triple dead heat

'Dixie' poised to strike in Woodbine Oaks...

2012-06-02T20:41:00.001-04:00

On Sunday, Mark Casse will send out three talented fillies in the $500,000 Woodbine Oaks led by Queen's Plate Winterbook favourite Dixie Strike. The John Oxley filly is a half-sister to last year's Oaks / Queen's Plate champion Inglorious and after her stunning performance in the Grade 3 Selene Stakes is a deserving 6-5 morning line favourite.

Oxley's Northern Passion (5-2) and Eugene Melnyk's Black Bird Rock (12-1), both trained by Casse, will provide the main opposition.

Is Dixie Strike your Oaks winner?

In preparing for a handicapping seminar held at Woodbine this morning, I took a quick look back at the last five Oaks winners (Sealy Hill, Ginger Brew, Milwaukee Appeal, Roan Inish and Inglorious) and noted the following similarities:

1. All raced as juveniles
2. All had won at two-turns before the Oaks
3. All had won a stakes race before the Oaks

Of the nine horses that will line up on Sunday in the nine furlong main track event, only Dixie Strike and Rose and Shine meet the above criteria.

However, while Dixie Strike has progressed as a three-year-old winning the Florida Oaks in her 2012 debut and her recent tour de force in the Selene, we have yet to see the best of Rose and Shine this season when sprinting in the Fury (5th) and Star Shoot (6th).

Perhaps a return to routing will wake up Rose and Shine - - but I find it hard to use her, or anyone other than Dixie Strike, on top of the ticket.

Seven out of ten experts selected Dixie Strike in a panel recently posted on the Woodbine Oaks site. The three dissenters all selected Northern Passion as the upsetter.

My only knock against Northern Passion is that she has yet to win going two turns. However, her second dam Gleaming Glory did produce 2002 Oaks winner Ginger Gold. Northern Passion was ridden out in the Fury last out and came back with a pair of works that had Casse raving.

“I’ve said it on numerous occasions to numerous people that my feeling has always been that Dixie Strike is better than Northern Passion," said Casse. "But I have to tell you that when Northern Passion breezed the other day (May 21), it was one of the most impressive breezes that I have ever seen (five furlongs in a bullet 59 seconds, the fastest of 39 works at the distance). We got her the last half in :46 (seconds) flat. Luis was on her. He was excited. He said he was going to win the Oaks.”

Can Northern Passion defeat her stablemate?

Here's a quick look at a few other Oaks contenders that could spice up your exotic wagers.

Black Bird Rock has won going two turns, albeit in a slowish maiden race. Her dam Black Rock Road is a stakes winner at Woodbine and her sire is Flower Alley, same as Triple Crown hopeful I’ll Have Another. It's not often you get a 12-1 morning line on the Casse / Melnyk combo. Although her form suggests 'out-of-the-clouds', Casse believes that Black Bird Rock will be more forwardly placed in the Oaks.

“Black Bird Rock (will) be up close," said Casse. "She’s got some speed. Of the three fillies, she’ll be the toughest to rate. She was stuck inside (in the maiden race) and Patrick was checking her the entire time. If there isn’t a whole lot of speed and nobody’s in front of her, she may be a little tougher to handle. But I can see her up close if the pace is slow. The other fillies will sit back and rate.”

Irish Mission is huge. Her barn name is 'Biggins’ and she stands 17 hands. That’s La Lorgnette big. The Mark Frostad trainee is a half to multiple turf stakes winner French Beret of Sam-Son fame and is guaranteed to be a handful in the Wonder Where, but her class could carry her in the Oaks for a share.

Irish Mission has a 'tall' order in the Oaks...

“Her last two races have been really nice efforts,” offered Frostad, of the pair of grass races, a second-place finish at Gulfstream on March 29 and an impressive victory in Kentucky. “She’s started to figure everything out which you can see in her last two races. We always thought we had a good filly and she’s really showing it now.”

