But this race always comes with a handicapping conundrum. How do you pick the winner in a dirt race when not one of the 11 starters has ever won a race over that surface? Most have done their running at Woodbine over the turf courses or the synthetic Tapeta track.

“That's what makes the Canadian Triple Crown so unique,” said Paramount Prince's trainer, Mark Casse. “The first race is on Tapeta, the second is on the dirt and they finish up on the grass in the Breeders' Stakes. We had him all winter at our training center in Ocala and he trained extremely well over the dirt there. I'd be kind of shocked if he didn't handle the dirt. But you never know.”

According to the figures provided by Thoro-Graph, the offspring of Society's Chairman win 16% on the time on dirt and just 13% of the time on synthetic.

Casse has won the Queen's Plate/King's Plate three times, the Prince of Wales four times and the Breeders' Stakes twice. But he has yet to sweep a Canadian Triple Crown, something no horse has done since Wando (Langfuhr) in 2003. The series took a bit of a hit the last two years when the winners of the Queen's Plate skipped the Prince Of Wales. But it looks like the Prince of Wales has rebounded. The 12-horse field is the biggest in 21 years and most of the top Canadian-bred 3-year-old males will be in the race.

Looking to win the Prince of Wales for the fifth time, Casse has every reason to be confident. Paramount Prince, who will be ridden by Patrick Husbands, looks like an improving horse who flourished once sent around two turns. After three straight losses sprinting, he wired the field in the Plate Trial before doing the same in the King's Plate.

“Early on I was very disappointed in him,” Casse said. “This winter I kept saying this is a good horse. The first time I ran him I told (owner) Gary (Barber) that I didn't think he'd get beat. But he disappointed me. He trained great coming into his second race and didn't win either. I think he wants to you to grab him and get into a rhythm. He doesn't do that sprinting.”

Casse has also entered Stayhonor Goodside (Honor Code), who is 10-1 in the morning line and was kept out of the King's Plate.

“I kind of pointed that horse to this race because I thought he has a good dirt pedigree,” Casse said. “But we're all guessing.”

Trainer Michael DePaulo will send out a pair in 4-1 second choice Stanley House (Army Mule) and Cook Kiss (Kantharos). Cook Kiss is one of only two horses in the field that has started on the dirt. He finished second in a dirt allowance in July at Gulfstream. Stanley House was third in the King's Plate, beaten three lengths, and never threatened the winner. Both horses will wear blinkers for the first time.

“We're hoping somebody goes after Paramount Prince at some point. But you never know,” DePaulo said. “Patrick is a cagey rider and might not go to the lead. The Society's Chairmans in general haven't been real big dirt horses that I've seen. But you never know. I put the blinkers on Stanley because he's been a little further than I'd like in most of his races. The other horse, Cook Kiss, he sometimes looks like he's goofing around. I thought blinkers might help. You look at his Ragozin numbers and they're way better than his Beyer numbers because he's always so wide. He ran a mile and three eighths in the Plate.”

Kaukokaipuu (Mr Speaker) went off at 8-1 in the King's Plate only to lose by 37 1/4 lengths. Trainer Ted Holder is willing to try again.

“We haven't missed a beat,” Holder said. “We unfortunately got outdistanced so we ended up on the Alcohol and Gaming Commission's outdistanced vet's list. So, I worked with him, a very slow maintenance work for him to get him off the list. We went over him with the vets to make sure everything was in order and we got the green light, so we are proceeding.”

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Two days later, David Anderson, a prominent Ontario-based breeder who owns Anderson Farms and serves on the boards of three key Thoroughbred organizations in Canada, told TDN that Woodbine's tactics are, in his opinion, a coordinated effort to hamper Fort Erie's operations, and that some of those detrimental decisions are being funded by money that is supposed to be earmarked for Thoroughbred-industry improvement in Ontario.

