Hastings' Weekly Round-Up
A mid-week update this week to highlight the excellent Thanksgiving Day racing at Del Mar, while Woodbine announces King's Plate date and plans to upgrade its E.P. Taylor turf course
Red Carpet Stakes Highlight of ‘Thanksgiving’ card at Del Mar
There’s an early post at Del Mar on Thanksgiving Day. They’ll be off and running at 11 a.m. and finish up at 2:30 p.m. in plenty of time for folks to get home and have their turkey. The special card has become a tradition at the Bing Crosby Season meet, now in its 10th season.
The headline event for the eight-race card will be the 58th edition of the Red Carpet Stakes, a demanding 11-furlong testing on the lawn that has drawn eight fillies and mares. The Grade III feature carries a purse of $100,000 and will go off at approximately 1:30 p.m. as Race 6 on the program.
Topping the lineup is Eclipse Thoroughbred Partners’ Sister Otoole, a now 6-year-old mare by the Irish sire Amira’s Prince. The long-winded bay is not a stranger to Del Mar, having raced here three times previously. She could only manage a fourth-place finish in last year’s Red Carpet, but also can boast of a pair of victories in the marathon CTT & TOC Stakes at the last two summer meets at the shore.
Trainer Graham Motion once again has given Antonio Fresu the call on Sister Otoole and they’ll break from Post 4 in the field.
Her chief rival in the Red Carpet is likely to be De Seroux, Naify or Powell’s Neige Blanche, a multiple-stakes winner of 10 races and more than $600,000 in purses. The Leonard Powell-trained chestnut, a 6-year-old daughter of the Irish sire Anodin, won his same race in 2021, but didn’t run in it last year. She’ll get regular rider Diegeo Herrera up as they come out of Post 6.
Woodbine announces E.P. Taylor Turf Course Update
TORONTO, November 22, 2023– Woodbine Entertainment today announced initial plans to rebuild a portion of the world-renowned E.P. Taylor Turf Course at Woodbine Racetrack.
Woodbine has purchased new Kentucky bluegrass to install over a rebuilt five-furlong section of the E.P. Taylor Turf Course backstretch. The project will also include the installation of a new drainage system, allowing for the possibility of an extended turf season.
Although the E.P. Taylor Turf Course project will not begin until 2025 at the earliest, planning is well underway.
“Woodbine has an unwavering commitment to investing in and providing a world-class racing product,” said Bill ford, Executive Vice President of Racing for Woodbine Entertainment. “This latest investment will ensure the E.P. Taylor Turf remains one of the safest and elite turf courses in our sport. The new grass and drainage system along the E.P. Taylor backstretch will be a significant project that delivers long-term benefits to our Woodbine racing participants and customers.”
The 1 ½ mile E.P. Taylor Turf Course opened in 1994 and quickly became known as one of the premier turf courses in the sport. The backstretch of the uniquely shaped E.P. Taylor course is from the former Marshall turf course, which existed from 1956 to 1993. The course is home to some of Woodbine’s biggest races including three Breeders’ Cup Win and You’re In races – the Grade 1 Woodbine Mile, the Grade 1 Summer Stakes, and the Grade 1 Natalma Stakes. It also features the Grade 1 Canadian International and the Grade 1 E.P. Taylor Stakes.
Woodbine is currently in the planning stages of determining the best date to start the E.P. Taylor Turf Course project with major consideration to providing minimal disruption to the existing racing product as possible. The project will have no impact on the 2024 live racing season.
In addition to the E.P. Taylor Turf Course project, Woodbine has recently installed a covering over the bet365 Inner Turf Course. The cover will protect all seven furlongs of the Inner Turf throughout the winter months and opens the possibility to allow turf racing to begin earlier next season.
‘The Pale Horse’: A Racetrack Mystery
Former groom, farm manager and magazine editor T. Lawrence Davis has penned an exciting murder mystery set in the world of horseracing.