Awesome Fire did not like the heat in Florida where she wintered. Her trainer Nick Gonzalez says she’s a changed horse since returning to Woodbine, has put on weight, and she got a good run in the Fury. She's entitled to improve and pick up a share.

“I wasn’t really happy with the way she was training over that dirt track (in Florida),” says Gonzalez. “She wasn’t doing well with the excessive heat we had over the winter time there in Miami, but it served its purpose and got her good and fit.”

Despite the talented group listed above, I do like Dixie Strike to win the Oaks and will key her in the late Pick 4 which will allow me to spread in the contentious Plate Trial.

SELECTIONS
1. Dixie Strike
2. Black Bird Rock
3. Northern Passion
4. Irish Mission

A few quick notes on the PLATE TRIAL which is shaping up as a race with speed to close into. Incredicat, Beeker Street and Drago’s Best should all be forwardly placed.

Big Creek (6-1) closed late in the Wando and galloped out strong. Perhaps his second trip over the Poly will wake him up a bit and I like jockey Emma-Jayne Wilson's insight into Big Creek's last start.

“I thought he ran a very creditable race,” Wilson said to the DRF. “He got a little intimidated. A horse on the outside of him around the turn had him thinking a little too much. Once he got a nice clear run, he finished up really well.”

Big Creek adds blinkers on Sunday and should be more focused on the task at hand.

River Rush (20-1), a maiden, was behind a wall of horses turning into the stretch and was angled out very wide by Wilson then showed a nice burst of speed closing for place last out. He earned a 79 Beyer in that event, won by Awesome Overture in 1:44.32. The Orientate-Sweet Tart bay, owned by Stronach Stables, offers value at 20-1 in this class test...but Wilson chose Big Creek.

Peyton (20-1) had an awkward start in the Queenston (see adjacent video), raced wide, and was LAST of 8 deep in the stretch before closing smartly to finish fifth, galloping out strong.

Perhaps Peyton bounced a bit off his huge seven furlong allowance score in his 2012 debut when angled off rail deep in stretch to roll over older horses Bigstrombrewin’ and Apres Midi that earned him an 86 Beyer. He’s won going two turns and adds Justin Stein.

SELECTIONS
1. Big Creek
2. River Rush
3. Peyton
4. Making Amends

QUOTE OF THE WEEK

“I don’t have a crystal ball, like some other trainers...I’ll tell you at the eighth pole.” - - Reade Baker to the DRF on how Tu Endie Wei, who has never trained on the turf, will fare in her turf debut in Sunday's Alywow Stakes.

TWEET OF THE WEEK

A pair of musically themed tweets caught my eye this week..

"If the Wesley Ward-trained Kansas wins Belmont's race 3 tomorrow, will her rivals be dust in the wind?" - - Nick Kling aka @DocFonda (The filly finished fourth...)

-- and --

"National anthem, then Karma Police at Belmont; reversal of Wed Radiohead show in Newark: Karma Police, then The National Anthem in encore" - - courtesy of columnist @Mike_MacAdam after Ramon Dominguez won Saturday's Belmont opener with Karma Police.

RACE CALL OF THE WEEK

"...and now starts to draw away...the first father/son, trainer/jockey, combination to win the Derby - - Aidan and Joseph O'Brien." - - it wasn't the cleanest of race calls but a visually stunning performance from the incredible Camelot in the Epsom Derby

THIS AND THAT

Harlan Abbey reports that Neil Husbands is piling up the winners at Fort Erie:

"You think you know too much," he admitted, forgetting the hard work he'd put in for trainers By Raghunath and Desmond Maynard: "I'd muck out 15 stalls just to exercise three horses.

"Then I went to New Orleans to gallop for Josie Carroll. She'd yell at me and even sent me home a couple of times."
Now, four years later, Neil Husbands' six wins leads all apprentices at the Fort and he stands fourth overall in the jockey standings, trailing Kirk Johnson (nine) and Juan Crawford and cousin Terry Husbands (seven each).