Anderson also warned that some of Woodbine's purse allocation strategies for the 2023 meet that starts Apr. 22–namely the reduction of maiden special weight (MSW) purses from $126,000 (Canadian) to $111,600 to purportedly bolster the money offered for low-level claiming races-could result in “the biggest mass exodus of Ontario bred horses” out of the province.

“There's no reason on earth why Woodbine should be running $5,000 claimers and competing against Fort Erie,” Anderson said. “I mean, it's just never been that way. And there's enough room in the province for an A track and a B track. But they're just trying to snuff out their competition. And the horsemen don't want it. The government doesn't want it. It's just Woodbine upper brass, just… I don't know what the proper word is for it.”

“I have a significant investment in the game,” Anderson said. “I'm one of the bigger breeders in Canada, and I sit on all these industry boards. Ontario Racing. I sit on the board of the HBPA in Ontario. I sit on the board of the Jockey Club of Canada. I'm on every single industry board,  committee [and] subcommittees that there are. And no one is willing to step up and speak out against Woodbine because of the bully tactics and the dictatorship that [WEG chief executive officer Jim] Lawson's been running.

“They're afraid he's going to take away stalls from them on the backside; he's going to exercise private-property rights and kick them off the grounds,” Anderson continued. “I mean, it's just a complete totalitarian regime over there. And I don't want to sit here and make the article a complete bashing of Woodbine. We've got so many things that are fantastic that are going on [in Ontario]. Unfortunately, we're on this island up there that the tail wags the dog, and Woodbine is the mothership. And with the stroke of the pen, they can take one of our programs basically illegally and take those funds and redirect it or reallocate it into a program that they want to do that bolsters their profits.”

Anderson articulated other specific criticisms in his Apr. 20 interview, such as Woodbine's “no return” shipping policy for horses that leave the grounds to race at Fort Erie. He also echoed concerns about an allegation that surfaced in Fort Erie's formal grievance: the recent rescheduling of the Canadian Triple Crown series, which he alleged works to Woodbine's advantage and against both Fort Erie and the best interests of Ontario's overall racing industry.

TDN on Friday emailed Woodbine's communications director, Jamie Dykstra, requesting an interview with Lawson (or any other company executive) to give Woodbine the chance to get its side of the story about Anderson's complaints on the record.

In response, Dykstra wrote that no interview would be forthcoming. He attached a fact sheet about purses and a prepared statement that Woodbine had issued earlier in the week about Fort Erie's grievance.

That press release stated: “The assertions made by Fort Erie Race Track are baseless and without merit and we will vigorously and confidently defend ourselves if requested by the Canadian Trade Commission or any other regulatory authority. We are very proud of the vital role we play in supporting the strength, success and growth of the Ontario horse racing industry. We are very much looking forward to starting our 2023 meet this Saturday. We will have no further comment on this matter at this time.” 

'How are we improving the breed?'

Anderson underscored how the province's racing industry should be operating from a solid starting point instead of dealing with infighting between Ontario's two Thoroughbred tracks.

“I sit on the board of Ontario Racing, which governs all of the racing in Ontario. It's a government-appointed board that administers all of the funds for Thoroughbred racing, Standardbred racing, and Quarter Horse racing. And there's subcommittees on that board. One of them is the Thoroughbred Improvement Program, or TIP.

“We have a mare purchase program that we've been promoting quite heavily,” Anderson said. “We've brought in well over 300 brand-new, pregnant mares into the province in the last three years, which has been much needed in our province. We were actually [up] double digits in live foals, in mares bred, in new stallions in our province, which is greater than any jurisdiction in North America. So there's lots of great points here that we've [put] into place.”

Anderson said that during the same time frame, TIP ushered in a program that had increased MSW purses at Woodbine to $126,000 by the end of the 2022 meet.

“And it's been crazy-successful for Ontario breds. Ontario bred yearlings in the last three years are up 68% average at the sales. People are buying Ontario-bred yearlings because they want to run in this program. Breeders are buying better mares, breeding to better stallions because they're able to sell their yearlings for more money. And ultimately, it's because of the program.”

