Page 17 - May 2007 The Game

Canada’s Thoroughbred Racing Newspaper The Game, May 2007 17
Queen’s Plate Fantasy Still Open to Contestants
By Peter Gross
There’s always an element of risk when betting on the horses, but when it comes to Woodbine’s Queen’s Plate Fantasy Challenge, the only investment is the time it takes to make your selections and the chance to win some nice prizes is free for everyone.
John Siscos of the Woodbine communications department is the Fantasy Commissioner and he told The Game, that even though people have been entering since the opening of the Woodbine spring meet, there is still a nice window of opportunity for interested contestants.
“It’s not necessarily the best strategy to enter early,” says Siscos. “If you’ve waited
until the end of April, you’re
getting a month of
information that could be worth more than if you’d entered early and earned a few nickel and dime points.”
Entrants are asked to pick three jockeys they think will do well on the way to the Queen’s Plate. To that they must add three trainers of their choice. The bulk of the points will come from the ten horses selected by each entrant. One of the ten must be designated as the Stable Star and any race won by the Stable Star will be worth 20% more points.
Every time a horse, jockey or trainer selected wins a race, points are awarded. Feature races leading up to and including the Queen’s Plate are worth the lion’s share of points. For example, the Queenston Stakes on May 5 will reward the winning horse with 50 points with the same amount going to the successful jockey and trainer. The horse winning the Queen’s Plate will earn 170 Points.
“If you get everything right, plus the Queen’s Plate, you’ll have just as good a chance as those who get nothing right in the Queen’s Plate but have some of the prep race points,” informs Siscos.
Woodbine expects about 2000 people to enter and there is a healthy selection of appealing prizes up for grabs.
“Whoever accumulates the most points wins,” says Siscos. “We give $5000 to the winner, either as a cash voucher or a deposit to the HPI account, and we also give prizes for second, third fourth and fifth all the way down to 30th place where you get a hat or a shirt.”
To enter, go on-line to www.woodbineentertain- ment.com/fantasy and sign
up. Only one entry per person, but you can enter up until the Plate Trial on June 3.
Siscos has seen a variety of techniques in the seven years of the Queen’s Plate Fantasy Challenge.
“You can take sprinters that show up in the early prep races,” he suggests. “They can pick up a bunch of points and hopefully those sprinters get to the Plate and do well. The other strategy is to wait and just pick who the hot horses are at that particular time, especially those who have the pedigree to get a mile and a quarter in the Queen’s Plate.”
You could do a lot worse than just choosing the best trainers and jockeys and the horses they plan to run in the big races.
“If you have a roster of Mark Frostad and Roger Attfield with Todd Kabel and Emile Ramsammy, you’d be in pretty strong shape,”says the commish.
The Fantasy web page can also offer you guidance through the picks of the ‘Pros’, a collection of 24 members of the media who are playing in a separate tournament.
2007 ONTARIO (TIP)
THOROUGHBRED IMPROVEMENT PROGRAM
STAKES SCHEDULE