Monte Stewart reports for the Canadian Press that Derby and Preaness winning jockey Mario Gutierrez wants to become a Canadian citizen:

"I can't really talk about that because I don't want to get (in trouble with Canadian) Immigration," Gutierrez told the Canadian Press late Thursday night following a media availability session with reporters in Surrey, B.C.
"I'll tell you when I get it," he added with a smile.

With a victory in the Belmont, Canadian-owned I'll Have Another and Gutierrez would become the first horse and jockey since Affirmed and Steve Cauthen in 1978, to win the Triple Crown.

Gutierrez fell in love with Canada while honing his skills for six seasons at Vancouver's Hastings Racecourse.

CITY TV put together a video feature on jockey Todd Kabel who has battled back from depression and is now winning races again at Woodbine. Click this link to watch the video.
STILL NEED MORE?

As always, keep track of the latest goings on in the world of horse racing by clicking into TripleDeadHeat's Woodbine News page or join in on the conversation by following TripleDeadHeat on Twitter.

Sutherland fired up about 'Awesome' Oaks contender

2012-05-28T20:32:00.001-04:00

You could be excused for thinking I’m taking the piss when I report that the connections of Woodbine Oaks contender Awesome Fire met in the men’s room at Woodbine in 2010.

“I met Nick Gonzalez for the first time in the washroom beside the Finish Line Bar, the day before the Queen’s Plate,” laughs owner Hugh Sutherland.

“He said, ‘I’m Chantal’s brother Hugh’,” confirms Gonzalez. “He asked if I wanted to come back to the bar for a beer and several drinks later, and two promised tickets to the Queen’s Plate, we’ve been friends ever since.”

Hugh Sutherland at Woodbine

Gonzalez, a respected conditioner at Woodbine and Fort Erie, put on quite a show in the Plate as Big Red Mike, owned by Terra Racing and trained by Gonzalez, ran his eyeballs out to win the Gallop for the Guineas and a chance to meet the Queen.

“He’s been hooked ever since,” smiles Gonzalez. “We formed a trainer-owner partnership after that.”

The 39-year-old Sutherland, president of Urban Fire - - a luxury fire place company, purchased Awesome Fire following the 2010 CTHS Yearling Sale, when the Strong Contender-Awesome Lass filly didn’t meet her reserve.

“I didn’t understand what an RNA (Reserve Not Attained) was,” explains Sutherland. “She was bought back for $7,000. So, Nick and I went and tracked down the breeder, who was Spring Farm.”

They found Awesome Fire being loaded onto a trailer on the Woodbine backstretch, ready to head back to the farm.

“I offered $10,000 for the horse and they were a bit discouraged because he’d paid a lot for the stud fee and the half-sister won a stake race before the sale and they missed that in the auction,” he recalls.

That half-sister of Awesome Fire, Secret Wish, won the Algoma Stakes and a year earlier was ninth in the 2009 edition of the Woodbine Oaks, won by Milwaukee Appeal.

“Nick haggled with him and we got her for the $10,000 plus $2,500 if she ever won a race.”

Awesome Fire having a laugh

The filly was immediately taken off the trailer and walked into an adjacent stall.

“And then Nick said, ‘Let’s go have a beer,’” he laughs.

Several months later, Sutherland suffered his first shock as a horse owner.

“I got the bill from Woodbine, which was on my dad’s account, and he put it on my desk and it was for $100, 000,” exclaims Sutherland. “I just about had a heart attack. I had a cold sweat and didn’t know what to do, so I called the nice lady at the track and said, I don’t know what happened, I didn’t have that many beers that night. I only bought her for ten!”

Fortunately, the clerk managed to steady Sutherland’s rapid heart rate, “She said, ‘I’m so sorry, I put in an extra zero by mistake!’”

*

Awesome Fire developed over the winter into a solid filly and in July, about a month before she was set to debut, Sutherland decided it was time to gauge the talent of his prized purchase.