But Anderson said he was dismayed when Woodbine's first 2023 condition book got released, and MSW purses had been slashed from $126,000 to $111,600.

“Once these owners that have bought yearlings last fall and the fall before and are expecting to run for those purses find out about it, they're going to leave,” Anderson said.

“[And] the fact is, it's government money,” Anderson continued. “This program was set up by TIP. It's worked and it is working, and [Woodbine] can't just take the money and go and put it where they want to put it. They can take their other purse account money and go and do with it whatever they want, or they actually have to negotiate it with the HBPA. But they're not even doing that. There's zero negotiations with the HBPA. I sit on that board. I sit on the liaison committee. I know exactly what's gone on. It's zero.

“How are we improving the breed by taking money from our upper-echelon horses and putting it into $5,000 claimers?” Anderson said. “They're leveraging those government dollars to bolster their own coffers.”

Photo courtesy Fort Erie

'I can't sit back and watch'

Anderson said he is hoping that a planned regime change at Woodbine could bring about a new sense of cooperation. On Apr. 11, WEG announced that Lawson will be stepping down from his role as CEO this fall after 15 years at the track in various management positions, although it is expected that Lawson will be associated with Woodbine in a “senior role” that will be defined at a later date.

“Jim Lawson has finally stepped down, which is going to be hopefully a very positive move for the horse industry in Ontario,” Anderson said. “The problem is there's no one to take over. There's no one currently in upper management at Woodbine that knows the mane from the tail. And we've got to put the feelers out there across North America or the world and try and find somebody that can step in and take on that role.

“The horsemen are the stakeholders of Woodbine,” Anderson said. “It's a not-for-profit. We are the stakeholders and these guys at Woodbine and their board, quite frankly, have to be accountable and there has to be governance. And now that Jim's stepped down, there has to be a proper executive search done for a proper CEO that understands horse racing.”

Anderson said that for years, Woodbine “always ran with Fort Erie as a sister track.” But that mindset has been quashed.

“If you couldn't break your maiden at Woodbine, you drove 40 minutes down the road and you broke your maiden at Fort Erie and came back,” Anderson said. “If you had a well-bred filly that couldn't win at Woodbine, but you wanted to get a win under her belt, you'd run down there and do it. And when David Willmot ran the place [until retiring in 2012], he understood that. He's a breeder. He is an owner, he got it. Now they've put this rule in, if you leave Woodbine and go run at Fort Erie, you can't come back.

“When I was a kid growing up back in the '70s, the lowest claiming rank at Woodbine was $6,250,” Anderson said. “It's now $5,000 at Woodbine. They have become a B track, but on purpose. They don't want good horses.”

“And here we are, struggling as much as we can to get better horses and build our industry,” Anderson said. “And we've got this mothership doing the opposite, and they don't get it. They want to run $5,000 claimers because they're 12-horse fields. They pay out a $20,000 purse, and they get big pari-mutuel wagering out of it. Yet in the last 15 years, we've had $4 million in purse increases on a $70 million contract. I mean, it's nothing. You look at every racetrack around North America over the last 15 years, and tell me how much their purses have gone up.

“Woodbine, it's a different mindset,” Anderson summed up. “And as a horseman and as a person, I'm in a position where I can stand up to these guys. I can let them have it. What are they going to do to me? Kick me off the grounds, take my box away? I've known Jim for 20-plus years. My father sat on the board of Woodbine for 35 years. I mean, I've been going to that place since I was a kid, and I absolutely love it. It's home to me. [But] I can't sit back on behalf of all the horse people in Canada and watch this happen. They have to be accountable. And kudos to Fort Erie for actually taking it to court.”

Anderson's sister, Jessica Buckley, was the Senior Vice President of Standardbred and Thoroughbred Racing at Woodbine, but resigned last June.

