Woodbine handicapping roundup: Week of Dec. 7

Essence Hit Man vs. Phil’s Dream for title

Only a head separated the top two local sprinters in last Saturday’s Grade 2 Kennedy Road Stakes, although they both lost to Bear No Joke, who worked out a lovely inside-out trip in the six-furlong dash.

Off a four-month layoff, two-time Canadian sprint champion Essence Hit Man set a lively pace before giving way grudgingly to Bear No Joke, who won by a half-length. According to Trakus, they ran the same distance, while the closing favorite Phil’s Dream took the overland route and covered an extra 41 feet (approximately four lengths) before losing the place photo.

Bear No Joke should be a Sovereign finalist for this year’s Canadian champion sprinter, but the award almost certainly will go to either Phil’s Dream or Essence Hit Man.

Phil’s Dream won 7 of 10 starts during his breakout season this year, including three stakes, most notably the Nearctic, a flimsy Grade 1 on turf. Essence Hit Man orchestrated two stakes scores and was second in his only other two outings. His half-length loss in the Grade 3 Vigil came at the hooves of Laugh Track, who subsequently finished a close second in the Grade 1 Breeders’ Cup Sprint at Santa Anita. Either would be a deserving winner, but I believe the award will go to Phil’s Dream because of the versatility he displayed during his more extensive campaign.

Owner-trainer Paul Buttigieg said he’s looking forward to stretching out the 5-year-old Phil’s Dream.

“I definitely will next year,” Buttigieg said. “He’ll go further. I just haven’t had the opportunity yet. The horse will rate.”
Trainer Larry Cappuccitti said Essence Hit Man will get a break before returning to action next year at age 7.

“I’m giving him the winter off,” Cappuccitti said. “We’ll send him down to Florida and let him just relax. He’ll start up at the end [of his vacation], before he ships up to Woodbine.”

No-contest, good efforts

Last Saturday’s 10th race was declared a no-contest after a starting gate malfunction caused half of the gates to open early. Steve Koch, Woodbine’s vice president of Thoroughbred racing, said that gate has been parked for the remainder of the meet to undergo repairs while the back-up gate is being used.

Several horses in the $10,000 conditioned-claiming route began slowly because their gates opened later than the others, including Simply Smart, Slew the Maestro, My Knight Indeed, and Smooth Charlie.

My Knight Indeed went four wide on the first turn and five wide on the far bend en route to a deceptively good fourth. Smooth Charlie, who was the 4-1 favorite, had a similar wide trip as My Knight Indeed before checking in nearly eight lengths back in sixth. Both broke about four or five lengths behind most of the others.

Flashy Margaritta shelved

Trainer Ralph Biamonte passed up Saturday’s $125,000 Kingarvie with Flashy Margaritta, who won two Ontario-sired stakes going short earlier this fall. The Kingarvie is a restricted 1 1/16-mile stakes.

“I sent him to Florida,” Biamonte said. “I didn’t want to try him long. I’ll wait until next year. He came out of his last race great, but I didn’t want to press it. It was tempting, but I decided no.”

Track trends

Nov. 29: The inside paths were golden on a day when just two of the 10 winners raced wide all the way. The 2-year-old filly My Bid rallied stoutly on the outside from off a fast pace to take the fourth, an Ontario-sired allowance route, by nearly five lengths. My Bid, who was making her second start, could have a productive future in the Ontario-sired ranks. She is owned by her breeder, Fieldstone Farm, and trained by Carlos Grant,

Others who performed well on the outside Nov. 29 include Hawk’s Well, Grange Hill, Fleet Talk’n Miss, Miss Stone, Timark, Student Union, Stardust Ziggy, Lord of the Jungle, Royal Bay, and Waiting for Time, who won the ninth after a three-wide stalking trip.