josie carroll | Horse Racing Free Tips

Canadian Champion Mighty Heart Headlines Saturday’s Seagram Cup

Mighty Heart, Canada's reigning Horse of the Year, is set to tackle 1 1/16-miles on the Tapeta, in Saturday's Grade 3 $150,000 Seagram Cup at Woodbine.

Trained by Hall of Famer Josie Carroll for owner-breeder Larry Cordes, Mighty Heart, a four-year-old son of Dramedy-Emma's Bullseye, will look to deliver his connections a second graded stakes score after taking the Grade 3 Dominion Day on July 1.

The one-eyed colt, who recorded wins last year in the Queen's Plate and Prince of Wales Stakes, the first two jewels of the Canadian Triple Crown, is in the midst of another fruitful campaign, having posted wins in the Dominion Day and Blame Stakes, a second in his most recent engagement, the Grade 3 West Virginia Governor's Stakes on August 7, and a third in his seasonal bow at Keeneland in April.

Mighty Heart brings a record of 5-1-2 from 12 career starts into his latest test.

“His tenacity [stands out],” said Carroll. “The one thing I've always said about this horse is that he's a little scrapper.”

Daisuke Fukumoto, aboard for the Queen's Plate, Prince of Wales and Dominion Day victories, gets the call again on Saturday.

“He made my dream come true so he is special,” said the graded stakes winning rider. “I don't have any particular tension when I ride him. I don't get scared or nervous when we race. I'm always very conscious that I make him run comfortably. I would just like to say one more thing… it's very fun to ride him.”

Mighty Heart launched his career with a pair of starts at Fair Grounds in early 2020. Those efforts, a fourth and a tenth, respectively, eventually led to a discussion between Cordes and a horse chiropractor.

“I knew there was something wrong in those first two races,” recalled Cordes. “The chiropractor was looking him over one day and thought something wasn't right with his jaw. The horse was uncomfortable when he was looking at his face area, so we had a vet come in. He found an inflamed tooth and we took care of it. The rest is history.”

Mighty Heart's next start, last July, resulted in a maiden-breaking performance in what was his first race at Woodbine. He soon grabbed headlines in Canada and beyond after his stirring scores in the Queen's Plate and Prince of Wales.

This spring, Mighty Heart was voted Canada's Horse of the Year for 2020, and champion Three-Year-Old Colt.

“This horse, he has a determination,” praised Cordes. “He is all heart. He started with a big handicap having no eye, but he didn't let it affect him. He has this fight and he has this grit, whether it's on the track or not.

“When he had his eye injury – and we're 90 per cent sure it was the mare who caused it – we took him to the veterinarian in Guelph (Ontario) and they told us they had to take out the eye. But they told us not too worry about it too much. At his age, less than two weeks old at the time, they said that he'll never know he could have had two eyes. When you watch him run – horses have good peripheral vision – he cocks his head just slightly to the left. Not badly, just enough so that he has that peripheral vision to see what's beside him and have a good view.”

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Mighty Heart's story has created a significant following, both on Mighty Heart's Instagram page (mightyheart.tb) and whenever he goes postward.

“He has a lot of followers,” said Cordes. “I get calls from the United States all the time and different media people from so many places. It's not attention that's just happening locally. Everybody likes an underdog and the fact he only has one eye makes it a compelling story.”

Cordes continues to receive correspondence from fans, young and old.

“I get letters from children, postmarked to Mighty Heart, not Larry Cordes. They draw pictures and share stories. I send horseshoes to them – everybody who sends something I return something to them along with a letter. Some people send Mighty Heart cookies. I don't know how many times people have sent these cookies, which I guess are supposed to be horse cookies. He has a big following and it just makes me so happy.”

The longtime horseman's biggest joy is in seeing the happiness his star brings to others, especially over the past year and a half.

“What's really fantastic is that during this pandemic, what this brought to people… when I go to the track, many people will stop me and say, 'This lifted us up a little bit.' It's done so much just to lift them up a little bit throughout this pandemic.”

Cordes is hoping there's more reason to celebrate come Saturday.

“When he won the Dominion Day, I was going down the escalator, and a gentleman, three people in front of me, threw up his arms up in the air as far as he could reach and yelled, 'You're great, Mighty Heart!' He didn't know that I was behind him, but it showed me what he has done for people. It's absolutely thrilling. I'm proud of him and I'm so happy. If he never wins another race, I'm still so proud. But he has plenty left in him. He's as sound as sound can be. He's just an amazing horse.”

The Seagram Cup is scheduled as race three of 10 on Saturday's 1:10 p.m. card, which also includes the $150,000 Vice Regent Stakes (race seven), a 5-furlong Inner Turf race for Ontario-breds, three-year-olds & upward.

Fans can also watch and wager on all the live action via HPIbet.com.