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The list of contenders for the 68th Woodbine Oaks has also been released, totaling 63 Canadian-bred fillies, with last year's racing yielding eventual Canadian Horse of the Year Moira (ON) (Ghostzapper). The 2023 edition will run Sunday, July 23. The full nominee list for that race can be found here.

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“For the past several race seasons, Woodbine has implemented a horse shipping policy which, in the opinion of the FELRC's board of directors, is designed to starve Fort Erie of its necessary horse supply by restricting the movement of horses between the two tracks,” stated the Fort Erie release. “This amounts to Woodbine abusing its position as the dominant market force, which is hampering Fort Erie's ability to run a business and a fulsome race calendar.”

Fort Erie is also alleging that Woodbine's refusal to return the Canadian Triple Crown dates to their pre-pandemic calendar spots equates to a “refusal to collaborate in the best interest of the horse racing industry” at large.

“By far the largest attraction in Canadian horse racing, the Triple Crown begins with the King's Plate at Woodbine, followed by the Prince of Wales Stakes at Fort Erie, and finally the Breeders' Stakes back at Woodbine,” the Fort Erie release stated.

“Traditionally the three races were held consecutively in June, July, then August,” the Fort Erie release stated. “However, during the COVID crisis, certain restrictions necessitated moving the first jewel of the crown, the King's Plate, to later in the summer. This pushed Fort Erie's signature race, the Prince of Wales Stakes, out of the summer tourism season, and into September.

“With the pandemic over, Woodbine has refused to move the King's Plate back to its regular spring date, or even a mutually planned date, forcing Fort Erie to keep the Prince of Wales Stakes in September,” which does “not allow Fort Erie to meet its maximum potential for such a historic and esteemed event,” Fort Erie claimed.

The Ontario news site NiagaraThisWeek reported Tuesday that a Woodbine spokesperson denied Fort Erie's allegations.

“The assertions made by Fort Erie Race Track are baseless and without merit and we will vigorously and confidently defend ourselves if requested by the Canadian Trade Commission or any other regulatory authority,” Woodbine communications director Jamie Dykstra told NiagaraThisWeek.

Jim Thibert, the chief executive officer of the FELRC, took an opposing view.

“Woodbine holds a near monopoly in our industry,” Thibert said in the Fort Erie statement. “Woodbine's business practices towards Fort Erie are unfair and clearly predatorial. While this situation is particularly harmful for the continued existence of racing at Fort Erie, it is genuinely harmful for the owners, trainers, jockeys and others employed directly in racing and indirectly in services to the thoroughbred racing industry in Ontario.”

The Fort Erie release outlined another allegation: “Further demonstration of Woodbine's hostility is their continued practice of greatly inflating purses in lower level races compared to Fort Erie's, especially claiming races. The use of provincial subsidies for horse racing should not be allowed especially when Woodbine is increasingly running more and more of Fort Erie's race offerings.”

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But he's no longer the only five-for-five juvenile in North America after a win Saturday by the filly Back to Ohio (Midshipman), who cruised to a 7 1/4-length romp against Ohio-bred stakes company at Mahoning Valley.

It's not unusual for 2-year-olds to rack up wins if they compete largely against state-bred stakes company. But Tyler's Tribe is different because he's run legit 90+ Beyer Speed Figures on several occasions while dominating everyone who's lined up against him at Prairie Meadows, meriting his shot at the Breeders' Cup.

Back to Ohio hasn't garnered the same lofty figs just yet. But she signaled promise six months ago when unleashing a co-fastest eighth of a mile in :9 4/5 during her OBSAPR under-tack session, then hammered for $385,000 for Vince Foglia, who now races her under his stable name, Patricia's Hope LLC.

That's quite a cash outlay for a Buckeye-bred. But Back to Ohio has already earned $245,700 of it back for Foglia since debuting June 23.

