FORT ERIE, Ontario - Trainer Daryl Ezra struck quickly Tuesday with Awesome Dancing, a bottom-level claim he made seven days earlier.
"I claimed him for the series of marathon races that are a few months down the road," Ezra said of the long-winded Awesome Dancing. "He's well-bred and I've always liked him."
Tuesday's surprise win ($14) came at one mile and 70 yards, a distance shorter than Awesome Dancing's best.
Apprentice Michelle Rainford avoided serious injury in a dramatic three-horse spill in Woodbine's ninth and final race Thursday, which saw two other riders ejected from their mounts.
Rainford's mount, Abira, clipped heels with Evening at the three-eighths pole, and both Rainford and Abira went down. Rose Run, with Steven Bahen aboard, tumbled over the fallen horse, and Na Somsanith came off his mount, Arona, who stayed on her feet.
ETOBICOKE, Ontario - Jiggs Coz, a romping winner of the Plate Trial here June 3, will break from post 6 and has been made the 9-5 morning-line favorite for Sunday's $1 million Queen's Plate.
A field of nine was entered Thursday morning for the Queen's Plate, the 1 1/4-mile race for Canadian-bred 3-year-olds that is the first leg of the Canadian Triple Crown.
In the two-tiered draw process, like that used for the Kentucky Derby, the order of selection was established by a random draw, and post positions were then chosen by the connections.
ELMONT, N.Y. - Trainer Jimmy Jerkens couldn't stop raving about Corinthian's last work prior to the colt's victory in the Grade 1 Metropolitan Handicap. Of the sharp five-furlong drill in 58 seconds, Jerkens said, "I never had a horse do what he did."
On Thursday, Jerkens was looking for a different kind of work to get Corinthian ready for the $400,000 Suburban Handicap, a 1 1/4-mile race to be run June 30. Instead of a sharp, fast drill, Jerkens was looking for a stamina-building move as Corinthian went seven furlongs in 1:25.74 over the Belmont main track.
Additional wax will be added to the top layer of Hollywood Park's synthetic surface after a series of recent tests showed a reduced wax content, track officials announced Wednesday. The wax is expected to be added in early or mid-July. The meet ends on July 15.
Track general manager Eual Wyatt Jr. said in a statement that Hollywood Park officials will be meeting with the manufacturer of the Cushion Track surface, Equestrian Surfaces of Burnley, England, this weekend to "determine the timing and method of the application."
INGLEWOOD, Calif. - Brother Derek, sidelined since February after undergoing surgery to have a bone chip removed from an ankle, will be pointed for a 2008 campaign and will not race again this season, trainer Dan Hendricks said.
The winner of the 2006 Santa Anita Derby and four other stakes in his career, Brother Derek has not started since finishing third in the Strub Stakes at Santa Anita in February. He was found to have the bone chip prior to a scheduled start in the Santa Anita Handicap in March.
ETOBICOKE, Ontario - The last major stakes day at Woodbine, Woodbine Oaks Day on June 10, is very memorable for trainer Mark Casse. He saddled Sealy Hill to win the $502,000 Oaks and sent out the one-two finishers in both the $125,800 Victoria Park and the $103,600 Alywow.
"This has probably been the most productive month I've ever had so far," said Casse, 46, who took home his first Sovereign Award as outstanding trainer last year.
"It could get a lot better."
VANCOUVER, British Columbia - Luhuk's Dancer earned his way into the Grade 3, $100,000 Lieutenant Governors with a sharp win in a no-conditions allowance race at 1 1/16 miles last Sunday, according to his trainer, Ned Sams. The Lieutenant Governors goes July 1.
Yeats reconfirmed his status as Europe's best stayer at Royal Ascot on Thursday as he rolled to a second consecutive victory in the $447,000 Ascot Gold Cup, the 2 1/2-mile Group 1 marathon that has been England's ultimate test of stamina for the last 200 years.
Quincy Welch captured his sixth consecutive riding title at the Stampede spring meet, which closed Sunday. Welch closed out the 50-day stand with his 66th victory, aboard California invader Forest Huntress in the $75,000 Penny Ridge for 3-year-old fillies on Sunday. The win put him 10 ahead of Rickey Walcott, who ended up with 56 wins after holding a lead over Welch for much of the meet.
The victory by Forest Huntress came on the heels of Welch's first Alberta Derby win 24 hours earlier aboard Amazin Blue. Both horses are California imports from Jerry Hollendorfer's stable.