ETOBICOKE, Ontario – Ryan Munger made quite a splash by scoring on his first two mounts here earlier this month. The South African expatriate has three rides on Thursday’s card and could have a bright future at Woodbine if he continues his winning ways.
Munger won on Silent Miracle for trainer John Mattine and aboard Strike the Pose for trainer Ravendra Raghunath. The 27-year-old Munger is represented by agent Mike Luider.
HALLANDALE BEACH, Fla. – Trainer Michael Yates reported Friday that Dorth Vader is back galloping and doing well coming out of her game fourth-place finish behind Pretty Mischievous two weeks ago in the Grade 1 Kentucky Oaks.
Dorth Vader, upset winner of the Grade 2 Davona Dale here earlier this winter, broke a step slow, recovered to prompt the pace while trapped wide and outside the winner for the opening six furlongs of the Oaks, before weakening gradually through the final quarter-mile to finish 3 1/4 lengths behind the winner. She earned a career best 87 Beyer Speed Figure.
One of these years, Monmouth Park will host the $85,000 John J. Reilly Handicap, a six-furlong dirt sprint for New Jersey-breds, and Royal Urn won’t be part of the race. This is not that year.
Fourth in the 2019 Reilly, victorious in 2020, fifth in 2021, and a winner again last summer, Royal Urn is all set for the fifth John J. Reilly of his career on Sunday at Monmouth – and win No. 3 looks well within range.
The unbeaten Rough Draft will take on a competitive group of New York-breds on turf Sunday in the eighth race at Belmont Park.
“This will help us find out where he belongs in the pecking order,” said trainer David Duggan.
The two-other-than allowance is for 3-year-olds and up over six furlongs on the inner turf and it drew 14, with six entered main track only. Yarrow will start as a chief contender from the rail, while the promising Awesome Native moves to turf following a productive winter at Aqueduct.
The turf sprinter First Peace has been the star 3-year-old this year for Mike Smith, a colt who left the Hall of Fame jockey impressed with a win in the John Shear Stakes at Santa Anita on April 9.
“He seems to have grown a little and gotten a little better,” Smith said on Friday.
First Peace won the John Shear Stakes for 3-year-olds at about 6 1/2 furlongs on the hillside turf course and is back on the same course in Sunday’s $100,000 Desert Code Stakes for 3-year-olds.
Mage, a graduate of the Fasig-Tipton Midlantic 2-year-olds in training sale, returned to Maryland a year after that auction as the Kentucky Derby winner.
Less than 48 hours after he was expected to start in Saturday’s Preakness Stakes, horsemen will head to the Maryland State Fairgrounds in Timonium, some 15 minutes away, for this year’s Midlantic May sale. The auction has steadily grown in prominence from a solid regional sale into one of the leading auctions in the nation, buoyed by a constant stream of graded stakes-winning graduates.
Hollywood Mistress will attempt to make the best of an enviable pace scenario Sunday when she faces five fillies and mares who were in front at every call in their most recent wins in a $10,000 claiming race that serves as the co-feature at Emerald Downs.
Three-time defending Emerald Downs leading jockey Alex Cruz is named to ride Hollywood Mistress, who breaks from post 2 in the 5 1/2-furlong dash.
Assiniboia Downs kicks off its 2023 season on Monday with reduced takeout rates and other initiatives, including an important role in the new Western Canadian Triple Crown.
The takeout on win wagering has been reduced to 14.65 percent, one of the lowest in the industry and the lowest in Canada. The takeout on double, exacta, trifecta, superfecta, pick three, and ASD Jackpot Pick 5 wagers have all been reduced by 1 percent, bringing them all to 21.95 percent.
Fort Erie launches its 126th season on Tuesday with a meet scheduled for 40 days and headed by the Prince of Wales Stakes, the middle leg of the Canadian Triple Crown.
Racing will be conducted on Tuesdays until Mondays are added June 12. Sunday racing will replace Mondays on June 18, July 16, and Aug. 13. Closing day is Oct. 17.
ETOBICOKE, Ontario – Sunday’s $100,000 King Corrie Stakes at Woodbine is a starting point for a handful of Canadian Triple Crown nominees. The King Corrie is a seven-furlong sprint for 3-year-olds.
Velocitor, Dream Jereem, and Twin City are all making their first start since the Nov. 6 Coronation Futurity, and all three are nominated to the Triple Crown, which commences with the $1 million King’s Plate on Aug. 20.
Sent off at 21-1, Velocitor rode a golden rail in a gate-to-wire victory in the $253,000 Coronation, a 1 1/8-mile test for Canadian-bred juveniles.