Bred by Trail M Boarding & Guest Farm, the filly out of Sheza Runaway Star was pinhooked for $70,000 by Top Line Sales from the Mill Ridge Sales consignment at last year's FTKOCT. After Foglia purchased her this spring, trainer Larry Rivelli had her ready for a 4-5 winning unveiling against open company at Presque Isle Downs, leading to 3-5 favoritism in start number two, an Ohio-bred stakes at Belterra Park on July 8.

Back to Ohio uncorked a near-winning effort that day, but crossed the line second, beaten a neck, with the rest of the shell-shocked field at least 12 1/4 lengths in arrears. But the filly who narrowly beat her subsequently got disqualified because of a positive post-race drug test, and Back to Ohio was later ruled the official victress.

She scored in another state-bred stakes Aug. 13 at Thistledown by 5 1/2 lengths as the 9-10 favorite, then bested open-company fillies at Presque Isle by 2 1/2 lengths in a $99,900 stakes.

Her powerhouse performance in the 1 1/16-mile $100,000 John W. Galbreath S. on Oct. 29 wasn't without an anxious moment at the start. Making her two-turn debut, Back to Ohio got crunched at the break, then settled willingly and stalked a dueling duo until the far turn, when she inhaled the pacemakers and drew off under the lightest of encouragement from jockey Jareth Loveberry as the 2-5 chalk.

Breeders' Cup week is now upon us. Back to Ohio won't be there and Tyler's Tribe will. But that's not the point.

When you're five-for-five, the sky's the limit, and everybody in the Back to Ohio equation–from small-scale breeders to her well-established owner, trainer and jockey connections–can enjoy the rush that comes with the promise of possibility.

Backspin, baby!

In May, TDN colleague Bill Finley profiled Houston Astros all-star third baseman Alex Bregman's first win as a Thoroughbred owner in a partnership that involves his family members. On Saturday night, the slugger clocked a two-run homer to propel his team to victory over the Philadelphia Phillies to even the World Series at one game apiece.

Bregman Family Racing LLC also took a step up in class over the weekend. Baby Got Backspin (Kantharos), a 2-year-old maiden filly competing against winners, ran third at 9-1 odds in the $200,000 Myrtlewood S. at Keeneland.

The “backspin” part of the filly's name references a baseball term that describes how power hitters launch batted balls over long distances.

An unraced colt in the Bregman stable is Golden Sombrero (Medaglia d'Oro), named after the inglorious feat of striking out four times in a game.

“Total reverse psychology,” Bregman joked about the name choice to baseball writer Ken Rosenthal in a Sunday piece in The Athletic.

Down to the wire…

Maybe someday in the near future the sport will feature prop bets or exchange wagering on winning meet-specific titles. We're not quite at that point yet, but the closing weekend at Keeneland would have provided an intriguing example, as the winningest owner, trainer and jockey honors all were decided on the final day of racing.

The riding-title race in particular was dramatic: Tyler Gaffalione notched two victories Friday to give him 19 going into the final day of the 17-day fall meet. His closest pursuer, Luis Saez, won one race on Friday to put him at 18. On the final day of the meet, Gaffalione, seeking his sixth Keeneland riding title, had eight mounts versus 10 for Saez.

Saez and Gaffalione ran one-two in that order in the Saturday opener. They remained tied for the title until race five, won by Saez, then Gaffalione captured the eighth, again deadlocking the score. They both had mounts in the five-horse featured ninth, in which Gaffalione got third while Saez was last on the favorite.

Tied going into the nightcap, Gaffalione had no mount, but Saez pulled off a 26-1 shocker, securing the riding title in an unlikely fashion.

Tour de Fort

There are still a handful of tracks that card closing-day “marathon” races on the final days of race meets, and Fort Erie is one of them.

Known locally as the “Tour de Fort,” the 2 mile and 70 yard curtain-closer this year was just pure fun to watch for the novelty of it (with the beautiful late-October Ontario foliage adding style points).

