Live Oak Gets Selene Stakes Win With Our Flash Drive

Trainer Mark Casse continued his Grade 3 Selene Stakes win streak as Live Oak Plantation's homebred Our Flash Drive took command on the final turn and drove clear to win the $150,000 co-feature for three-year-old fillies on Saturday at Woodbine Racetrack in Toronto, Ontario.

Casse earned his fourth consecutive victory in the G3 event, with Patrick Husbands engineering the winning trip aboard the Florida-bred daughter of Ghostzapper.

Stretching out to 1 1/16 miles on the main track, Our Flash Drive stalked the front-running California Lily early on before moving up to press the pace after opening fractions of :24.78 and :49.03. With Husbands signaling it was go-time past the 1:12.87 three-quarter mark, Our Flash Drive overtook the pacesetter and took off down the lane to win by 2-1/4 lengths in 1:44.69.

Woodbine Oaks eligible Munnyfor Ro, who broke outward, rallied home from the backfield to take the runner-up honors under Justin Stein. It was another 2-1/4 lengths back to third-place finisher Sweet Souper Sweet, another Live Oak homebred trained by Michael Trombetta, who finished three lengths ahead of California Lily. Gote Go followed in fifth and the Casse-trained Danger was eased up and completed the order of finish.

Sent postward as the odds-on favourite, Our Flash Drive returned $4.70 to win.

Now two-for-four lifetime, she boasts back-to-back wins at Woodbine.

Casse, who has won the Selene a total of seven times, has teamed with Husbands to take four editions of the race. They combined for past wins with Dark Ending (2001), Dixie Strike (2012), and Miss Mo Mentum (2018).

The connections of Il Malocchio, who was cross-entered in the Selene, opted to compete in the Fury two races later.

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Souper Stonehenge Takes Jacques Cartier Stakes At Woodbine

Souper Stonehenge put an end to Pink Lloyd's Jacques Cartier reign as he took off down the stretch to claim the 2021 edition of the Grade 3 stakes event for sprinters 4 years old and up on Sunday afternoon at Woodbine Racetrack in Toronto, Ontario.

Jockey Patrick Husbands teamed up with the Mark Casse trainee, who was the 3-2 second choice in the six-horse field.

After pressing the pace early on, Souper Stonehenge took command near the quarter pole from front-runner Readyforprimetime with splits of :22.72 and :44.93 flashing up on the board.

With Daisuke Fukumoto picking up the mount, four-time Jacques Cartier champ Pink Lloyd raced between horses at the back of the tightly knit bunch and surged into third on the turn, but Souper Stonehenge dashed home a four-length winner in 1:08.89 for six furlongs.

Pink Lloyd, who set the 1:08.05 track record in the 2018 edition of the Jacques Cartier, settled for second in his nine-year-old debut as the 6-5 favorite. Malibu Secret, last year's Jacques Cartier runner-up, came through inside to finish third while Joker On Jack, Readyforprimetime, and Dixie's Gamble rounded out the order of finish.

Souper Stonehenge returned $5 to win and $2.70 t0 place. There was no show wagering. The five-year-old Speightstown gelding, who finished third in the Grade 1 Carter Handicap at Aqueduct in early April, earned his first win of the year from five starts.

“Going into this race, I breezed this horse about four times and I think he's a world-beater at Woodbine,” said Husbands. “This horse is the real deal right now.

“I rode him as the best horse in the race. I respect 'The Boss.' Any time you can beat Pink Lloyd at Woodbine Racetrack, especially sprinting, he's the world-beater, he's the champion here. So I knew it would take a real Pink Lloyd to beat this horse today.”

Souper Stonehenge, who finished second in last year's Grade 2 Kennedy Road Stakes at Woodbine ahead of Pink Lloyd, now sports a career record reading 4-4-1 from 15 starts. The lion's share of the $150,000 purse boosted his bankroll over the $300,000 mark for owner/breeder Live Oak Plantation.

Husbands, who won 70 races including 10 stakes during last year's shortened season, was pleased to land the connections a stakes victory after the pandemic delayed the start of the meet.

“It's amazing to be back at Woodbine – it's a beautiful place, a good environment,” said the veteran reinsman. “It's amazing how much stress the owners went through, through the pandemic. They waited so long, putting all this money into these horses and they didn't know when the races were going to start. You've got to tip your hat off to the owners.”

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Oaklawn: Rocco Bowen, 100% Healthy Again, Pictures Big Things In His Future

As a successful jockey, Rocco Bowen has had his picture taken hundreds of times following a race. That's a perk for winning.

Now, pictures have become even more of a motivation for the determined Bowen, 31, specifically two that he said hang in an important travel hub in his native Barbados, a small Caribbean island northeast of Venezuela.