$150,000 SEAGRAM CUP STAKES

Post – Horse – Jockey – Trainer

1 – Special Forces – Kazushi Kimura – Kevin Attard

2 – Another Mystery – Antonio Gallardo – Chris Block

3 – Dolder Grand – Patrick Husbands – Mark Casse

4 – Mighty Heart – Daisuke Fukumoto – Josie Carroll

5 – Tap It to Win – Rafael Hernandez – Mark Casse

$150,000 VICE REGENT STAKES

Post – Horse – Jockey – Trainer

1 – Alacritous – Steven Bahen – Ashlee Brnjas

2 – Celebratory – Justin Stein – Ashlee Brnjas

3 – Circle of Friends – Patrick Husbands – Don MacRae

4 – Rockcrest – Keveh Nicholls – Nigel Burke

5 – Souper Hot – Kazushi Kimura – Mike Mattine

6 – Not So Quiet – Rafael Hernandez – Mark Casse

7 – City Boy – David Moran – Michael Keogh

8 – Forester's Fortune – Daisuke Fukumoto – Rodney Barrow

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Boardroom Commanding In Seaway Win At Woodbine

Boardroom, last-out winner of the Grade 3 Whimsical, continued her strong performances over the Tapeta track at Woodbine Racetrack in the Grade 3 Seaway, powering past the leader Toffen on the turn to take the lead and pull away to a seven-length victory.

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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Lady War Machine Takes Alywow Stakes At Woodbine

Lady War Machine, a chestnut daughter of Street Boss, trained by Josie Carroll, called the shots in taking the $100,000 Alywow Stakes Saturday afternoon at Woodbine Racetrack in Toronto, Ontario.

Breaking sharply with Patrick Husbands aboard in the event for 3-year-old fillies, the Kentucky-bred was settled comfortably into the second spot as outsider Hard Street led the field of six through an opening quarter-mile in :23.22.

A patient Husbands continued to keep Lady War Machine close to the pacesetter through a half-mile timed in :46.08. As the field turned for home, the duo swept to the lead along the inside and then dashed away from their rivals down the lane.

At the wire, Lady War Machine, contesting her first added-money feature, was three lengths ahead of a closing Honey Pants, sent off as the slight choice, who was making her Woodbine debut for conditioner Christophe Clement. La Libertee was third, while Dirty Dangle finished fourth.

Final time for 6 ½-furlongs over a firm E.P. Taylor Turf Course was 1:15.40.

“On the turf, everything plays out differently,” said Husbands. “I don't want to be on the lead and I don't want to get trapped down on the inside. She had her ears pricked and she wasn't scared down on the inside, so I was just playing it by ear.”

Husbands on-the-fly approach paid off with an impressive performance.

“The straight here is so long you've always got closers. It doesn't matter how you look at it… you've always got closers. With the turf, I try not to pick it up too early and go too early and get caught. I was just biding my time.”

Owned by Mark Dodson, Lady War Machine arrived at the Alywow off a sparkling 7 ½-length maiden-breaking score on July 3 at Woodbine, in a six-furlong main track maiden special weight event.

She finished third in her debut last November, a 6 ½-furlong Tapeta test at the Toronto oval.

Bred by SF Bloodstock, LLC, and Matthew Sandblom, Lady War Machine paid $6.10 for the win.

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Cross Country Pick 5 Pays $6,000 Saturday

Saturday's Cross Country Pick 5, featuring action from Saratoga, Woodbine, and Monmouth Park, paid $6,061.25 for selecting all five winners for the 50-cent wager. The total pool was $106,967.

Woodbine Racetrack in Toronto, Ontario, commenced the sequence with graded stakes action, as Jolie Olimpica won the $175,000 Grade 2 Nassau for older fillies and mares going one mile on the turf in Race 6. Trained by Josie Carroll and ridden by Luis Contreras, the Brazilian-bred Jolie Olimpica's three-quarters of a length victory in a final time of 1:34.83 paid $5.30 on $2 win wager.

The first of three races at Saratoga Race Course in Saratoga Springs, N.Y., came in the second leg, as Luis Saez piloted 10-1 Midnight Worker to a victory by a head over Bourbon Heist in a six-furlong maiden sprint over the main track in Race 6. Trained by Hall of Famer Todd Pletcher, Midnight Worker paid $22.20 in hitting the wire in 1:11.92.

Monmouth Park in Oceanport, N.J., also got in on the stakes action, with He'spuregold besting slight favorite Quiberon Bay by one length in the $85,000 Irish War Cry for New Jersey-breds 3-years-old and up going one mile on the turf in Race 9. The Kelly Breen trainee, who posted a final time of 1:35.53, returned $5.40.

Saratoga concluded the last two legs, starting when Sifting Sands topped Never Explain by a head in a 1 1/16-mile allowance optional claiming tilt on the turf in Race 7. Trained by Chad Brown and ridden by Manny Franco, the British-bred Sifting Sands won at 28-1, paying $58.

A Brown-trained horse completed the Cross Country Pick 5 when the Irish-bred Rastafara won a one-mile inner turf contest for maidens 3-years-old and up going one mile on the inner turf in Race 8. Ridden by Irad Ortiz, Jr., Rastafara paid $7.10 in notching a final time of 1:36.47.

The minimum bet for the multi-track, multi-race wager is 50 cents. Wagering on the Cross Country Pick 5 is also available on track, on ADW platforms, and at simulcast facilities across the country. Every week will feature a mandatory payout of the net pool.

The Cross Country Pick 5 will continue each Saturday throughout the year. For more information, visit NYRABets.com.

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