By: CT staff | November 13, 2023
Author T. Lawrence Davis of Niagara-on-the-Lake, Ontario, drew on his personal experience working as a groom at Thoroughbred race tracks and running his mother’s Thoroughbred horse farm to write his new mystery novel, The Pale Horse. Described as an intense, gripping racetrack drama, the novel follows Detective Jenna Lawson and her husband Larry Potter, a Woodbine veterinarian, both investigating a brutal murder in a race against the clock to find the killer before they strike again.
After years of following the racing circuit in Canada and the US as a groom and later farm manager, Davis went back to school in 1984 to study journalism. He was the managing editor of Canadian Thoroughbred magazine from 1986-88, as well as managing editor of The Atlantic Salmon Journal and The Journal of the Canadian Dental Association and a regional communications director with Fisheries and Oceans Canada.
“I ended up doing work that I really enjoyed – writing and editing – and met some really interesting people during my career, said Davis. “When I retired, trying my hand as a novelist seemed like a logical next step, and I’ve loved it.”
The Pale Horse is available through Davis’s website at www.tlawrencedavis.ca. For more information on the author, visit his Facebook page or Instagram page. A book launch and signing is being planned for the near future.
You can read an excerpt from the book here:
Woodbine Announces Date for 165th King’s Plate
Woodbine Entertainment today announced the 165th running of The King’s Plate, one of Toronto’s biggest annual sporting events, will take place Saturday, August 17, 2024 at Woodbine Racetrack.
“This year’s King’s Plate was a big success, delivering a record handle, sold-out crowd and really exciting racing,” said Michael Copeland, CEO of Woodbine. “The third weekend in August has been a good spot for attracting a quality field on the track and an energetic crowd off the track.
“Building on our momentum created at this year’s Plate, we are excited to make the event even bigger in 2024 and look forward to welcoming everyone to Woodbine for the 165th King’s Plate on August 17.”
The “handle” is the amount of money wagered by bettors. More than $18.1 million was bet across all 13 races on the King’s Plate card this year.
This year’s race was the first under “The King’s Plate” name in more than 70 years after the passing of Queen Elizabeth II in September of 2022. Since its inception in 1860, The Plate has been named after the reigning British monarch.
A formal invitation to His Majesty King Charles III to attend the event has been extended to Buckingham Palace.
The King’s Plate is North America’s longest continuously run stakes race and serves as the first jewel of the Canadian Triple Crown of Thoroughbred Racing. It is open to Canadian bred three-year-old Thoroughbreds and is contested at a distance of a mile and a quarter. The purse is $1 million.
Ticket and event information will be announced in the coming months.
To learn more about The King’s Plate, visit KingsPlate.com.
One More From Keeneland…
One of our local owner/breeders slipped through the net when we were rounding up the comings and goings at Keeneland last week. Our thanks to Larry Potozny for drawing our attention to his latest purchase.
Potozny, who also sold a weanling by BEAU LIAM (Hip #3284) later in the week, purchased STAGE FRIGHT, a winning daughter of leading broodmare sire BERNARDINI (A.P. Indy), in-foal to MITOLE (Eskendereya) for $15,000.
DeCoursey Discusses ‘Patience’ on HRRN
Bill DeCoursey, breeder and part-owner of the magnificent INFINITE PATIENCE joined Mike Penna as a guest on the Horse Racing Radio Network’s “Equine Forum, presented by Twin Spires” recently to discuss his pride and joy.
Well worth a listen…
The Jockey Club of Canada
Announces New Industry Award
The Jockey Club of Canada is proud to announce a new industry award which will be presented for the first time at the upcoming 49th annual Sovereign Awards ceremony.
The Outstanding Off-track Worker Award is a national award open to those who hold a paid position at an off-track Thoroughbred racing, training, boarding, breeding, sales, or aftercare farm/facility in Canada.
