two Casse runners come raceday. “Two days before the Plate Trial, there was an Ontario-sired allowance going a mile and a quarter, and I was trying to find the easiest path to The Queen's Plate because he's a little behind from the injury. But the race didn't go. [Owner] René [Hunderup] was good with running him in the Plate Trial, so we did. I didn't need him to win, I just needed him to show he still wanted to play the game. I thought it was powerful and he got a great ride from [jockey] Declan [Carroll].”

Always a dominant force south of the border, Hall of Fame trainer Todd Pletcher will try to add a second Plate victory with Chiefwood Stables' Causin' Mayhem (Into Mischief), who broke his maiden at Belmont before finishing third last out in the Plate Trial. Pletcher previously won with Archers Bay in 1998.

Rounding out the field are Shamateur (Shaman Ghost) (8-1, Post 2); Ironstone (Mr Speaker) (12-1, Post 3); The Minkster (English Channel) (10-1, Post 4); Duke of Love (Cupid) (5-1 Post 5); Dancin in Da'nile (Pioneerof the Nile) (30-1, Post 7) and Hunt Master (Hunters Bay) (30-1, Post 9).

The post Moira Heads Colts at Queen’s Plate Draw appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions.

Source of original post

100 Nominated to ’22 Canadian Triple Crown

One hundred of the top Canadian-bred 3-year-old Thoroughbreds have been nominated to the 2022 Canadian Triple Crown. Woodbine Entertainment released the nominations for the three-race series, which consists of the Aug. 21 Queen's Plate, Sept. 13 Prince of Wales S. and culminates with the Oct. 2 Breeders' S.

The total number of nominees is down from last year's high of 125, but up from only 92 in 2020.

Among the top nominees to the series are: Messier (Empire Maker), Ironstone (Mr Speaker), God of Love (Cupid), The Minkster (English Channel), and Silent Runner (Silent Name {Jpn}).

Nominations were also released for the 67th running of the Woodbine Oaks, presented by Budweiser. Sixty-five Canadian-bred fillies have been nominated for the Oaks, which will be run July 24.

The post 100 Nominated to ’22 Canadian Triple Crown appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions.

Source of original post

Verified by MonsterInsights