Ron Gierkink

Hot, hazy and humid, with a fairly strong wind from the south-east, to start the 8-race card. The temporary rail on the turf is in lane 4, and the course is firm.

Woodbine doesn't race on Thursdays before a long weekend, so Thursday is a dark day.

Favored Old Blue Eyes held off the slow-starting Gangster Rap to take the opener, an Ontario-sired allowance sprint. In the second, 9-2 shot Gondorf ran away and hid from favored Quietdetermination in the stretch in an easy victory in a $40,000 claimer on the grass.  

Havelock ($39.30) held off longshots Riding the River and Fatal Bullet to take the G2 Play the King Stakes under Jermaine Bridgmohan.

Cloudy and a little on the cool side, with swirling winds. The temporary rail on the turf is in lane 3, and the course is firm.