“Chantal was coming up for the Queen’s Plate to ride Pender Harbour and I said, ‘Channy’, can you go on my horse and let me know if it’s any good.

“I sat up (in the grandstand) there where (trainer) Mark Casse and (racing analyst) Jim Bannon sit and then I see ‘Channy’ go around the track in a work with a few other horses and she blows by them and she gives the big hand pump.”

Certain he’s got a good thing, the excited owner races to the backstretch for a first-hand report from his sister.

“She said, ‘Hugh, finally our family has a good horse. This is going to be a good thoroughbred’,” smiles Sutherland.

With visions of win photos and trophies dancing through his mind, the excited owner asked what type of race his filly might win.

“And she said, ‘She’ll win a $32,000 claimer’,” he laughs. “And I said WHAT!”

Awesome Fire cools off at Woodbine

Awesome Fire’s debut was a huge disappointment as the chestnut filly finished sixth, and last, defeated 20 lengths at odds of 19-1 in a $62,500 maiden claiming event.

“She was sick her first race so we knew that she’d do really well the second time out,” says Sutherland. “We knew it would be a risk dropping her in for $40,000 but my dad assured me no one will take a horse that was 20 lengths back, and sure enough she won and kept winning.”

Awesome Fire wintered in Ocala, Florida and following a difficult three-year-old debut at Gulfstream, where the filly, despite her name, didn’t take kindly to the heat finishing last, returned to Woodbine with renewed vigour to finish fourth in April’s Fury Stakes.

“It’s been a fabulous experience,” says Sutherland. “There are young entrepreneurs like me who are so excited to own horses and do what I’m doing right now. I’m up against some big boys like John Oxley and Eugene Melnyk, these are multi-millionaires, and I’m a guy who bought a horse for ten grand and I’m in a half a million dollar race. Isn’t that the dream of horse racing?”

He reveals that the entire Sutherland family grew up dreaming about horse racing.

“I’m the middle kid,” he says. “My younger sister is Chantal and my older sister is Dominique and she is exactly like Chantal…but blonde.

“Dominique used to be a better rider than Chantal but she took a different profession. When they were kids, Dominique would clean up and Chantal was always trying to be as good as Dominique. If Dominique would have been a rider, she’d have been something special but she blew her knee out playing soccer, and couldn’t do horse racing.”

Sutherland with Emma-Jayne Wilson and Martha Gonzalez

Considering his diminutive siblings, it’s hard to imagine the 6’4 middle brother had any chance to be a jockey. However…

“My nickname in high school was ‘Smurf’,’ he laughs. “I was Chantal’s height up until grade 12. We were all tiny. I think I was 5’4 until grade 12 and hit puberty and then I grew an insane amount over the summer. I was 6’2 in my last year of high school, my friends didn’t recognize me.”

Regardless, the affable brother readily admits that whatever riding gene was passed along to his talented sisters skipped a generation.

“I was the guy who was mucking the stalls,” he laughs. “They put me on a pony one time and I fell off many times and I though this is not for me. I’d rather watch them run.”

That said, his pride for his sister’s riding accomplishments matches his own massive stature, even if she won't be on hand to ride the filly on Sunday.

“We always knew Chantal would be good, but we didn’t know how good she’d be,” he says.

His excitement over Sunday’s Oaks knows no bounds.

His Twitter feed, @Urbanfireman, allows him the opportunity to share that excitement with his sister, @JockeyChantal, and Emma-Jayne Wilson, @EJWilson81, who will pilot Awesome Fire in Sunday’s Oaks.

“@EJWilson81 @jockeychantal congrats today Emma on a near track record. Keep the stake wins coming ;) go AF," proclaims a recent tweet.

And then, with a nod to his younger sister’s acting career, he channels a possible victory speech for Sunday taken straight from the pilot of Luck where trainer Turo Escalante cashed large when his own Mon Gateau took the cake at long odds.

