Page 5 - June 2009 The Game

Canada’s Thoroughbred Racing Newspaper
Mehak stars on Fort’s opening day
The Game, June 2009 5
2009 Hall of Fame Inductees Announced
Mike Mehak entered racing on the “front side” at Woodbine Racetrack at age 15, as a customer relations aide, educating new racing fans on the sport’s basics and
educating them on
how to place bets.
to attend the Northern Racing College, a ve-month program. He began galloping Thoroughbreds for trainer Mac Benson at Woodbine and later
The incomparable Somebeachsomewhere did what he has been doing for the past two seasons when he led seven other inductees into the Canadian Horse Racing Hall of Fame. Joining the world-record pacing colt in the class of 2009 will be Gustav Schickedanz, one of North America’s leading breeders the past 10 years, Canadian Thoroughbred Triple Crown winner Peteski and three champion llies – Alywow, La Voyageuse and Mary eld. The other two Standardbred inductees were driver/trainer Keith Clark and the splendid broodmare Rich N Elegant.
The eight inductees were elected by
the Standardbred and Thoroughbred 20-person election committees.
Jean-Louis Levesque and trainer Yonnie Starr. Of classic breeding, by Tentam
out of the champion Northern Dancer mare Fanfreluche, La Voyageuse won on the dirt and grass and at distances from six furlongs to a mile and an eighth.
However if he
was ever asked for betting advice, he assuredly wasn’t going to tell patrons to bet all the mounts of a raw apprentice jockey on opening day.
Mehak, 26, who decided to become
a jockey after racing fans noted his small size, won the season’s opener
on trainer Ron Davies’ Fearless Buzz, which paid $28.40, won the fourth race on Bailysinheritance ($12.20) for Winston Wilkinson, and won the sixth on Bitter Ending ($5.10) for Bill Lane.
became a Quarter Horse Jockey as a “fun job” following a friend’s suggestion.
She often carried top weight during her three Sovereign Award winning seasons. Alywow was the female sensation of 1994. The rst daughter of Triple Wow, she was a triple wow on Sovereign Awards’ night when she was voted Canada’s Horse of the Year, champion 3-year-old lly and leading performer on the turf. This award was to be expected after her gallant second-place nish
Yet if he had told
patrons to bet on
himself on opening day at Fort Erie in 2009, they would have been very happy customers.
one that didn’t involve horses. He fell through some rotten boards in a barn and landed head rst on a concrete oor.
The 2009 Thoroughbred Inductees:
Mary eld was bred in Ontario by Mike Carroll and John C. Harvey Jr., and was owned initially by Alice and Jim Sapara of Edmonton, Alta. She raced ten times at Woodbine for trainer Josie Carroll before being claimed by Doug O’Neill for $50,000 in her rst start as a three-year-old at Santa Anita. She became a stakes winner for her new owners and was campaigned throughout the U.S., winning stakes races at Santa Anita and Churchill Downs in 2006.
In 2007 she won the Gr. 1 Ballerina at Saratoga and Gr. 2 Distaff Breeders’ Cup at Aqueduct before her triumph in the inaugural running of the Breeders’ Cup Filly and Mare Sprint championship at Monmouth Park, N.J. That victory earned her an Eclipse Award. Mary eld was retired and sold for $1.25 million
at the 2007 Fasig-Tipton Kentucky November select mixed sales and was bred to A.P. Indy. She foaled a bay colt in February of 2009.
Anyone betting $2 to win on Mehak’s three scores (and his three other mounts) would have come out with a neat $34.20 pro t.
“When I was ready to resume riding last spring, about 18 months later,
my weight was up to 140 pounds,”
he said. It didn’t take long for him
to get to Picov Downs riding weight (130 pounds tops, 120 lowest, lead
to get to that level) but it was a while longer before he was ready to make his Thoroughbred debut.
The 80-year-old Gustav Schickedanz, who won the Queen’s Plate in 1999 with Woodcarver and in 2003 with Triple Crown champion Wando, sprung into prominence when he bred a mare to one of Northern Dancer’s great sons, Danzig, a mating that produced Langfuhr, a multiple winner of the major sprint races in the United States and one of North America’s leading sires. His offspring included Wando, Mobil, Lawyer Ron, Jambalaya, Kimchi and Marlang. Schickedanz also bred Kentucky Oaks’ winner Gal in a Ruckus and has a relatively small breeding operation in Nobleton, Ont.
