Best Bet – (4) CORDUROY ROAD – Race 11
Spot Play – (6) SHE'S A DREAM – Race 7
Pick 4 (.20 cents, Races 4-7) - 4, 5, 7 / 2, 4, 8 / 2, 3,8, 12 / 2, 6 = $14.40
Late Pick 4 (.20 cents, Races 8-11) – 6, 7, 11 / 1, 5, 7 / 4, 6, 7 / 3, 4, 10 = $16.20
*Races scheduled for grass are handicapped for turf
Race 1 – (1) FOUR KNIGHTS returns to claiming for the Norm McKnight barn and this gelding is the only front runner in this 1 1/8 mile event. He has a fourth straight rider change to Slade Callaghan and this is his first attempt at the distance. (3) FREITAG, a classy 8-year-old, dropped to this class level Aug. 17 and came close to ending a long winless streak. He has won at the nine-furlong distance. (2) NAMARUNU is an improving 4-year-old from Presque Isle Downs from the barn of trainer Teresa Connelly who has made noise with her first few Woodbine starts.
RACE 2 –(2) WHITE WEDDING has had a lot of chances to win his maiden and he often puts in a good finish. He tried this five furlong distance on turf two starts back and was too far back to catch up but he landed third. He gets the slight nod as the pick. (6) A SONG FOR ARTIE defeated White Wedding when they met and he also had a good rally on the inner turf. (7) NONPLUSULTRA is a first-time starter from an unraced mare and by a sire who has not had a debut winner of grass winner. He has, however, had a couple of fast workout times.
RACE 3- This is a $10,000 claiming race at 6 1/2 furlongs on turf and classy old guy (3) CONSTANTINO drops in class just two races after winning a turf sprint over another tough guy, Occasional View (who came back to win). One concern would be the short rest as he is back in eight days. (4) FRONT NINE posted a 90 Beyer Figure when he won a turf sprint last October. He is lightly raced this year and showed signs of life in his latest for an owner, trainer and rider that won a race Wed. Night. (5) ROCKET PLAN moved too soon in his return to Ontario and turf last time on the inner turf. He seeks his first turf win.
RACE 4 – (5) BOSSY MADAM has had another layoff and she is on grass which she has yet to conquer. The good news is, she is bred for the turf and in those turf attempts one was her career debut and the other led to a layoff. She has worked quickly since a near miss on Tapeta in June. First-timer (4) MARIPOSA BELLE is a 4-year-old who has been given lots of time to get to the races by her owner/trainer Roger Attfield and her dam won first time out. (7) FROST DANCE was claimed last time when dipping in for a price tag for the first. The filly had done well in a previous race at a longer distance on turf but she was slow to get going last time. She tries the inner turf in a hard-to-decipher opening leg of the Pick 4. (3) NOBLE FEVER almost won her maiden around two turns on the grass in New Orleans this spring. Her local debut in July was not great and she starts over again.
Race 5 – (4) GOOGLE IT is a full brother to a route winner and he almost overcame an inside, speed bias in his second start when missing by a head. (8) PERFECT REVENGE is offered for maiden claiming for the first time and he had a good try last time after avoiding a fallen rival. (2) GIANT CRITIC some progress second and third out and he is trying this route distance for the first time.
Race 6 – Maiden 2-year-olds for $25,000 claiming try the grass for the first time and you could go many different ways with this group. (3) SENORITA UNO is a first time starter while others have experience but she is by a 13% sire of 2-year-old debut winners and the sire is also a 12% grass sire. The Grade 1 winning mare has not produced much but this gal shows some nice workout times. (12) DAD'S MISSY came within a nose of winning her latest on the Tapeta. Her sire and dam both won on the grass. (2) NATURAL HABITAT is by a sire who loved the grass and the mare won on turf also.
Race 7 – (6) SHE'S A DREAM impressed in her debut win with a 73 Beyer Figure and did well to hold third in the Muskoka Stakes, one of the fastest baby races of the year won by Blessed Truly. (2) OWLETTE won the Shady well Stakes in July and has worked fast at her base at Keeneland. She is big and fast filly. (1) TUSCAN DAMSEL looked super winning her maiden last time.
Race 8 – The first marathon turf series races have gone to (7) CAMP CREEK, the Breeders' Stakes winner from three years ago who just got the win at 1 1/2 miles last time and (6) BOLD RALLY, who just about held off his fellow grey. And (11) SINE METU split that pair in the 12 furlong races. They travel 1 5/8 miles this time.
Race 9 – (1) SPECIAL RELATIVITY arrives from New York where she won a little Saratoga Stakes race and then grabbed third in the Grade 1 Ballerina which had just five entrants. Improving gal is from a mare who won on Polytrack at Turfway Park and trainer Norm McKnight sent her out for a fast workout on Sept. 13. (7) SISTER PEACOCK is a 3-year-old meeting older mares but she is the quickest in the field (Jean Elizabeth is a possible pace rival) and she is 3 for 3 on the main track. (5) KATIE BABY did not do as well as most through in the Seaway Stakes but the possible faster pace of this race means she could employ her preferred off-the-pace style.
Race 10 – Looking for a filly or mare that can post a Beyer Figure in the mid- to-low's to win this competitive sprint for $23,500 claiming. (6) BURBANK ROAD drops sharply in class for her third race of the year, often a peak race for a horse, and she would do well to try and use her early speed. (4) WESTLODGE INTRIGUE has not won in a long time but she returns to her best surface off the claim by Norm McKnight (33% wins off claim). (7) MADISON WAY often fills the exotics.
Race 11 – (4) CORDUROY ROAD is stakes placed in a grass sprint this year and he is back on turf after a hard luck journey on the main track. (3) DESOLATOR has been in super form recently while competing at this class level on the grass. (10) TOWN CRUISE has turf breeding on both sides of his pedigree and he is a quick one who may dominate the front end.
Photo by John Watkins
*
Jennifer Morrison has been a public handicapper for the Toronto Star, Globe & Mail and Daily Racing Form. She is currently a writer for Canadian Thoroughbred magazine, Blood-Horse and Toronto Star and is the simulcast handicapper for Ajax Downs.
More Tips from the Pros