The $10,000 starter/optional $12,500 claimer Oct. 24 featured too-fast-to-last splits of :23.89 and :47.73 for the opening quarter and half, and the eventual winner, Trinity Gold (Flat Out) was charted as being 23 lengths last during the first of two laps.

Jockey Brandon Boulanger started to let the three-for-15 gelding unwind at the five-eighths pole the second time down the backstretch. The move appeared almost certainly premature considering how rapidly Trinity Gold picked off the pack with a rush that landed him on the lead with 3 1/2 furlongs still left in the race and odds-on favorite Seventyseven Stone (Seventysevenatreet) coming at him full-tilt.

The two stayers hooked up for a hard-fought, length-of-stretch drive that featured Trinity Gold edging away by 2 ½ lengths under the wire with the rest of the stragglers no closer than 12 lengths back in 3:35.98. George Newland trained the winner for Trinity Racing Stables, Inc.

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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?

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The sales credits currently on the website include those earned through Aug. 23 and the list will be updated Aug. 29 to include the results from Woodbine through Sunday, Aug. 28. The sales credits will be posted on each sales barn during yearling previews. On sale day, a final list will be available at the Ontario Racing booth. Ontario Racing staff will be on hand to answer questions about the Sales Credits and TIP in general.

Click to view the current Sales Credit List and for more information on how sales credits are accrued. For additional questions or details about transferring Sales Credits, please contact the Program Coordinator at tbprogram@ontarioracing.com.

The post Sales Credit Update for Canadian Premier Yearling Sale appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions.

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“Unfortunately, due to the continuous rainfall throughout the day we could not carry out the remainder of the card,” said Drew Cady, the general manager for the Fort Erie Live Racing Consortium (FELRC). “Despite our shortened card today, we still had a tremendous season, one in which we were able to welcome back fans who missed out on the 2020 racing season due to COVID-19 restrictions.”

The leading rider at this year's meet, Chris Husbands scored 52 wins during the 124th racing season at the border oval. Some of those victories included back-to-back wins with Fort fan-favourite Pepperoni (Jul. 26 /Aug. 31) as well as Wheat King (Jun. 22/29). Husbands also rode Red Equinox to victory in the Rondeau Bay Stakes on Prince of Wales Day, Sept. 14.

“I had a really good start and I just continued on that momentum. I was blessed to ride good horses. The owners and trainers gave me good horses, which I really appreciated. Thanks to all the owners and trainers who gave me a shot and the opportunity,” said Husbands.

Trainer Julie Mathes secured the title of leading trainer for a second year in a row. During the 2021 season, Mathes won 23 races. On yesterday's card she secured a victory with Team Win (in race nine) with jockey Omar Moreno aboard. In 2020, Mathes secured 29 wins. Bruno Schickedanz secured 16 wins, giving him the title of top owner at the border oval this year.

While yesterday's ten-race card saw over a million in wagering, the shortened card on Tuesday saw close to $400,000 in wagering. In total, Fort Erie had $28.6 million in wagering for 2021.

With this racing season in the books, the border oval looks ahead to next year's meet and has applied for 40 race days, operating on mostly Mondays and Tuesdays, beginning May 31 through to October 18.

For more information about Fort Erie Race Track, visit www.forterieracing.com.

The post Chris Husbands, Julie Mathes Take Leading Rider, Trainer Titles At Fort Erie Race Track appeared first on Horse Racing News | Paulick Report.

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In the mid-70s, the Leamington native was a star junior goalie for the Peterborough Petes. After hanging up his skates, he seamlessly transitioned into the world of mainstream sports broadcasting, working for various networks including CTV, CBC as well as TSN. In 1976, at the age of 21, Salive's first network assignment was covering five events a day at the Montreal Summer Olympics for CTV.

In 1990 he stepped into the world of horse racing at Woodbine Racetrack. Salive worked at Woodbine for a decade and a half before heading west to London, Ontario to call races at Western Fair for four years from 2005 to 2009. His next venture would be Pompano Park in Florida where his voiced filled the atmosphere and racing apron until 2012. As he developed his craft calling races, Salive credits several announcers that impacted his career in the announcer's booth.