One of those pictures, Bowen said, is of Patrick Husbands, the gold standard for Barbadian riders and an eight-time Sovereign Award winner as the outstanding jockey in Canada. The other is of celebrated Barbadian singer/actress Rihanna.

Bowen said he hopes one day to see a third picturing hanging in Grantley Adams International Airport. His picture.

“No, I'm serious,” Bowen said. “That's the only two people – they're ambassadors. That's my goal, man, to have my picture in the airport because everyone comes through the airport.”

Bowen's quest to add to his photo portfolio has him at Oaklawn, where he is riding for the first time this year after a debilitating arm injury cost him approximately 1 ½ years in the saddle, threatened his livelihood and  led to a career U-turn in 2020 after once dominating the racing landscape in the Pacific Northwest.

Bowen has already recorded two milestones in his comeback. His 1,000th career North American victory came Nov. 11 at Indiana Grand, according to Equibase, racing's official data gathering organization. Bowen also won his first race at historic Churchill Downs earlier in the year.

“I feel great physically,” Bowen said. “I'm 100 percent.”

Born and raised in Barbados, Bowen's hook to racing was through his father, who owned a couple of cheap horses. Bowen said he began riding match races in the “pasture” when he was 8 or 9, attended jockey school and made his professional debut at 15.

“It didn't come natural,” Bowen said of his early days as a rider. “My dad always told me that jockeys are born to do it, but I wouldn't say I was a natural. I had a lot to learn. I really didn't look good and stuff. My dad always had a lot of faith in me. He always thought I was going to go far.”

Bowen said he won 21 races as a jockey in Barbados. Although Barbados has year-round racing, Bowen said opportunities there are limited because of a truncated racing calendar. Bowen said that led his family to pool their finances and, following Husband's lead, send him to Canada at 16 to continue his career.

Bowen landed in Vancouver, British Columbia, and rode his first race at Hastings Park on April 28, 2007.

After cutting his teeth in Canada, Bowen eventually became a star in the Pacific Northwest. He became the first Bajan jockey to win a riding title in the United States at the 2015-'16 Portland Meadows meeting and was champion jockey three consecutive years (2016, 2017 and 2018) at Emerald Downs in suburban Seattle.

Bowen never had a chance to capture a fourth consecutive Emerald Downs riding title after being injured during training hours in September 2018. Bowen said he damaged his shoulder and suffered a concussion after being thrown to the ground when a rein a broke on a horse he was breezing.

“I was out for 25 minutes,” Bowen said. “Normal morning. I just remember getting on the horse in the barn. I don't remember anything after that.”

Bowen's injury occurred during the closing weeks of the Emerald Downs meeting. The jockey had a meet-best 97 victories and was trying to reach triple digits for the third consecutive year after finishing with 110 in 2016 and 126 in 2017.

“I was not going to let that injury stop me, getting the three wins,” Bowen said. “It was something I never would have lived down. It was something I really wanted to do.”

Bowen said he took a week off and resumed riding after being cleared by a doctor. He finished with 109 victories. But Bowen wouldn't ride again until June 4, 2020, at Belterra Park, owing to the shoulder injury that triggered numbness in his right hand.

Bowen said he was in so much pain at the end of the 2018 Emerald Downs meeting that he remembers once having to use his left arm to raise his right after awakening from a restless night of sleep.

“I ended up riding and I just put the horse in the middle of the racetrack,” Bowen said. “I didn't put myself in a bad spot because I'm riding with one hand. Just was determined because it took me so much to get to the top of Emerald that I was not going to let that hand stop me. I kind of had that feeling that I wasn't going to be able to ride that winter, so that would have played with me all the time. Even being leading rider, I wasn't going to stop at 97 wins. I just kept on pushing.”

Bowen said he initially believed he would miss “three or four months” because of the injury, but months stretched into more than a year because of lingering problems. Bowen said he didn't undergo surgery and time finally erased the pain.

“The thought of never riding again, that almost took away my heart,” Bowen said.

Bowen said he had planned to make his comeback last summer at Arlington Park, even signing a one-year lease on an apartment three minutes from the track. Yet another roadblock: No racing (COVID-19).

But Bowen was so hungry to return to the saddle that in late May he began driving 3 ½ hours each day from suburban Chicago to Anderson, Ind., to work horses for trainer Genaro Garcia in preparation for Indiana Grand's opening, delayed until June 15, (COVID-19).

With no place to stay in Indiana, Bowen said he would drive back to Arlington Heights after training hours, only to start the process over the following day at 1 a.m. (Central). Bowen said the track closed at 11 a.m. (Eastern).

“The first day, I was late for work, an hour,” Bowen said. “I didn't know they had a time change. That's what I had to do. Once I got my first paycheck, then I got a hotel.”

Bowen's first victory in his comeback came aboard the Garcia-trained Hyndford June 5 at Belterra Park. Bowen's first mount at Churchill Downs, White Wolf, became the jockey's first winner there five days later. Bowen, as a regular, rode 39 winners in his Indiana Grand debut to finish eighth in the standings. His mounts earned $934,902.

