Royal North lures shippers

ETOBICOKE, Ontario - The Royal North has attracted its share of shippers the past few years, and Monday's renewal of the six-furlong turf handicap for fillies and mares is no exception.

Boozin' Susan, based in Maryland with trainer Michael Dickinson, already is on the grounds, having checked in Wednesday.

Dyna Da Wyna, currently at Saratoga with trainer Elliott Walden, and Glowing Breeze, trained in Maryland by Graham Motion, are scheduled to arrive over the next few days.

With Patience, another Marylander, also might come for the race.

Boozin' Susan, a 5-year-old owned by Run for Roses Stable, will be making her second start for Dickinson. In the first, she ran sixth in the $100,000 Dr. James Penny Memorial over 1 1/16 miles on turf at Philadelphia Park July 3.

Before racing for Dickinson, Boozin' Susan had run well in two turf sprint stakes for trainer Jeff Thornbury, finishing a close third in the May 14 The Very One over five furlongs at Pimlico and second in the 5 1/2-furlong Stravinsky at Keeneland April 17.

In 2003, when trained by Linda Rice, Boozin' Susan won the Incredible Revenge at five furlongs on turf at Monmouth. She was assigned 120 pounds for the Royal North.

Dyna Da Wyna, a 4-year-old owned by WinStar Farm, defeated Boozin' Susan by a nose in the Stravinsky, then shipped here and ran fifth on June 5 in the Grade 3 Nassau at 1 1/16 miles on turf.

In her only subsequent start, at Arlington, Dyna Da Wyna won an overnight handicap over five furlongs on yielding turf on July 11. She carries top weight in the Royal North, at 121 pounds.

Glowing Breeze, also 4 years old, is coming off a rallying third-place finish in the $50,000 Buckland, a 5 1/2-furlong turf race at Colonial Downs July 3. Her assigned weight in the Royal North is 113 pounds.

Motion sent out Confessional to back-to-back wins in the Royal North in 2000 and 2001.

Small field in Colin, so Swingin Whiskey is in

Trainer Mort Hardy was on the fence Wednesday about entering Swingin Whiskey here in Saturday's $125,000 Colin, an open six-furlong race for 2-year-olds.

"There are so many races for this horse," said Hardy, who purchased Swingin Whiskey for $12,000 at the local select yearling sale. "He's Canadian-bred and Ontario-sired.

"I worked him Tuesday, just in case [the Colin] came up with a small field. He worked very good."

Swingin Whiskey, working over a muddy track under exercise rider O'Neill Walcott, was clocked in 1:02.20 for five furlongs. And when Colin entries closed Thursday, with five horses, Swingin Whiskey was in the lineup.

In his last start here, on July 4, the third start of his career, Swingin Whiskey closed strongly to win a five-furlong Ontario-sired maiden special under Steven Bahen.

Seagram Cup hopefuls tune up

Two candidates for next Saturday's $125,000 Seagram Cup worked over the fast main track here Thursday. Mark One, Stronach Stable-owned and Danny Vella-trained, was clocked in 1:16.40 for six furlongs.

Hydrogen, a 5-year-old owned by Earle Mack and trained by Mark Casse, was timed in 1:00.40 for five furlongs, the fastest of 30 workouts at the distance.

Mark One, winner of the May 24 Eclipse Handicap over the Seagram Cup's 1 1/16-mile distance, came back to finish second to 12 3/4-length winner Mobil in the 1 1/4-mile Dominion Day here July 1.

Casse plans to run a second Seagram entrant, The Judge Sez Who, who was a neck behind Mark One, running third the Dominion Day.

Blonde Executive loved move to grass

Blonde Executive was an easy winner in her turf debut here Wednesday night in the $131,500 Passing Mood Stakes. Richard Dos Ramos rode Blonde Executive, who led throughout the seven-furlong dash for Ontario-sired 3-year-old fillies. She set moderate fractions of 22.84 and 46.37 seconds, and drew off to win by 2 1/4 lengths over Flashy Anna, a 16-1 shot. The time over a yielding course was 1:22.78.

Dos Ramos said he wasn't surprised Blonde Executive took to the grass. "We worked her once on [the grass], and she handled it nicely," he said.

Blonde Executive returned $6.30. Trained by Radlie Loney, she earned $78,900 for owner-breeder Bruno Brothers Farm.

Nancy Hilts memorial Saturday

A memorial service for Nancy Hilts will be held at 7 p.m. Saturday at the Ward Funeral Home Chapel, 2035 Weston Road, Toronto. She died Wednesday at age 64.

In 1960, she became the first female licensed as a Thoroughbred trainer in Ontario. She went on to train and own horses for five decades.

Recently based at Fort Erie, Hilts took a break from training and served as an Ontario Racing Commission steward for several years.

Condolences may be sent to the family at nancy.hilts@wardfh.com.

- additional reporting by Ron Gierkink