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Woodbine Wraps with Casse, Kimura, Barber Titles

With a record closing day handle of $8,530,593, Woodbine's 2021 Thoroughbred meet concluded Sunday with meet titles for trainer Mark Casse, jockey Kazushi Kimura, and owner Gary Barber. Casse secured the leading training title with 110 wins from his 539 starts and earnings of $8,189,186. Martin Drexler trailed in second by wins with 56. It was Casse's 13th time atop the Woodbine leaderboard and his 27 stakes victories at the Toronto oval in 2021 were 19 more than his closest rival. Casse, who is a member of the Hall of Fame in both the U.S. and Canada, has won Canada's Sovereign Award as the country's top trainer 13 times.

In contrast, Kimura was earning his first Woodbine jockey title. The 22-year-old is the first Japanese-born rider to achieve the feat. He notched 138 wins at the meet from 717 starts, including wins in eight black-type events, with $6,360,203 in earnings. The Eclipse Award winner as North America's outstanding apprentice, Kimura also won the Sovereign Award equivalent in both 2018 and 2019.

“It's a special achievement, and it was one of my dreams,” said Kimura. “Everybody wants to be a leading rider, but it's not easy. We just need great riding skills and good horses, good support from the trainers and owners for the whole season to be able to get the title. This year, I'd say I improved, and I got good support from trainers and owners. I appreciate that help for me to get the riding title.”

Barber was the leading money-winning owner at Woodbine for the third straight year although official statistics were not immediately available. Live racing will return next spring to the Toronto oval with opening day tentatively scheduled for the penultimate weekend in April.

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Weekend Lineup Presented By Hialeah Park NHC Qualifier: Cigar Mile Day At Aqueduct

This weekend marks the opening of winter meets at both Oaklawn Park in Hot Springs, Ark. and at Gulfstream Park in Hallandale Beach, Fla. At Oaklawn, Saturday's card features the $150,000 Mistletoe Stakes for 3-year-old fillies, while Gulfstream's Saturday card is highlighted by the nine stakes races that make up the annual Claiming Crown for blue-collar racehorses.

It is also closing weekend at Woodbine Racetrack in Ontario, and Sunday's card features the G3 Valedictory Stakes.

Graded stakes action includes the G1 Cigar Mile at Aqueduct, featuring a pair of Todd Pletcher-trained sophomores against the likes of Independence Hall, Ginobili, and Code of Honor; as well as the G1 Starlet at Los Alamitos for 2-year-old fillies.

Here's a quick look at some of those races:

Saturday

2:43 p.m. – G3 Go For Wand Handicap at Aqueduct

Barry Schwartz's New York-homebred Sharp Starr will look to defend her title in this a one-turn mile handicap for fillies and mares. Trained by Horacio DePaz, Sharp Starr boasts a perfect in-the-money record of 6-2-2-2 at the Big A, including an impressive 15 3/4-length romp last November that registered a career-best 101 Beyer ahead of her Go for Wand coup.

Sharp Starr captured the $250,000 Empire Distaff last month at Belmont, off a two-month layoff, where she notched a 16-1 upset coming from last-of-10 under jockey Jose Ortiz, who will retain the mount from post 7 carrying 119 pounds. She earned a 92 Beyer for the win, her first of the 2021 season in five starts.

Go For Wand Entries

3:14 p.m. – G2 Remsen Stakes at Aqueduct

Jeff Drown's impressive maiden winner Zandon will attempt to rise to the occasion in the 106th running of the $250,000 Remsen for juveniles going nine furlongs. Trained by Chad Brown, who won the 2014 Remsen with Leave the Light On, Zandon was a 1 ½-length winner of his six-furlong debut on Oct. 9 at Belmont Park.

Despite hitting the gate at the break, the son of second crop sire Upstart recovered and sat two lengths off the pace while saving ground in fourth down the backstretch. Joel Rosario angled Zandon a couple of paths wide down the lane and he garnered command in the final furlong to register an 80 Beyer Speed Figure on debut.

The Remsen offers 10-4-2-1 Kentucky Derby qualifying points to the top-four finishers.