“The first race I rode, I got (disqualified), the very first race of the meet, opening day, but not for lack of trying,” Bowen, jokingly, said. “I was like, 'Man, people are going to think this is a wild and crazy guy.' But by the fifth race of the day, I won on my favorite horse since my comeback, Unmoored, for Mr. Genaro Garcia. I won three races on that horse last summer.”

White Wolf's trainer, Paul Holthus of Hot Springs, has been another one of Bowen's biggest supporters in his comeback. They teamed for six victories at Indiana Grand and have continued their relationship this year at Oaklawn.

“He's a good kid,” Holthus said. “Really like him. Good attitude. He's a good enough rider, for sure.”

Bowen, whose agent/mentor is retired jockey Joe Steiner, said his plan is to remain based in the Midwest. Asked why he didn't make his comeback at Emerald Downs, Bowen said it would have been a sign of weakness.

“To me, that would have been easy,” Bowen said. “It probably would have taken me another three years to leave again.”

Get the picture?

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Beyond The Win: Juvenile Filly Made A ‘Wicked’ Comeback At Woodbine

Of the 13 training wins star-on-the-rise Cole Bennett recorded in 2020, it was a 1 ½-length score on Nov. 8 at Woodbine that stands out as the most meaningful.

The seventh race, run just over a month ago at the Toronto oval, attracted 12 starters for the $64,300 1 1/16-mile main track maiden optional claiming event.

Ms Wicked, a dark bay daughter of War Dancer, left from gate 11 in the two-turn race with Patrick Husbands in the irons.

Sent on her way at 6-1, the Ontario-bred, owned at the time by Centennial Farms Inc., and campaigned by Bennett, rallied from last at the half-mile call to break her maiden in what was her fourth career start, a 1 ½-length triumph that earned her connections $30,240.

That she won the race wasn't a longshot surprise. That she was in it most certainly was.

“Six horses that we ran after we got out of the quarantine for herpes, we won four races within the first two weeks of when we were able to start up again,” recalled Bennett. “One of those horses was Ms Wicked. She's a filly I bought as a yearling that I sold to Centennial. She contracted herpes and ended up at the University of Guelph… she wasn't doing well when she got there.”

At one point during her stay at Guelph's world-renowned veterinary hospital, Bennett figured the 2-year-old might succumb to the virus.

The one thing the filly did have in her favor was an attitude that matched her name.

“She ended up fighting her way through it, she's a really tough little you-know-what,” said Bennett with a laugh. “She lives up to her name. She is wicked to deal with. Everything is difficult with her. She can be really nasty, but all of it in a really good racehorse kind of a way.”

When Ms Wicked, bred by Janeane Everatt, James Everatt & Arika Everatt-Meeuse, returned to her stall on the Woodbine backstretch, Bennett and his crew didn't set any expectations for the rookie filly.

Simply having her back in the fold was enough for the conditioner.

“In the spring, I had her at the racetrack and I thought she was my best 2-year-old,” offered Bennett. “Centennial bought her a week prior to when she had to go to Guelph. We weren't sure what was going to happen to her. We were just going to take care of her the best we could. We were going to do right by her.”

Soon enough, however, Ms Wicked, a half-sister to Aheadbyacentury (second in the 2018 Queen's Plate) would once again beat the odds.

Bennett was initially speechless at what he was seeing.

“It was incredible. From the time she got back, to after she was recovered and cleared, it was amazing… she was back breezing three weeks after she came back from Guelph. This was a horse that went to Guelph and couldn't walk in a straight line. She could hardly stand up and needed to be supported to stand up properly. She was there for about a week and a half, and then we get back to the racetrack. I'm not thinking she's going to make it back to the races. And there we are, three weeks later, breezing her. It was just incredible. It shows you the heart and soul these horses have, that willingness to fight and never give up.”

It also provided Bennett some invaluable life and work lessons.

“For me, all the horses coming back, and being able to train them was just such a good feeling. There were two weeks we weren't training and I was sitting in the barn thinking that it was the end of our year. I truly believed it. A lot of those horses, we didn't figure they were going to make it, or ever make it back to the racetrack. Then you add the pandemic into the mix and it was just crazy stress, things that keep you up all night. To see how she didn't give up, it's a good reminder for yourself.”

He'll no doubt often think of Ms Wicked's journey from a hospital room to the winner's circle in the months leading up to the anticipated opening day for the 2021 Woodbine Thoroughbred meet.

Not all cherished victories, he acknowledged, come in stakes races.

“You just have to keep pushing through all the time. No matter what happens, you just have to focus on your horses and do what's best for them. Ultimately, when you go through something like this with a horse, you come out the other side better and stronger.”

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