Massis makes boxcar score with claim of Foxxy Belle

ETOBICOKE, Ontario – Tommy Massis has gained notoriety as a successful contest player, but the outspoken professional gambler has made his mark as an owner this year with several productive claimed runners trained by Norm McKnight.

Last Friday, Massis won a $40,000 event going seven furlongs with the erratic Nashville Knight, who was moving up off a $25,000 claim. The speedy Nashville Knight grabbed an uncontested lead and never looked back to prevail with an 88 Beyer Speed Figure, the third highest of his career.

“The key with horses like him is if they show speed and quit I want to stretch them out where they can go slower,” Massis said. “If he’s loose on the lead, he runs better.”

Last Saturday his stable star, Foxxy Belle, won her fourth race in six starts for him in a competitive second-level optional claimer. The 4-year-old filly has banked more than $200,000 since Massis took her for $25,000 in June. She has been among the best claims of the meet.

Massis said the notes he accumulated on HorsePlayer Interactive regarding her bad trips, coupled with the company she had been keeping, swayed him to claim Foxxy Belle from trainer Mike DePaulo.

“Norm said they had done a great job with her, and she was a ready-made horse,” Massis said. “I think I just caught her on the upswing.”

Not all of Massis’s claims have panned out, but the 66-year-old said he believes that Woodbine is the ideal track for horse ownership.

“I think it’s the greatest place to race and bet,” Massis explained. “We don’t go Aqueduct-Belmont-Saratoga. We don’t go Churchill-Ellis-Keeneland. Here, you have three surfaces. Nobody loves Woodbine more than I do. I fell in love with this place as a kid, and this [year] has been a dream come true. If people want to get part of a horse, just give me a call.”

Carroll back to Fair Grounds

Trainer Josie Carroll said she will run a split stable this winter between Fair Grounds and Florida. Carroll was once a mainstay at Fair Grounds, where she had considerable success, but this will be her first winter in New Orleans since 2013-14.

“It’s a good program,” Carroll said.

Carroll said Curlin’s Voyage and Avie’s Samurai are both pointing to the $125,000 Ontario Lassie Stakes, a 1 1/16-mile route for Ontario-bred 2-year-old fillies here Dec. 8.

Victorious by disqualification in the Grade 3 Mazarine Stakes, Carroll said Curlin’s Voyage had a valid excuse when fourth as the odds-on favorite most recently in the Princess Elizabeth Stakes.

“She hit her head in the gate and came back with a bloody tooth and a cut on her face,” Carroll said. “I think it just threw her completely off her game.”