Page 3 - April 2007 The Game
P. 3

Canada’s Thoroughbred Racing Newspaper The Game, April 2007 3
Stampede Park Gets the Jump
The first thoroughbred race this year in Canada took place at Calgary’s Stampede Park on Friday March 23, as that track marked the earliest opening day in its history. Blessed with particularly benign weather conditions (temperatures almost in double digits celsius), veteran jockey Jake Barton fired the first winning shot of the season, guiding the appropriately named Pull the Trigger to the wire first in the opening race. Pull the Trigger stalked the leaders, advanced steadily from three wide, and closed with authority to pass Tae Kwon Duke in the stretch to prevail by three parts of a length in the maiden three year old race at half a mile for a purse of $7000.
Pull the Trigger is owned by the Rocky Mountain Turf Club Stable and trained by Doug MacDonald. Barton spent his winter at Sunland Park in New Mexico and may do most of his riding this summer at Hastings Park in Vancouver.
Barton’s lead in the jockey’s standing turned out to be quite short-lived. Quincy Welch had a fabulous opening day, posing in the winner’s circle four times. He won the second race on Bam Bam ($3.60) for the Bar None Ranches Ltd. and trainer
Ron Grieves and brought in Thunder Bay ($11.50) in the fourth, giving Fred Carson his first training win of the year for the Primera Racing Stable. Welch made it a triple in the sixth on How Bout Jose ($9.80) for trainer Stuart Simon on behalf of the Lara Racing Stable and then he won the 8th race of the day on the favourite Papoose Dancer ($4.40), which must have been pleasing for trainer Lianne Knechtel and owner Norman J. Mcallister.
On the second day of racing, Welch continued to have the golden touch, winning the opener on Prepared Mind for trainer Dale Greenwood and owners Perry Burrell, Dave Anderson and Ken Mcmanus. That gave Welch five winners from his first seven assignments.
The first day of the Stampede meet attracted $146,990 in wagering from the on-track crowd and another $120,154 through simulcast wagering.
This year’s Stampede Park meet will run until June 17. The most important race of the meet will be the Alberta Derby which will run on June 16, the second last day of racing. Every indication is that
local horsepeople are excited about the early opening as every one of the more than 1100 stalls at the track is occupied. Some of the big outfits have been moving horses back and forth from training centers.
The 2007 meet will feature 14 Stakes races carrying total purses of $800,000 plus an additional $100,000 in Alberta- bred bonus money. The first two Stakes races of the year will be the pair of $50,000 Sales Stakes at six furlongs on Saturday April 14. Those two sprints will provide a prelude to the annual Thoroughbred Awards dinner to be held in the Roundup Center that same evening
This will most probably be the final live meet of racing in Stampede Park’s history, depending on the completion date of the new racing complex being constructed at Balzac, just outside Calgary. Many of the horses, jockeys and trainers will find opportunities to race in the special ‘A’ meet being conducted at the Track at Evergreen in Grand Prairie in the northern part of Alberta this summer.
In This Issue
Woodbine Trainers
Pages 18 to 20
Racing on Ice....p.27
Editorial p4 Barbados Gold Cup p4 CARDathon p5 Evergreen Park p5 ORC and Meds p6 Runaway Groom p8 In the Swim p10 Believable Copy p12 Ira’s Story p14 Jennifer’s Blog p14 Sutherland Returns p20 Grand National at Aintree p22 Wendover Training p23 Jim Reynolds p23 HBPA (Ontario) Update p24 Ascot Stud p25 BC Industry Awards p26 Winterbook p27 Paddy Head p27 Paul Reddam p28 Eurico in Singapore p28 Foals of 2007 p29 Four Generations p29 Mutual Ownership Option p29 Out of Town p30 Professional Directory p30 Classifieds p31
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Stallion Cat’s At Home Dies
Windfields Farm is deeply saddened to announce that leading 2006 freshman sire Cat’s At Home died suddenly on March 24 at the Oshawa, Ontario farm.
Bred and raced by E.P. Evans, the 10-year-old son of Tabasco Cat out of Mr. Evans’ outstanding producer Homewrecker, by Buckaroo, was owned in partnership between Evans and Windfields. A multiple graded stakes winner of $708,575, he retired sound after 31 starts, including stakes victories over Grade 1 SWs Milwaukee Brew and Include.
“We are all devastated over this,” said Director of Farm Operations Simon Cassidy, “He was a strikingly handsome individual, and a true favourite among those who cared for him as well as farm visitors. His first crop came out running and we
are hearing great reports from trainers about their Cat’s At Home horses getting ready to run when Woodbine opens next week.”
“Words cannot convey our sense of loss,” noted Windfields Vice-President Noreen Taylor. “Cat’s At Home was a great young sire with his whole career ahead of him. He is not the kind of horse you can easily replace, and he was just poised to become a key player in the Ontario sire ranks. We sincerely thank those who have supported him in recent years.”
Cat’s At Home will be buried at Windfields Farm.
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