“As Turo Escalante would say in Luck,” starts Sutherland, summoning up his best impression of the shady trainer portrayed by John Ortiz. “What a surpriiiise!”

Not your average 'Joe'...

2012-05-25T18:34:00.000-04:00

“Everybody loves a winner,” says trainer Norm McKnight in regard to hard-trying gelding Consolidator Joe.

Unraced as a two-year-old, the RMC Stable homebred by Consolidator out of Ascot Tobie (Ascot Knight) came from out of the clouds to win his debut by three-quarters of a length.

It was the first of five wins on the season for the dark bay fellow, one in which he banked $178,873 in purse earnings while dominating the upper claiming ranks at Woodbine, so it was hardly surprising on Thursday morning when I went by his barn for a visit that ‘Joe’ seemed to enjoy having his picture taken.

“He’s a gutsy little guy,” says McKnight. “He tries every time. He’s got a few little aches and pains, but he seems to live with them. He’s a real neat horse, easy to train, easy to be around and he goes over there runs his guts out every time. If they were all like that, the game would be a lot easier.”

In nine lifetime starts, Consolidator Joe has maintained a perfect in-the-money percentage, with six wins, a second and two thirds.

“If you gave me five more of him, I could get rid of ten of the other ones,” laughs McKnight. “He’s just a great individual. He has a great disposition, and loves being at the track”

McKnight also loves being around the track - - any track, really.

He got his start in the harness racing game as a trainer and driver - - and a good one at that, notching 1,476 wins from the bike including a memorable win in the Confederation Cup at Flamboro Downs steering Arcane Hanover to a new stakes, track, and Canadian record of 1:53.3.

McKnight wins the Confederation Cup with Arcane Hanover

Joe by a neck!

(You can read all about McKnight’s move from bike to saddle in this fine piece by Rob Longley for the Thoroughbred Times.)

McKnight, who knew how to find the wire on the limestone, jokes that he would have leaped at the chance to ride a horse on the Polytrack.

“I galloped my own horses for 15 years, but the novelty wore off,” he starts. “I used to ride show horses and American Saddlebreds when I was younger and do the show horse route. I probably could have tried it (being a jockey) for the sake of doing it. Some of the jocks are taller than I am...I was 150lbs when I came here. I’d of had to lose 40lbs.”

And then, casually glancing at his own midsection, he laughs, “It probably wouldn’t have worked!”

With 250 wins to his credit as a thoroughbred trainer, and nearly $9-million in earnings, McKnight has no regrets about switching breeds.

“The thing I like most is the hours,” he says. “I don’t mind getting up in the morning, and the afternoon racing is great as opposed to harness horses racing at night. With harness horses, you never have any kind of social life. At least here you have the odd time to get out for dinner. In harness, you’re married to the job 24 hours a day. Back then, I was training horses all morning and then driving them at night.”

And having a not-so-average 'Joe' to train makes his life that much easier.
“He’s the most consistent horse in the barn,” says McKnight. “It’s a nice little barn. A nice group of horses, no standouts, but they all try and when they’re slotted in the right races they all show up.”

Consolidator Joe, who stomps about the shed row with the presence of a stakes winner, earned his sixth lifetime win on the Victoria Day weekend with a stubborn, driving score to nail Zip It Nance by a nose earning a career-best 84 Beyer Figure.

The gelding’s nose for the wire leave’s the conditioner with something of a conundrum as to where to race the horse next.

“There comes a time when you have to run them for a tag and you have to run them where they can win,” says McKnight. “The game is no fun when you’re running up the track all the time. Winning is a whole lot more fun than losing.

“He’s great little horse and he’s gone through all his conditions so now he gets in where he has to run tougher all the time. He’s been real good to us and if I can make it where it’s a little easier on him to win races, that would be what I want to do.”