Remsen Entries

3:43 p.m. – G2 Demoiselle Stakes at Aqueduct

Manzanita Stables' well-bred Tap the Faith will make her stakes debut in this nine-furlong test for juvenile fillies. Trained by Christophe Clement, the Tapit bay rallied from last-to-first to win her debut by a head travelling a one-turn mile on Nov. 7 at Belmont Park.

A $1.25 million Keeneland September Yearling Sale purchase, Tap the Faith is out of the Super Saver mare Embellish the Lace, who captured the 2015 Grade 1 Alabama at the Spa.

The Demoiselle offers 10-4-2-1 Kentucky Oaks qualifying points to the top-four finishers.

Demoiselle Entries

4:13 p.m. – G1 Cigar Mile at Aqueduct

An accomplished field of eight horses will seek the calendar year's final opportunity for Grade 1 glory on the NYRA circuit in the 32nd running of the $750,000 Cigar Mile.

Owned by WinStar Farm and CHC Inc. and bred in New York by Fred W. Hertrich III and John D. Fielding, Americanrevolution makes his return to graded company after finishing third two starts back in the Grade 1 Pennsylvania Derby on Sept. 25 at Parx, which was won by Hot Rod Charlie over Midnight Bourbon.

Spendthrift Farm homebred Following Sea was a troubled third in the last out Grade 1 Breeders' Cup Sprint and seeks his second graded stakes triumph in Saturday's engagement. The son of second crop sire Runhappy was victorious in wire-to-wire fashion against multiple graded stakes winner Firenze Fire in the six-furlong Grade 2 Vosburgh on Oct. 9 at Belmont.

The one-turn mile will be a swan song for multiple graded stakes-winner Independence Hall who returns to Aqueduct for the first time since capturing the 2020 Jerome. Trained by Pletcher's former assistant Michael McCarthy, Independence Hall arrives off a 7 ¼-length runaway victory at 1 1/8 miles in the Grade 2 Fayette on October 30 over a sloppy and sealed Keeneland main track, where he registered a career-best 105 Beyer.

Trainer Richard Baltas will ship Ginobili cross-country, attempting to give the son of Munnings a second graded stakes triumph. Owned by Baltas in partnership with Nick Casato's Slum Dunk Racing, Jerry McClanahan and Michael Nentwig, Ginobili ended a nine race losing streak in July at Del Mar capturing a one mile allowance optional claimer by 9 ¾ lengths. He followed with a score in the Grade 2 Pat O' Brien one month later at Del Mar, which offered a “Win and You're In” berth to the Breeders' Cup Dirt Mile, where Ginobili finished second to Life Is Good on Nov. 6 at Del Mar.

As the lone millionaire in the race, William S. Farish's Code of Honor boasts a field-best $2,951,320 in lifetime earnings and seeks a third Grade 1 victory for Hall of Fame trainer Shug McGaughey. This year, he captured the Grade 3 Phillip H. Iselin in August at Monmouth Park. He enters from a last out second to Independence Hall in the Fayette.

Bill Mott will attempt a fourth victory in a race named after one of the greatest horses he has ever trained when the Hall of Famer saddles 3-year-old Olympiad. Owned by Grandview Equine, Cheyenne Stable and LNJ Foxwoods, Olympiad defeated older winners last out in a first-level allowance at Keeneland going seven furlongs. He broke his maiden in October 2020 against subsequent stakes winners Caddo River and Greatest Honour travelling the same distance at Belmont Park.

Cigar Mile Entries

6:58 p.m. – G1 Starlet Stakes at Los Alamitos

Hall of Fame trainer Bob Baffert will have three opportunities to win the Grade 1, $300,000 Starlet – the final Grade 1 of 2021 for 2-year-old fillies – for a fifth consecutive year Saturday at Los Alamitos.

Baffert, whose streak of Starlet victories includes Dream Tree (2017), Chasing Yesterday (2018), Bast (2019) and Varda last year, entered Grace Adler, Eda, and Benedict Canyon in 2021.

Owned by Willow Grace Farm and Michael Lund Petersen, Grace Adler will be seeking the second Grade I success of her young career. The daughter of Curlin and the Newfoundland mare Our Khrysty dominated seven opponents by 11 ¼ lengths in the Del Mar Debutante Sept. 5.