The following are the dates of the 2007 Stakes supported by the Ontario Thoroughbred Improvement Program:
TIP
$300,000
$350,000
$150,000
$200,000
$100,000
$100,000
$ 45,000
$ 75,000
$ 75,000
$ 75,000
$ 60,000
$ 60,000
$ 60,000
$ 60,000
$ 60,000
$ 60,000
$ 60,000
$ 60,000
$ 60,000
$ 60,000
$ 60,000
$ 50,000
$ 50,000
$ 50,000
$ 50,000
$ 50,000
$ 50,000
$ 50,000
$ 50,000
$ 50,000
$ 50,000
$ 50,000
$ 50,000
$ 50,000
$ 50,000
$ 50,000
$ 50,000
TIP
$ 50,000
$ 50,000
$ 50,000
$ 50,000
$ 50,000
$ 50,000
$ 95,000
$ 95,000
$ 95,000
$ 95,000
$ 95,000
$ 95,000
$ 95,000
$ 95,000
$ 95,000
$ 95,000
$ 95,000
$ 95,000
$ 95,000
$ 95,000
$ 95,000
$ 95,000
$ 95,000
$ 95,000
$ 95,000
$ 95,000
$ 95,000
$ 95,000
$ 95,000
$ 95,000
$ 95,000
$ 95,000
$ 95,000
$ 95,000
$ 95,000
$ 25,000
$ 25,000
TOTAL PURSE
Queen’s Plate Stakes -Three-Year-Olds – 1 Mile & 1/4 $1,000,000
TOTAL PURSE
$ 250,000* $1,000,000*
TRIPLE CROWN SERIES
SEPT 29 OCT 21 NOV 3 NOV 10 NOV 18 NOV 25
Mazarine Breeders’ Cup G3- Two-Year-Olds-1 M & 1/16th E.P. Taylor Stakes G1-Three-Year-Olds & Up-1 M & 1/4 (T) Ontario Fashion Stakes-Three-Year-Olds & Up-6 Furlongs Maple Leaf Stakes - Three-Year-Olds & Up-1 Mile & 1/4 Glorious Song Stakes -Two-Year-Olds-7 Furlongs Bessarabian Stakes -Three-Year-Olds & Up-7 Furlongs
JUNE 24 JULY 15 AUG 5
Prince of Wales Stakes** -Three-Year-Olds – 1 Mile & 3/16th Breeders’ Stakes -Three-Year-Olds -1 Mile & 1⁄2 (T)
$ 500,000 $ 500,000
$ 500,000 $ 250,000 $ 250,000
$ 150,000 $ 250,000 $ 250,000 $ 250,000
$ 150,000 $ 150,000 $ 150,000 $ 150,000 $ 150,000 $ 150,000 $ 150,000
$ 150,000 $ 150,000 $ 150,000 $ 150,000
$ 125,000* $ 125,000* $ 150,000* $ 250,000* $ 300,000* $ 125,000* $ 125,000* $ 300,000* $ 150,000* $ 150,000* $ 125,000* $ 125,000* $ 150,000* $ 150,000* $ 300,000* $ 125,000*
$ $ $ $
$ $ $ $ $ $
$ $ $ $ $ $ $ $ $ $ $ $ $ $ $ $ $ $ $ $ $ $ $
$ $
125,000* 175,000* 125,000* 150,000*
125,000 125,000 125,000 125,000 125,000 125,000
125,000 125,000 125,000 125,000 125,000 125,000 125,000 125,000 125,000 125,000 125,000 125,000 125,000 125,000 125,000 125,000 125,000 125,000 125,000 125,000 125,000 125,000 125,000
50,000 50,000
$75,000
FILLY TRIPLE TIARA SERIES
JUNE 10 JULY 1 JULY 28
Labatt Woodbine Oaks Stakes-Three-Year-Olds-1 Mile & 1/8th Bison City Stakes - Three-Year-Olds-1 Mile & 1/16th
Wonder Where Stakes -Three-Year-Olds-1 Mile & 1/4 (T)
SALES STAKES
CANADIAN-BRED STAKES
SEPT 3 SEPT 3 SEPT 3 SEPT 3 SEPT 3 SEPT 3
Muskoka Stakes-Two-Year-Old Fillies-7 Furlongs
Simcoe Stakes-Two-Year-Old Colts & Geldings-7 Furlongs
Elgin Stakes-Three-Year-Olds & Up C & G-1 Mile & 1/16th Kenora Stakes-Three-Year-Olds & Up-6 Furlongs
Algoma Stakes-Three-Year-Olds & Up Fillies & Mares-1 & 1/16th Halton Stakes-Three-Year-Olds & Up-1 Mile (T)
JUNE 3 OCT 14 OCT 20 NOV 4
Plate Trial Stakes-Three-Year-Olds-1 Mile & 1/8th
Cup and Saucer Stakes - Two-Year-Olds - 1 Mile & 1/16th (T) Princess Elizabeth Stakes -Two-Year-Old Fillies -1 Mile & 1/16th Coronation Futurity - Two-Year-Olds-1 Mile & 1/8th
ONTARIO SIRES STAKES
ONTARIO-BRED FILLY STAKES
MAY 12 MAY 26 JUNE 9 JUNE 13 JUNE 23 JULY 18 JULY 25 AUG 4 AUG 5 AUG 19 AUG 19 AUG 29 SEPT 2 SEPT 15 SEPT 19 OCT 3 OCT 8 OCT 13 OCT 28 NOV 7 NOV 14 DEC 1 DEC 8
New Providence Stakes-Three-Year-Olds & Up -6 Furlongs Lady Angela Stakes-Three-Year-Old Fillies-7 Furlongs