R. Glenn Sikura, Chief Steward of The Jockey Club of Canada, notes “Success at the highest level in thoroughbred breeding and racing is the result of a team effort centered on the best interests of the horse. This team effort includes the work of off-track
workers and starts even before foaling. These dedicated professionals offer diligent and tireless care for our equine athletes and are rarely, if ever, in the spotlight. We’re proud at the Jockey Club of Canada to provide a significant opportunity to recognize these individuals for the work they do by inaugurating this national award for the Outstanding Off-track Worker. We look forward to submissions from across Canada for consideration by the selection committee.”
Nominations for the Outstanding Off-track Worker Award can be submitted online at the Jockey Club of Canada website, https://jockeyclubcanada.com/sovereign-awards/nominations-and-submissions/ until Sunday, December 17, 2023.
Alternatively, you may email jockeyclubcanada@gmail.com or phone (416) 675-7756 to have a nomination form sent to you.
Nominations are now also open for the Outstanding Groom Award which is available to on-track grooms based in Ontario. You can nominate a deserving groom at the Jockey Club of Canada website, https://jockeyclubcanada.com/sovereign-awards/nominations-and-submissions/ until Sunday, December 17, 2023.
Forms will also be available for pick-up at the AGCO office and Woodbine Race Office. Alternatively, you may email jockeyclubcanada@gmail.com or phone (416) 675-7756 to have a nomination form sent to you.
The Jockey Club of Canada will host the 49th annual Sovereign Awards ceremony to honour Canada’s champions of 2023 at an exciting new venue, Paramount Eventspace, located at 222 Rowntree Dairy Road, Woodbridge, Ontario.
The celebration will take place Thursday, April 18, 2024. Tickets to the 49th annual Sovereign Awards ceremony are $250 each, with tables of ten discounted to $2,000. Early-bird tickets are also available for a discounted price of $225 until March 18, 2024.
Remembering Al Side
The CTHS Alberta offers our most sincere condolences to the family and friends of longtime Alberta horseman, Al Side, who sadly passed away on October 25th, 2023 at the age of 90. The Alberta Thoroughbred industry has lost a great friend and true supporter.
“Al Side reluctantly bid farewell to this world on Oct. 25, 2023, in Rancho Mirage, California at the age of 90. His last hours were spent with his loving wife of almost 70 years, Barbara, his daughters Linda and Rhonda, and his sons, Doug and Richard.
Al Side (Hassen Alex Side) was born in Dilke, Saskatchewan, June 27, 1933 the third youngest of ten children born to Alex Side (Gebara) and Latifa Side (Farhat) , hard-working immigrants from the Beqaa Valley in Lebanon.
His formative years were spent in rural Saskatchewan where his folks homesteaded and according to Al, unsuccessfully farmed rocks. They worked very hard to provide for their large family later turning to running a nearby general store and meat market during the depression. Alex and Latifa ran those markets with all 12 family members living in the back of the store.
Al’s bed was in the cupboard above the cold storage. His parents were admired in the region especially during the depression years when people depended on the goods and credit offered at the store.
It seems peddling goods was in the DNA. Al said that he was “raised on the counter” of that shop/home, where he acquired his life-long passion for commerce, family and community. It was also there that Al’s negotiating skills were honed while navigating other business at the local pool hall.
His older brothers went off to serve with most of the young men in Dilke and when the rest of the family moved to settle in Edmonton in the 1940’s and join a growing Lebanese community, Al was but a wide-eyed teen.
Al’s real journey began when he followed his sisters up the Alaska Highway in the early 1950’s, seeking adventure and fortune. Performing wheel alignments and selling custom suits in Fort Nelson may seem like an odd combination today but it underscores Al’s resourcefulness and his ability to identify demand and rare opportunities. It also explains his finding Barbara Harrison, his “rare gem.” Captivated by this petite beauty, Al was elated to discover that Barb found him “just the right height for dancing.” They tied the knot in Edmonton in 1954 and the great dance began; an extraordinary partnership that would reap life’s richest rewards. Barb often would say that her heart skipped a beat when Al pulled into the driveway, and Al always gave Barb the credit for how far their journey had taken them. In September they celebrated 69 years of happy marriage. That tells you a little something about their passion and commitment.