U.S. Runners Dominate at Woodbine Opening Day
Woodbine Racecourse is Toronto's, if not Canada's, premier horse
racing venue which is why it must have smarted for a bit for Canadian horsemen
and racing fans alike on Friday, the opening day of the Woodbine racing season,
when a number of winners on the card happened to hail from the U.S.
With spring in the air and owners, trainers, jockeys and horses all eager to get
the Canadian horse racing season off to a great start, the atmosphere at
Woodbine was tremendous on Friday, with a large number of talented U.S. and v
ready and prepped to run in the day's 10-race card.
The first race of the day, a $32,860 Maiden Special Weight for three-year-old
fillies over 4 1/2 furlongs, boasted a field of five runners, three from the
U.S. and two from Canada. And when everything was over, it was talented
Florida-bred Neverrguwithrichie who romped home first on a fast track in 51.56.
Americans 1, Canadians 0, but the day was still a puppy. However, race 2, a
$62,080 Allowance for three-year-olds over 5 furlongs, was also won by a
Florida- bred, Enumerate, trained by top U.S. trainer Steve Asmussen. The colt
completed the race over Woodbine's all weather track in a time of 57.32.
Americans 2, Canadians 0. Race 3, a $34,796 Starter Allowance for
three-year-olds and up over 5 furlongs, delivered a hat trick for Florida-breds,
when Cliff Cottage beat out seven other runners to cross the line first in
1:23.65. But to be fair, these early races contained more U.S. than Canadian
runners.
Americans 3, Canadians 0. However, race 4, a $20,646 Claiming for three-year-olds and up over 5 furlongs was a predominantly Canadian affair and was won by British Columbia-bred Kalua On the Rocks in an impressive time of 57.94. Finally, Americans 3, Canadians 1, and some Canadian pride restored.
Next up Race 5, a $17,830 Claiming for four-year-olds and up over 5 furlongs, boasted 10 runners, 3 of which were from the United States. However, that did not stop Pennsylvania-bred gelding from D' Artagnan from claiming victory in a time of 58.57. Americans 4, Canadians 1 and five exciting races to go.
But when all was said and done, the final tally was 7-3 in favour of U.S. runners. This may have shown Canadian horsemen that they have a bit of work to do if they expect to take on the mighty American horse racing industry, and eventually beat the Yanks on their own turf in races such as the Kentucky Derby.