“I would say Stan Bergstein was a foundation announcer that I really patterned myself after for harness racing. Certainly, Dan Loiselle (thoroughbred racing) helped me a lot in my years at Woodbine. I went a lot by his example – to transform a race from just the look of horses going on an oval into a little bit of a story,” said Salive.

In 2016, the venerable track announcer landed his feet at Fort Erie Race Track. He's called the border oval home for the last six racing seasons.

Narrating a fleet of horses as they move from gate to wire jockeying for top spot might seem like a fairly straightforward task, but Salive knows there's a lot more to it than that.

“You really don't know how your body and mind are going to react, but its kind counterintuitive to the crowd. The crowd is excited, and they are all cheering, and you have to be exactly the opposite. Before The Prince of Wales – a live national tv broadcast, you challenge yourself on how far you can slow down your heart rate and breathing because you can't be out of control with excitement from gate to wire. You have to build it up to the finish. So, it's different than being in the crowd as a race fan, you have to go the opposite direction and stay calm.”

Asked to recall career highlights at the border oval, the track announcer is quick to respond.

“I came from a strong Standardbred past so to get to cross over and do six of the Canadian Triple Crown races in my tenure here.”

To date, Salive has called close to 200,000 races during his illustrious career. Salive will call his last card at Fort Erie Race Track this afternoon.

The post Fort Erie Track Announcer Frank Salive Retiring appeared first on Horse Racing News | Paulick Report.

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Now, Albu is hoping he can become famous for something a little less harrowing.

After 65 starts, nine wins, 17 seconds and eight thirds, Albu and owner Sam Passero have decided to call it a day with Mr. Changue. The barn favorite won a claimer this summer but Albu said in recent weeks he could tell the horse's heart just wasn't in his job anymore.

“He just doesn't want to do it no more,” said Albu. “And I'm not going to hurt him to do it. Even though he's at the barn and wants to train every day, he goes out there and he's not performing to the top of his game. I know.”

Albu is now in the process of screening potential new homes for Mr. Changue. He said he has always made an effort to find new vocations for horses retiring from his barn, but this horse is special. He plans to create a sale or adoption contract that will give him first right of refusal if a new home doesn't work out. If he has to, Mr. Changue can live out his days with his old friend, but Albu thinks the horse may prefer to keep busy.

“He's a gentleman,” Albu said. “Anyone can feed him. He has a lovely disposition. He's an 8-year-old stallion and he's got a great disposition.

“I've had a lot of contacts — Long Run Retirement showed some interest in him. I've had so many calls. I just want him to go to a good home, a forever home. It's not really about the money for me; I don't even really want money for him, I want to make sure he has a good home for the rest of his life. Long Run is willing to accept him, but they're not able to accept a stallion. If I can find someone who can accommodate him and enjoy him, then that would be great.”

Mr. Changue during his sinkhole rescue. Photo courtesy Ken Albu

Albu has trained the horse since 2018 and admitted it will be hard not to see him in the barn every day — especially after that awful day two years ago.

“He's a resilient old bugger,” said Albu. “We got a back hoe to dig him out and then pretty much turned him around and walked him out. But he was in the ground for an hour or so. He handled it pretty well because he's a sensible guy. He didn't panic. He came out pretty much unscathed.”

In fact, 12 days later, Mr. Changue was tearing the barn down, ready to run, so Albu put him in the entries — and he won.

“He's kind of a special horse in my heart,” said Albu. “I thought we were going to lose him that day [he fell in the hole]. By the grace of God we didn't, and he was able to go on and have a great career here … I've been training for 22 years and he's one of the closest horses to my heart that I've ever had.”

The post Sinkhole Horse Mr. Changue Retired, Seeking New Career appeared first on Horse Racing News | Paulick Report.

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