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
Starship Jubilee
A Jubilee of Epic Proportions
“Come on, mama,” Tino Attard repeated to Starship Jubilee as she floated into the paddock before the $1-million Woodbine Mile on Sept. 19. It was almost like a chant. He was rather like a pacing parent. The elder Attard was a believer in this spunky 7-year-old mare. She made believers out of the rest of us moments later. At odds of 6 to 1, Starship Jubilee trounced … [Read more...] about A Jubilee of Epic Proportions
The Last Pot of Gold
Eurico Rosa da Silva knew time was running out, like sand in an hourglass. With three months left in his riding career, there was but one stakes race at Woodbine that he had never won. He had won two Queen’s Plates, and the Canadian International Championship Stakes two years ago on 43 to 1 shot, Bullard’s Alley, in a race dominated by non-local jockeys. But the … [Read more...] about The Last Pot of Gold
An International Encounter
Strangely enough, two horses from England blossomed in the $800,000 Canadian International Championship Stakes in forboding conditions: a slate grey sky, thunderous clouds driven by a stiff, frigid wind, a capricious sun that didn’t warm anybody’s hearts. Irish-bred Desert Encounter and English-raced Thundering Blue drew away from the rest of the field in the stretch to … [Read more...] about An International Encounter
Woodbine Mile: Running Shoes Needed
Woodbine was giving away $1,575,000 in purse money on Woodbine Mile day, enough to attract horses that had run in Britain, France, Germany and the United States. They came all that way, only to find some Canadian horses had tied their racing slippers on and just wouldn’t give in. Northern Dancer would have approved. The Dancer raced the last start of his … [Read more...] about Woodbine Mile: Running Shoes Needed