Consolidator Joe refuses to lose

QUOTE OF THE WEEK

"He's like one of those throwback horses. The more you do with him, the better he gets. we had to really rush to get him to the Plate, and you would think that would have knocked him out, but it didn't. He's a very good horse." - - Mike De Paulo to the DRF on the hard-trying Pender Harbour who returns in Saturday's Eclipse Stakes at Woodbine.

TWEET OF THE WEEK

"No matter how many of my own sex tapes I leak, I will never be as famous and rich as Kim Kardashian. What am I doing wrong?" - - Exercise rider / ex-jock @MikeMehak seeking your assistance on an alternative route to fame and fortune.

RACE CALL OF THE WEEK

"Contreras trying to squeeze every last ounce of run out of River Lemon..." - - Dan Loiselle gets punny in the stretch run of Wednesday's fourth race. The sweet call only soured when Apres Midi wouldn't let River Lemon by.

THIS AND THAT

Rob Longley spoke at length with trainer Terry Jordan who found horse racing's next big star, Mario Gutierrez while vacationing in Mexico:

From the moment Jordan saw the poise and balance Mario Gutierrez showed in the saddle that day at Hipodromo de Las Americas, he was certain he had his man.

“He just looked like he belonged up there,” said Jordan, then a top trainer at Hastings and now a regular at Toronto’s Woodbine Racetrack. “He rode with the stirrups very, very short and when you do that, you have to have good balance.

“He just looked like he would turn out to be something big.”

Six years later, the entire racing world is getting a taste of just how big.

David Willberg writes about his annual pilgrimmage to Assiniboia Downs and a chance to watch I'll Have Another via simulcast:

For those seeking a Canadian connection, you have good reason to root for I'll Have Another. The super horse is owned by Canadians from Windsor, Ontario. Its Mexican jockey, Mario Gutierrez, was the top jockey a couple times at Hastings Park in Vancouver. Even the horse's chiropractor (yes, thoroughbreds have chiropractors) played for former Estevan Bruins coach Ernie "Punch" McLean with the New Westminster Bruins.

On a personal note, my parents know Gutierrez from his time in Vancouver.
I'll Have Another isn't a super horse like Seattle Slew, Secretariat or Citation, but if he were to win those three races, it would be a monumental accomplishment. Some fantastic horses have won the Derby and the Preakness in the last 20 years, only to lose in the daunting mile-and-a-half test of endurance that is the Belmont.

Ever wondered how Beyer Figures are created? The DRF recently published 'The science behind Beyer Figures':

Essentially, figure makers want to know how fast a horse ran in relation to the speed of the track he ran on. Surface speeds change day to day, depending on weather, maintenance, and many other factors.

Think of it this way. You have two human runners of equal ability in a race. They run side by side, one on sand, the other on concrete. Obviously, the runner on concrete is going to win every time.

If all track surfaces were uniform, final times would be sufficient to tell us with horse is faster. But they are not.
Andrew Beyer’s classic mid-1970s book “Picking Winners” explained the methodology behind the figures and explained the unexplainable to many players, including me. The raw times of races were converted to numbers to make the calculations less cumbersome.

STILL NEED MORE?

As always, keep track of the latest goings on in the world of horse racing by clicking into TripleDeadHeat's Woodbine News page or join in on the conversation by following TripleDeadHeat on Twitter.

PHOTO FINISH

The Woodbine Oaks is set for June 3 and I visited a number of the potential contenders on Thursday morning.

Waitinginthewings surrounded by ducks

Will she 'wing' it and go to the Oaks?

Can Northern Passion emerge from the shadow of her stablemate Dixie Strike?

Black Bird Rock should ensure a swift pace

Can Dixie Strike sweep the Oaks/Plate double?

Awesome Fire enjoys her bath

and she has a sense of humour!

Awesome Fire will have to keep her on the prize

Awesome sponge putting out the fire...

Irish Mission smiles at first asking

The Mark Frostad filly certainly sparkles

Maybe Consolidator Joe will race on the undercard...

"I don't really care about your sister..."