Eda, a Munnings filly out of the Lemon Drop Kid mare Show Me, is the most accomplished of the Baffert trio in terms of wins. She's 3-for-5 with a bankroll of $190,000. Owned by Baoma Corporation, Eda enters off consecutive victories, taking the Anoakia Oct. 24 and the Desi Arnaz Nov. 13. The Starlet will mark her first start beyond seven furlongs.

Starlet Entries

Sunday

5:53 p.m. – G3 Valedictory Stakes at Woodbine

The 2019 Belmont Stakes winner Sir Winston resumes his rivalry with Special Forces in this 1 1/2-mile contest over the Tapeta.

Most recently, Sir Winston, the 5-year-old son of Awesome Again trained by Mark Casse, ran second in the G2 Autumn Stakes, while Special Forces ran third. That order was reversed two starts back in the G3 Durham, with Special Forces besting Sir Winston by a half-length.

A full field of 14 with one also-eligible has signed on for this marathon event.

Valedictory Entries

7:30 p.m. – G3 Bayakoa Stakes at Los Alamitos

Two-time Grade 2 winner As Time Goes By will have six rivals in her return to Los Alamitos Sunday. Trained by Hall of Famer Bob Baffert for Mrs. John Magnier, Michael Tabor and Derrick Smith, As Time Goes By will get some class relief after finishing eighth of 11 in the Grade 1 Breeders' Cup Distaff Nov. 6 at Del Mar.

Hall of Fame trainer Richard Mandella, who won the 2017 Bayakoa with Majestic Heat, will be represented Sunday by Moonlight d'Oro. Owned by MyRachorse and Spendthrift Farm LLC, the 3-year-old Medaglia d'Oro filly was runner-up as the odds-on choice in a restricted stakes at Del Mar Nov. 3 after nine months on the sidelines.

Benjamin and Sally Warren's homebred Warren's Showtime will make her Los Alamitos debut for trainer Craig Lewis. The California bred daughter of Clubhouse Ride and the Affirmative mare Warren's Veneda has been effective on turf and dirt, winning eight of 23. The 4-year-old has earned $794,431.

Bayakoa Entries

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Friday Show Presented By Woodbine: The Bryony Frost-Robbie Dunne Case

The British Horseracing Authority's disciplinary hearing of jumps jockey Robbie Dunne for prejudicial conduct and verbal abuse toward fellow rider Bryony Frost is the subject of this week's Friday Show.

Bloodstock editor Joe Nevills leads the discussion, with editor in chief Natalie Voss and news editor Chelsea Hackbarth offering their thoughts on the case in which Dunne has been accused of using abusive, physically threatening and misogynistic language against Frost on multiple occasions.

Frost, 26, is Britain's most successful female jockey. By bringing to the BHA the complaint against Dunne – whose tirades were said to be witnessed by others – Frost said she has felt abandoned and isolated by fellow riders, saying, “I wouldn't wish it on anyone.” She also testified that the culture within horse racing makes it difficult for anyone to file complaints against others.

Dunne faces up to a three-year ban if found guilty of the charges against him.

Also in this final edition of the Friday Show for 2021, Canadian legend Pink Lloyd has been named Woodbine's Star of the Week following his stirring victory in his career finale in last week's Kennedy Road Stakes at the Toronto, Ontario, track.

Watch this week's Friday Show, presented by Woodbine, below:

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‘You Always Dream Of Having These Kinds Of Horses’: Simon Readying Summer Sunday For Her Swansong

Summer Sunday has one last journey to take before heading to greener pastures.

Less than a week from now, the striking six-year-old mare will depart the barn of trainer Stuart Simon and head over to the Woodbine paddock for the La Prevoyante Stakes.

The 1 1/16-mile Tapeta race for Ontario-sired fillies and mares, three-year-olds and upwards, will be the swan song for Summer Sunday, the multiple stakes-winning daughter of Silent Name (JPN).

Should she win the $100,000 race, the veteran campaigner would eclipse the $1million mark (CDN) in lifetime earnings for owners Anne and William Scott.

Soon after the race, Summer Sunday will be on her way to Ireland to begin a new life.

“She's going to be a broodmare, and she's going to have a forever home with Mr. Scott's relative in Ireland,” noted Simon. “It's very nice to know that she's going to a place where she'll be well looked after for the rest of her days.”

