ricoh woodbine mile | Horse Racing Free Tips

Woodbine Mile Has Open Feel

Saturday's GI Ricoh Woodbine Mile serves as a 'Win and You're In' qualifier for the GI Fanduel Breeders' Cup Mile at Del Mar in six weeks' time, and a legitimate case can be made for at least half of the 10 runners set to face the starter.

Raging Bull (Fr) (Dark Angel {Ire}), promoted to third in this event in 2019, is the proven Grade I runner in the field, having scored three times at the highest level. The Peter Brant colorbearer made the most of his seasonal debut, belying a five-month absence to post a two-length success in the GI Maker's Mark Mile at Keeneland Apr. 9. Unlucky when denied by Oleksandra (Aus) (Animal Kingdom) in the GIII Poker S. at Belmont June 20, the bay took all the pari-mutuel action for Saratoga's GI Fourstardave H. Aug. 14, but never really landed a blow, finishing sixth of eight behind Got Stormy (Get Stormy). With Frankie Dettori accepting the call, Raging Bull should take plenty of beating, but he will need to bring his 'A' game.

Mark Casse has three chances for a third Mile, all of whom are lined up next to one another. Drawn lowest of the trio in gate two is Gary Barber's in-form Olympic Runner (Gio Ponti), a longshot fourth to Starship Jubilee (Indy Wind) last year and exiting a 1 1/4-length success in the course-and-distance GII King Edward S. Aug. 15. March To the Arch (Arch) ran on to complete the exacta 12 months ago, rallied into a strong past to annex the July 25 Niagara S. going nine panels and was a latest third, with some traffic trouble, in the King Edward. Ride a Comet (Candy Ride {Arg}) was runner-up to Raging Bull in the Maker's Mark, raced too close to the pace from a high draw in the nine-furlong GI Old Forester Turf Classic May 1 and finished well to be third behind Set Piece (GB) (Dansili {GB}).

Town Cruise (Town Prize) looks to be the controlling speed of the race and is favorably drawn in the inside stall for Daisuke Fukumoto to make best use of that weapon. The 6-year-old wired a field going a mile and a sixteenth at 70 cents on the dollar July 4 and set a cracking pace in the King Edward before clinging on for second. If able to settle early on, he could prove sneaky at a big price.

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The Friday Show Presented By Monmouth Park: Weekend Turf Extravaganza At Woodbine

Woodbine racetrack in Toronto, Ontario, has put together a blockbuster weekend of racing on Saturday and Sunday with four Grade 1 stakes and one Grade 2 event comprising the Woodbine Turf Racing Festival. Three of the races – Saturday's Woodbine Mile and Sunday's Natalma and Summer Stakes are Breeders' Cup Challenge Series events. The Mile is a Win and You're in for the Breeders' Cup Mile on turf and the Natalma and Summer are for the Juvenile Fillies Turf and Juvenile Turf, respectively.

North American trainers like Mark Casse, Roger Attfield, Shug McGaughey, Josie Carroll, Christophe Clement, Chad Brown and Brad Cox are represented in Turf Racing Festival races, along with Charles Appleby with several Godolphin horses from England. Coming back from Europe in an attempt to win the G1 Canadian International for a third time is the David Simcock-trained 9-year-old Irish-bred veteran, Desert Encounter. Legendary rider Frankie Dettori will also be on hand for the weekend races.

To help sort through it all, racing analyst and handicapper Jennifer Morrison – @jensblog on Twitter and a regular contributor to OntarioRacing.com and CanadianThoroughbred.com – joins publisher Ray Paulick and bloodstock editor Joe Nevills in this week's edition of the Friday Show.

Jen also offers her post-race analysis of Tuesday's Fort of Erie Stakes – middle leg of the Canadian Triple Crown.

This week's Woodbine Star of the Week is Tap It to Win, a Tapit 4-year-old colt who rebounded from three consecutive defeats to win his first graded stakes last weekend in the G3 Seagram Cup.