Steady Growth Stakes-Three-Year-Olds & Up -1 Mile & 1/16th Bold Ruckus Stakes-Three-Year-Olds -6 Furlongs (T)
Barbados Ballade Stakes-Three & Up Fillies & Mares-6 Furlongs Deputy Minister Stakes-Three-Year-Olds -7 Furlongs
Passing Mood Stakes-Three-Year-Old Fillies-7 F (T)
Nandi Stakes-Two-Year-Old Fillies-6 Furlongs
Shepperton Stakes-Three & Up –6 & 1/2 Furlongs
Rainbow Connection**-Three-Year-Old & Up fillies-5 F (T) Victoriana Stakes-Three & Up Fillies & Mares-1 M & 1/16th (T) Eternal Search Stakes-Three-Year-Old Fillies-1 M & 1/16th Vice Regent Stakes-Three-Year-Olds & Up -1 Mile (T)
La Prevoyante Stakes-Three-Year-Old Fillies-1 Mile (T) Overskate Stakes-Three-Year-Olds & Up -7 Furlongs Victorian Queen Stakes-Two-Year-Old Fillies-6 F
Classy’n Smart Stakes-Three & Up Fillies- 1 Mile & 1/16th Bull Page Stakes-Two-Year-Old Colts & Geldings -6 Furlongs Bunty Lawless Stakes-Three-Year-Olds & Up- 1 Mile (T) South Ocean Stakes-Two-Year-Old Fillies-1 Mile & 1/16th Frost King Stakes-Two-Year-Olds -7 Furlongs
Kingarvie Stakes-Two-Year-Olds -1 Mile & 1/16th
Sir Barton Stakes-Three-Year-Olds & Up -1 Mile & 1/16th
MAY 6 JULY 8 JULY 15 OCT 6 OCT 27 NOV 11 DEC 2
Fury Stakes-Three-Year-Olds-7 Furlongs
Ontario Damsel Stakes-Three-Year-Olds-6 1⁄2 Furlongs (T) Shady Well Stakes-Two-Year-Olds-5 1⁄2 Furlongs Carotene Stakes – Three-Year-Olds – 1 Mile & 1/8th (T) Fanfreluche Stakes-Two-Year-Olds-6 Furlongs
Jammed Lovely Stakes-Three-Year-Olds-7 Furlongs Ontario Lassie Stakes-Two-Year-Olds-1 Mile & 1/16th
ONTARIO-BRED COLT STAKES
MAY 5 JUNE 30 JULY 7 AUG 12
Queenston Stakes-Three-Year-Olds-7 Furlongs Achievement Stakes-Three-Year-Olds-6 Furlongs Clarendon Stakes-Two-Year-Olds-5 1⁄2 Furlongs Vandal Stakes-Two-Year-Olds-6 Furlongs
OPEN & GRADED FILLY STAKES
(allocations of $50,000 from TIP represent a bonus for Ontario-Breds)
APR 15 APR 22 MAY 13 MAY 20 JUNE 2 JULY 2 JULY 22 JULY 22 AUG 6 AUG 11 AUG 18 SEPT 1 SEPT 8 SEPT 9 SEPT 16 SEPT 22
Whimsical Stakes G3-Four-Year-Olds & Up-6 Furlongs
Star Shoot Stakes-Three-Year-Olds-6 Furlongs
Hendrie Stakes G3-Four-Year-Olds & Up-6 1⁄2 F
Selene Stakes G3-Three-Year-Olds-1 Mile & 1/16th
Nassau Stakes G2-Three-Year-Olds & Up-1 Mile & 1/16th (T) My Dear Stakes-Two-Year-Olds-5 Furlongs
Ontario Matron Stakes - Three-Year-Olds & Up-1 M & 1/16th Dance Smartly S. G2-Three-Year-Olds & Up-1 M & 1/8th (T) Royal North Stakes G3-Three-Year-Olds & Up-6 F (T) Duchess Stakes -Three-Year-Olds-7 Furlongs
Ontario Debutante Stakes -Two-Year-Olds-6 Furlongs Ontario Colleen Stakes -Three-Year-Olds-1 Mile (T) Seaway Stakes G3-Three-Year-Olds & Up-7 Furlongs Natalma Stakes G3-Two-Year-Olds-1 Mile (T)
Canadian Stakes G2-Three-Year-Olds & Up-1 M & 1/8th (T) La Lorgnette Stakes - Three-Year-Olds – 1 M & 1/16th
FORT ERIE CANADIAN-BRED STAKES
JULY 15 Daryl Wells Sr. Memorial S.-Three & Up C & G – 5 Furlongs (T) JULY 15 Ernie Samuel Memorial S.- Three & Up F & M – 5 Furlongs (T)
* includes a bonus for Ontario-Breds
** represents races to be run at Fort Erie
Note: There will be five Overnight Stakes for Ontario-Breds, with purses of each, offered in 2007. For further details please refer to the condition books.
For further information contact The Canadian Thoroughbred Horse Society (Ontario Division) at
Phone: (416) 675-3602, Fax: (416) 675-9405, email: cthsont@idirect.com or visit our web site at www.cthsont.com