Opening Day Previews
It's been a long winter, but Opening Day is finally here and we'd like to take this opportunity to wish everyone the very best of racing luck for the coming season!
GROOVIN’ IS BAK looks, on paper at least, an obvious choice to get last season’s leading rider Amadeo Perez off to a winning start. The eight-year-old has operated successfully at a higher level than this, winning and finishing third in his final two effort last term, and anything close to a repeat of those runs would see him hard to handle. EARS TO US has hit the board in all four of his efforts at this distance and is one of three representatives from the Dino Condilenios barn that enjoyed such a strong opening to last season. Trainer Steve Henson also appears to have his team well forward and TEXAS MOONSHINE ended last year with a win, although that was over the mile-and-sixteenth course — Nigel Reid
C C SUNRISE hit the board in all bar two of her eight starts last year and reunites here with Amadeo Perez, who won twice on her last September. Trainer Steve Henson was pretty much the first to start spring training at Hastings, so fitness shouldn’t be an issue. The Keith Pedersen-trained ISLAND LIVING was a half-length ahead of C C Sunrise when they met on their final outing of 2023 and, unlike C C Sunrise, has won over this course and distance. Henson’s second runner, DUXONTHEPOND, was claimed out of Fair Grounds last season but ran at Hastings only the once (last May) and has been ‘off games’ a long time. However, this represents a drop in class compared to that third-place effort and she has form from elsewhere last year that, if repeated, would see her hold every chance — NR
The Edgar Mendoza-trained FRASER LANDING could barely have faced a tougher career debut last season, taking on subsequent Champion juvenile August Rain in the BC Cup Nursery Stakes. He then bumped into the smart Vector when fourth on his only other outing and any normal progression over the winter should make him a big danger in what looks a marginally less demanding event. Full-siblings ANDALEIGH and SHE’S KIND OF HOT make an interesting pair. The four-year-old Andaleigh’s three third-place finishes in August and September look rock-solid efforts behind subsequent winners, while his year younger sister, She’s Kind of Hot, makes just her second appearance following an eye-catching debut when second to Beckett’s Best last September. She’s been working well enough to suggest she won’t be outclassed by the boys — NR
It will be no surprise to see several of these maidens appear regularly in Stakes contests later in the year, regardless of where they finish on opening day. FEBRUARY’s single career start saw her run second to BC-bred Juvenile Filly of the Year Lizzie’s Rayne in the CTHS Sales Stakes last August, with today’s rival DONNA WYN behind in third. EDDIE’S GIRL, meanwhile, had subsequent winner (and Glen Todd Fantasy Stakes third) Viva la Diva behind when, on her career debut, she ran second to lizzie’s Rayne in the Sadie Diamond Futurity. She appears to have been working well for Edgar Mendoza and looks a threat. Jo and Gloria Russo’s DREAMING D’ORO has also been working well for trainer Patty Leaney and she gained vital experience in two solid efforts over the difficult three-and-a-half-furlong course last season — NR
Ross McLeod Stakes winner LUCKY FORCE, who bagged four wins last season and mixed it with some of the best at Hastings, returns early to the fray and looks very much the one they have to beat here. The four-year-old, who is happy on the front end, had the useful Rockcliffe and today’s rival TIME TICKER behind when landing his final start of the season. It’s also worth noting that the Ross McLeod victory came on a sloppy track and at the expense of the subsequent Champion three-year-old, Legacy Square. CEREBRO makes his first Hastings appearance after joining the Condilenios barn from Toronto. He’s not easy to weigh up, although a win and two second-place finishes from six races at a similar level suggest he is no makeweight. FLORIDA GATOR is another consistent sort but he may need a little further to be seen at his best, while the same may apply to the Steve Henson-trained STAR ENTRY — NR
Dusted and well-oiled over the winter, the trusty dart gets an early outing here in what looks a wide-open finale. The versatile DEALERS HAND is an interesting candidate and makes his first Hastings start since being imported from California over the winter. Although the six-year-old veteran of 35 races has competed mostly on turf and the all-weather, he twice performed well enough at Pleasanton on the dirt last season to suggest he can be a threat here if he adapts to the bullring. MORETHANSOULTITLE won first time up last year and seems to have been working solidly this spring, while the ever-consistent VALUABLE COWBOY startled the geese with a bullet workout last week — NR
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WYN Racing’s Grade 3 British Columbia Derby winner ACCDENTAL HERO ventured into the deep waters of Keeneland this week, chasing a $75,000 prize in a valuable claiming contest. Ridden by Flavien Prat, the four-year-old Mo Town colt led briefly in deep stretch but coldn’t see off the game Sugoi and went down bravely by a neck. To add insult to injury, “Hero”, who was running for a $50k tag, was then claimed by trainer Mike Maker, who also claimed the winner.
In other news featuring familiar names, former fledgling Hastings’ trainer Jaymie Pearman-Cruz, whose most recent three runners have all been winners, featured in an article on Horse Racing Today on Friday to coincde with her 23rd birthday. Happy Birthday, Jaymie! You can read the piece, written by Aubrie Green, by clicking the link below, or the picture.
Michael Copeland: Guiding Woodbine to New Heights
Woodbine Entertainment's newest CEO is excited to have horse racing in Ontario expand its reach in 2024 alongside other sports
By: Jennifer Morrison | April 26, 2024
Michael Copeland is determined to bring horse racing in Ontario to the highest level of sports in 2024, and based on his track record, the odds are in his favour. And that is good news for owners, trainers and breeders of racehorses in the province, an industry supporting 25,000 people.
It is easy to get caught up in the excitement of what the future looks like for Ontario horseracing after a conversation with the energetic Copeland, a lawyer and former president and CEO of the Canadian Football League and the Toronto Argonauts, which won the 2017 Grey Cup under his tenure.
Copeland loves sports and the business of sports. He is an athlete, having competed and completed the Ironman challenge and several marathons. His own consulting business is currently guiding Canadian swimming star and Olympics hopeful Summer McIntosh, the Canadian Press Female Athlete of 2023.
He is also fascinated by the ‘art’ of buying and training Thoroughbreds. There would be many days Copeland would sit with his father-in-law, Nick DeToro, a longtime owner and trainer in Ontario, and ask him about his horses and his horse business.
Copeland took over CEO duties at Woodbine Entertainment from Jim Lawson last fall, but has been with the company since 2021. The 2024 Woodbine season begins Saturday, April 27 with the first of 129 racing cards.
To read Jennifer’s full article in the Canadian Thoroughbred, please click the button…