The reality of the La Prevoyante being her final start has already hit Simon.

“It's going to be emotional…” said the longtime conditioner, his voice trailing off. “We didn't raise her, but we bought her as a yearling, and we tried to keep her safe and looked after her whole life. It's going to be very emotional. She's so special. You always dream of having these kind of horses.”

Her most recent start, the Eternal Search on October 29 at Woodbine, was the ninth career stakes score for Summer Sunday, who sports a record of 11-3-1 from 21-lifetime starts.

Summer Sunday launched her career with a win on July 15, 2017, going on to net the natural hat trick to complete her rookie season with a perfect three-for-three mark, which included victories in the Nandi and Muskoka Stakes.

In 2019, she was named Canada's champion female sprinter.

Simon, who has 838 career wins, continues to marvel at the mare's versatile ways.

“She has won stakes races from five furlongs up to a mile-and-a-sixteenth on all three surfaces at Woodbine. She's won a five-furlong race on the Inner Turf, she's won multiple graded stakes on the main track, and she's won a graded stakes race on the E.P. Taylor Turf Course, as well as a two-turn Open stakes race on the synthetic. Not many of the past champions and good horses here have that kind of diversity. Not taking anything away from all of the great horses that have been here, but most of them are really good at one thing, probably, whether it's running short or running long, turf or synthetic.”

Regular rider Rafael Hernandez is equally effusive in his praise of Summer Sunday's ample abilities.

His highest compliment is divided between the conditioner and the dark bay.

“I liked her from the first time I got on her,” said the veteran jockey, who has over 2,800 career wins. “She used to be a filly that was all speed. Every time the gate opened, it was 'go, go, go.' Like every horse, when they grow up, they start to figure it out. They don't have to be on the engine the whole way. They can settle down. She's been doing that for the last couple of years. She can settle off the pace and be able to finish. We can do anything we want with her.”

One race, in particular, stands out for Hernandez.

“I remember – if you speak with Stuart, I think he would agree with me – it was the stakes race (2019 running of the Grade 2 Royal North) when she had never been on the grass before. It was six furlongs on the E.P. Taylor. Stuart told me there weren't races coming up for her, so we had to give it a shot. And it was the most impressive race she had. The E.P. Taylor is very hard to win on. With speed horses, that long stretch, it can really be hard on them. It was an impressive race from her. Stuart is an unbelievable trainer, and he has done a great job with her. On the track, she is so calm and so professional. Stuart has worked hard over the years to get her to settle down, and she has in every way.”

Simon also easily recalled the Royal North performance.

“She was bred for the turf, and she trained like she would like the grass. Just the way it fit into the schedule, we decided to run her in that race. And she came up with such a great effort.”

On a crisp autumn Saturday – the forecast is currently calling for light snow, and a high of 0 degrees Celsius – Summer Sunday will go postward for the 22nd and final time in her career, in search of her 12th win and the $1 million mark in earnings.

The horseman who has campaigned the versatile Ontario-bred hopes she goes out a winner, perhaps channelling the luck of the Irish ahead of her new post-racing life.

If she doesn't happen to cross the wire first, Simon won't hang his head.

He has no reason to.

“I expect her to run well. She's as honest as they come. The mile and a sixteenth doesn't bother me. She's acting more and more as she's gotten older that she wants to run further. I've run her once going two turns, and she won that race. She defeated an open field of horses, including the filly (Souper Escape) that won the Sovereign for top older mare in 2020. She's no one-trick pony, that's for sure.”

Hernandez is hopeful she lives to her name this weekend. Well, sort of.

“The last few times we've been racing in the stakes on Saturdays when most of the stakes she wins are on Sunday, just like her name. But it doesn't matter. Whenever she races, she gives everything she has.”

It's one of many things Simon will miss about Summer Sunday, who was bred by Trinity West Stables Ltd.

That said, he's content to see one of his top stars begin a new chapter in her life.

“It's starting to hit home more and more that this is going to be it. And it's time. I'm glad, and I'm happy for her and very comfortable with the decision to stop on her. She's good right now, but you don't want to push the envelope. You want her to have a good life because she deserves it.”

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