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

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Stakes Schedule Released for Delayed Woodbine Meet

Woodbine has released a stakes schedule for its 2021 Thoroughbred meet, which has been delayed from its Apr. 17 scheduled opening due to COVID-19 restrictions in the province of Ontario. As it stands, the track is targeting a June 18 start date, with the possibility of opening sooner.

The stakes program offers more than C$16.5 million in purses, including 39 graded events and two million-dollar races, the Queen's Plate–still on its original Aug. 22 date–and the Sept. 18 GI Ricoh Woodbine Mile, one of three “Win and You're” in races for the Breeders' Cup on that blockbuster weekend. Following the Queen's Plate, the subsequent legs of the Canadian Triple Crown will be the Price of Wales S. at Fort Erie Sept. 14 and Breeders' S. back at Woodbine Oct. 3.

“We are pleased that we were able to avoid major changes to our stakes schedule, setting up for an exciting 2021 Thoroughbred season at Woodbine,” said Jim Lawson, CEO, Woodbine Entertainment. “As a result if the delayed start, we expect our season to start strong and build momentum as it heads into the summer with The Queen's Plate and its prep races, followed by a really exciting stakes schedule in the fall, including an unprecedented Ricoh Woodbine Mile weekend that includes two other Breeders' Cup 'Win and You're In' races, and the return of the Pattison Canadian International.”

For the complete 2021 Woodbine stakes schedule, click here.

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2021 Woodbine Stakes Schedule Released

Woodbine Entertainment unveiled its stakes schedule for the 2021 Thoroughbred racing season at Woodbine Racetrack in Toronto, Ontario, set to open Apr. 17 (subject to the latest Ontario Government COVID-19 protocols).

“Last year was obviously a challenging year for the industry due to COVID-19,” said Jim Lawson, CEO, Woodbine Entertainment. “While Woodbine Entertainment and the horse racing industry continue to be impacted, we are hopeful that the pandemic in Ontario improves in the coming months, allowing businesses and industries to safely re-open, including our ability to start our 2021 meet as planned on Saturday, Apr. 17.”

The 2021 Thoroughbred stakes program will offer more than $16.5 million in purses across 87 stakes and feature a pair of $1 million events, including the Aug. 22 Queen's Plate, as well as the Sept. 18 GI Ricoh Woodbine Mile, a Breeders' Cup “Win And You're In” race. The GI Pattison Canadian International, cancelled in 2020 due to the global COVID-19 pandemic, will be featured on the Woodbine Mile card along with the GII Canadian S. The GI Natalma S. and GI Summer S., both designated as Breeders' Cup “Win And You're In” races, have each received a purse hike in 2021 to $400,000 from $250,000. The Woodbine Cares and Ontario Racing Stakes, juvenile Inner Turf stakes introduced in 2019, will be contested on the same Sunday with purses of $125,000 each.

The GI Highlander S., with an increased purse of $350,000 (up from $300,000), also returns after a year hiatus due to the pandemic and will be featured on The Queen's Plate undercard. The GI E.P. Taylor S. headlines the Oct. 17 card, serving as the final leg of Woodbine's Ladies of the Lawn Series, which offers $75,000 in bonuses to the top performers based on points accumulated in the designated graded turf routes for fillies and mares.

Purses for all Grade III Stakes races at Woodbine Racetrack will receive a 20% increase to $150,000 this season. Also of note for 2021, Listed races have increased purses to $125,000, boosted from $100,000.

“We are excited to bring back the Pattison Canadian International as part of our world-class stakes schedule for the 2021 Thoroughbred meet at Woodbine Racetrack,” said Lawson. “The 2021 stakes schedule includes several significant purse increases, including the G I Natalma S. and GI Summer S., as well as all Grade III stakes. These increases, along with a strong complement of stakes races for all ages, and robust Ontario-bred stakes offerings, will deliver exciting racing, competitive fields, and an abundance of wagering options available on Woodbine's outstanding live racing product.”

For the complete stakes schedule, visit www.woodbine.com.

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