The longer that horse racing in Ontario remains in lockdown, the more serious become issues of animal welfare. Racehorses are allowed to train under Ontario’s strict lockdown but – unlike almost all other jurisdictions in the United States and even in other Canadian provinces - they are not allowed to race. The province realizes that horses need care. But how … [Read more...] about The Clock Ticks on Horse Racing
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The Exodus
Trainer/driver Anthony MacDonald says he grossly underestimated the costs of fleeing a pandemic at home to ply his livelihood in the United States a few weeks ago. The costs cut deeply. It was all so complicated, too. Yet the cost of staying in Ontario during lockdown was higher. “I know everybody keeps saying: ‘Just ride it out. Stay in your house,’” he said … [Read more...] about The Exodus
No Longer Under the Kentucky Derby Radar
HOLD YOUR HORSES: on May 7, the Bob Baffert Stable was notified that Medina Spirit had tested positive after the running of the Kentucky Derby for the Class 3 drug, betamethasone, a corticosteroid. Tests showed 21 picograms of it in his system. Baffer's sprinter Gamine tested positive for the same drug last year when she finished third in the Kentucky Oaks, and was disqualified … [Read more...] about No Longer Under the Kentucky Derby Radar
The Faces of Woodbine, Locked Up
All the curry combs in the world won’t fix this mess that the horsepeople of Woodbine find themselves in these days, as they try to dodge the relentless third wave of the COVID pandemic. They need to set the combs down and race. Actually race. If they don’t, an entire community that creates tens of thousands of agricultural jobs in the province could be in peril. The … [Read more...] about The Faces of Woodbine, Locked Up
Mighty Heart’s Date with History
Mighty Heart has become a bit of a locomotive in the Canadian racing world, the little man’s folk hero, the little engine that could. On Saturday, he will attempt to become the 13th Canadian Triple Crown winner, a good omen, considering that he broke from post 13 in the Queen’s Plate last month, and was listed at odds of 13 to 1. The one-eyed wonder is the … [Read more...] about Mighty Heart’s Date with History
When a Cup and Saucer is Golden
Mrs. Orpen would have loved it. It all sounded so dramatic: a horse called Master Spy came out of the mists at Woodbine Racetrack and won the 84th running of the Cup and Saucer Stakes, a dark streak that could not be caught. The Cup and Saucer was Mrs. Orpen’s race, all those years ago, when it first was held. Her husband Abe Orpen was an Irish immigrant who … [Read more...] about When a Cup and Saucer is Golden
Photo Gallery from Woodbine Mile Day
Girl Power day started early at Woodbine. The star of the show, Starship Jubilee, the only mare in the field for the $1-milllion Woodbine Mile, showed her heels to the boys, but she was not alone. Emma-Jayne Wilson piloted Credit River, the longest shot on the board at 41 to 1, to win the $155,790 Ontario Racing Stakes, giving Breeda Hayes her first stakes win as a … [Read more...] about Photo Gallery from Woodbine Mile Day