By the day’s end Mehak, who rode his maiden victory last fall at the Fort (Sneaky Dee for trainer Steve Owens) and had another win at Woodbine, also went from being a ten-pound “bug” to a ve-pounder on that day.
Mehak spent the past winter galloping horses at home and for Ian Black at Kinghaven’s indoor track. Agent Scott Lane is handling Mehak’s book at both Fort Erie and Woodbine.
The horse with the meteoric career, Peteski, dominated horse racing locally in 1993 as he swept to victories in the Triple Crown event and then won the Molson Export Million on the grass
at Woodbine over Kentucky Derby winner Sea Hero and Belmont Stakes winner Colonial Affair. Bred by Barry Schwartz of Montreal and trained by Roger Att eld, Peteski was owned by Earle I. Mack of New York, a trustee of the NYRA and
former ambassador
to Finland.
Peteski, trained
by Roger Att eld,
had earnings of
only $714 when
he began his
impressive three-
year-old season.
“It didn’t result in any change in my eating habits,” the soft-spoken Mehak said. “It just meant I didn’t have to try to weigh in at 104 or 105, which I couldn’t do anyway.
“The biggest difference between riding at Picov and riding at Woodbine and Fort Erie,” Mehak explained, “is having patience. You’re thinking more about your position. And the weight and tness requirements are much harder.
For more information contact Louis Cauz at Woodbine Entertainment (416) 675-3993, ext. 2399, or visit www. canadianhorseracinghalloffame.com
Mike Mehak aboard Fearless Buzz
“I met my life partner, Chantelle Bourgeois,
at Picov Downs,” he continued, “and we
now have 25 horses,
12 of them in training, at our farm.” But his riding career came to a screeching halt in 2006 due to a serious injury --
The induction ceremonies will be held on Thursday, August 27, at the Mississauga Convention Centre.
to Raintrap and the males in the Gr. 1 Rothmans International. Owned and bred by Kinghaven Farms, Alywow was trained by Roger Att eld.
Thoroughbred Sales Agency, Public and Private Sales.
Mare and Stallion Management Appraisals and Consulting work. 30 Years in Business
CARA BLOODSTOCK
Bernard McCormack
Mapleshade Farm
Janetville, Ontario, Canada Phone & Fax: 905-986-0122 Cell: 905-261-8852
email: carabloodstock@aol.com
“You always think you have a chance with any horse you ride, but the three wins (in one day) gave me some extra con dence.”
“I appreciate all the trust that trainers and owners are giving me. It’s not easy to give someone new a chance, especially on a ‘live’ horse.”
Mehak, whose mother Linda is a long-time Woodbine mutuels clerk, took the advice of the Woodbine fans and began working as a groom on a part-time basis. After graduating high school he went to Doncaster, England,
Mehak, who rode his fourth Fort Erie winner on the meet’s fth program, has impressed, among others, Mike Newell, the Fort’s champion trainer in 2008, “He looks like he’ll be OK. He’s here working in the mornings, which is so important.”
Elected in the Veterans category, La Voyageuse maintained her championship form
Ajax Downs Opening Day Postponed
over a three-year
Inclement Spring weather resulting in
a construction delay has been sited as the reason for the delay in the opening of Ajax Downs’ new racetrack facility and the postponement of the beginning of their ‘09 Quarter Horse Racing season to June 6.
R1a4c3e81w_hCiTchHSw_iTllipbSeeprioestAplol:Lnaeydofuotr1on2e0/w05e/e0k9 12:07 PM Page 1
and that new date will be October 18, 2009.
period – 1978 to 1980 -- for owner
$20.9 million!!!
It’s just the TIP of the Iceberg.
The original commencement date was May 23, 2009 however, in early May, Ajax Downs requested a race date amendment from the Ontario Racing Commission, when it was clear that their new racing surface would not be completed on schedule.
Saturday, May 23 and Sundays May 24 and 31 were requested to be deleted from the schedule with the addition of race dates Saturday June 13 and 20 and Sunday, October 18.
All Stakes Races will be postponed for two (2) weeks from the original published commencement date of May 23, 2009 to June 6, 2009.
The exception is the Jackpot Stakes
The Game JUNE 2009.indd 5
5/26/09 12:34:52 AM