Sunday's Previews
VIVA LA DIVA headlines the day's feature on a highly-competitive Sunday card that also sees the speedy CASCADE BILLY return to the fray
JERSEY LILLIE bumped into an in-form Indyetta last time and went down narrowly after leading briefly down the home straight in what was an excellent start to her ’25 campaign. She can go one better today. ICE BREAKER is remarkably consistent and already has two third-place finishes this season. Expect to see her rallying late. CARLA’S HONOR was making some late ground behind Jersey Lillie last time in an effort close to the level that saw her and TEXAS HUMOR in a dead-heat win last September.
OVERLY FAST, who was also entered Saturday, will be a threat if lining up here. He drops several rungs of the class ladder and should be suited by the mile-and-sixteenth. The distance won’t be a problem for BRIAN’S DE LEIGHT, who got into a tight spot when going well last time and should be a lot closer today with clear passage and the additional real estate. OSTRACIZE’s first run of the season should have blown the cobwebs away and she won’t be far away come closing time.
KYALAM, who also holds a Saturday entry, was weakening when squeezed for room late on what was an excellent racing debut. He’d been working eye-catchingly well in the lead-up to his introduction and can quickly dispense with his maiden tag here on the way to better things. One of three entries from the Craig MacPherson barn, KITTEN KANDY went down by just a head on her first run of the year after two solid efforts in last season’s juvenile campaign.Unraced stablemate AUTOBAHN ACE, a full-brother to multiple Allowance winner Pursue, has the notable advantage of leading rider Amadeo Perez aboard and, along with fellow MacPherson inmate EXIT TUNNEL, has been firing bullets in the mornings.
CASCADE BILLY is a rapid performer on his day. His season debut saw him weaken only late when fourth behind What’s Shakin and a repeat of that alone may be enough to land what is a step down the class ladder for the six-time winner at this distance. Not easy to weigh up first-time Hastings’ starter, LOVE THE NEST. He was a dual Stakes winner in 2022 but missed the whole of 2023 and lines up here on the back of a seventh-place finish at Turf Paradise in December. He’s been working well and would be an obvious contender if able to conjure up an effort close to some his earlier form. BROKE AN BROKEN goes for a hat-trick after closing out last season with a nose victory and opening his 2025 account by a neck.
VIVA LA DIVA took Avana and co. to the home turn in last month’s season debut and looks the class act here in what can be a useful confidence booster. MATSQUI should be seen to better effect when eventually stepping up in distance, but is no slouch at six-and-a-half furlongs either and will be closing late if given enough of a pace to run at. LOLA M had QUALITY COMMAND behind her when defeating Licorice in a gutsy gate-to-wire victory last month and should be in the thick of the action again here.
A good opportunity for the 14-time winner AVE’S IN COMMAND to open his 2025 account after going down by just a neck to Broke an Broken at short odds on his reappearance last month. This represents a small step up in class for FOREIGN PROTOCOL, who led them all a merry dance on his reappearance, making every yard to hold off his rivals, and he goes for a hat-trick of wins today. Leading rider Amadeo Perez keeps faith with EXTRA INNINGS, who put some daylight between himself and his rivals when winning on his season debut and represents an in-form Rob Gilker barn.
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Don’t Forget!
New Stride News
Paul Buttigieg Leaves a Legacy in Ontario Racing
For half a century, Paul Buttigieg built up one of the most successful racing, breeding and training centres in Ontario.
Courtesy Canadian Thoroughbred
By: Jennifer Morrison | May 30, 2025
“He lived with the strength of the Thoroughbreds he raced—steady, fierce, and full of heart. Though his boots are still now, the tracks he left behind will never fade.”
Paul Buttigieg was a teenager when he discovered the racetrack. But it didn’t take him long to know he wanted to be surrounded by horses for life.
Paul took that goal through half a century and built it into a one of the most successful Thoroughbred racing, breeding and training farms in Canadian history.
Buttigieg Training Centre in the town of Egbert, population 20,000, has been a fixture in Essa County, just south of Barrie, for decades. The racehorses born, raised and broken to saddle there have won hundreds of races, dozens of stakes and awards.
Paul’s purple-and-white silks with the distinctive PMB will continue to be seen in races at Woodbine, but the man behind it all passed away May 27 after a long illness. While most knew he battled COPD for years, his passing, with his partner Sandy Giffen by his side, still came as a shock to the racing community.
Paul, who was 78, is survived by Sandy and his sons Shawn Giffen and Jimmy Goodman.
This past Sunday, Paul’s homebred three-year-old Deputy Daddy won a $65,000 maiden race to become his 672nd winner as a trainer.
“My Dad took massive pride in breeding his own horses and seeing them win,” said Shawn Giffen.”He enjoyed all aspects of the business, the breeding, racing and breaking and training, but to see a horse that started as an embryo on the farm compete and then win was special to him.”
Read more on the career of owner, trainer and breeder Paul Buttigieg here.
A Life Worth Celebrating!
