Woodbine handicapping roundup: Week of Nov. 16

From Polytrack patsies to dirt devils

Colleen’s Sailor has excelled at Finger Lakes since his workmanlike score in a $40,000 conditioned claimer on the Polytrack here in September. Since being acquired by trainer Chris Englehart, Colleen’s Sailor has won two allowances there easily on the dirt, earning an 86 Beyer Speed Figure on each occasion. One of the reasons why Englehart sought out the 4-year-old was undoubtedly because of his prominent third in last year’s $500,000 Prince of Wales Stakes on the main track at Fort Erie.

There have been many horses who went on to thrive elsewhere after struggling over Woodbine’s Polytrack. Dr. Funkenstein was 1 for 17 on Polytrack before he bottomed out at Fort Erie last fall. This year, the durable 7-year-old has banked $109,800 on the strength of seven wins during a grueling 18-race campaign on dirt surfaces at Charles Town and Penn National.

The poster boy for success on dirt after leaving Woodbine could be Haverhill, who failed to crack the top three in four Polytrack races here in the spring and early summer. Haverhill has found the mark twice in optional-claiming company on the dirt, including a nine-length romp at Gulfstream on March 6, when he put up a whopping 101 Beyer.

Another Sid Attard special?

Trainer Sid Attard has made some of the shrewdest claims in Canadian racing history, including the millionaires One for Rose, Stunning Stag, and Just Rushing.

Attard’s next productive acquisition could be the handsome chestnut Bear Tough Tiger, whom he claimed on behalf of wife Janice for $62,500 on Nov. 8. Bear Tough Tiger won that optional claimer comfortably with an 88 Beyer, which was 10 points lower than what he earned for capturing last year’s Kennedy Road Stakes. Don’t be surprised if the gelding runs back in this year’s Grade 2 Kennedy Road here Nov. 30.

Attard also haltered the debuting 2-year-old Southern Atlantic, who rallied to land a $25,000 contest Nov. 6. The gelded son of Stormy Atlantic is bred to be a useful sprinter on turf and Polytrack.

It appears as though a large wager on Southern Atlantic was canceled just prior to the race. He was 1-9 in the early betting, before gradually drifting up to 1-2, when there was $13,539 bet to win on him. With a minute to post, he was suddenly 3-1, with just $5,419 on his nose. He went off at 2-1 and paid $6.10.

Southern Atlantic was trained by Ricky Griffith, a shrewd former assistant to Mark Casse. Griffith was the original trainer of Ria Antonia, who recently won the Grade 1 Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies by disqualification. Griffith paid just $9,000 for Ria Antonia at the 2012 Fasig-Tipton October yearling sale and then sold her privately after her three-race campaign here last summer, which included a six-length maiden win.

Wind and workouts

Last Sunday’s cancellation due to high winds is something that happens once or twice a year at Woodbine. Something that handicappers might overlook is that the wind also can affect gate works dramatically.

The gate for main-track works is located in the chute where the 10-furlong races begin, which is a quarter-mile before the finish line. Horses working from the gate last Sunday ran directly into a strong west wind, which slowed them down significantly. The fastest three-furlong gate drill was 37.80 seconds, and the fastest half was 51.20.

Five-furlong gate drills go all the way around the turn, ending partway down the backstretch, and the quickest of four last Sunday was 1:03.60. An unraced 2-year-old who caught my eye Sunday was Bear’s Profit, who I got going five-eighths in 1:04.75 while beating company.

Works from the pole also were on the slow side last Sunday. The stakes performer Grand Arch got the bullet for his five-furlong breeze in 1:01. Canadian Navy breezed in 48.20, which was clearly the fastest half.