by Jeff Renton, media/communications, the Woodbine Entertainment Group
Toronto, ON — The cool weather has definitely started to reach the Woodbine seven-eighths, but it doesn’t mean that the miles have been following suit. In Tuesday evening’s C$40,000 Preferred Trot, Fast Lane K ($11.00, $5.70, $3.20) and driver Chris Christoforou excelled off a pocket ride and scored a neck victory over Son Of Grace ($9.10, $4.10) in 1:53.4, merely one-fifth of a second off the track record.
The 2-6 exactor returned $101.60, while the 2-6-4 triactor paid $278.30.
Conditioned by Joe Stutzman, Fast Lane K has climbed the ladder in recent weeks and has reeled off three consecutive tallies. Now with a seasonal record of 8-3-1 and $65,645 in earnings from 23 starts, Fast Lane K, a four-year-old brown daughter of Lindy Lane—Pleasure First, has 17 career scores and $232,876 banked overall.
A homebred of Leechburg, Pennsylvania’s Robert Key, Fast Lane K had the dream trip all the way, as Son Of Grace (Mike Saftic) diced opening fractions of :27.3, :57 and 1:25.4.
Gypsy Balance is retired
She’s been a lot of things -– a fiery competitor, nearly a millionaire -– and now Gypsy Balance will soon be a mother.
Conditioner Dan Creighton of Strathroy, Ontario, confirmed early this (Tuesday) afternoon that Gypsy Balance, a six-year-old daughter of Gypsy Melody—Songcan, has been retired from racing.
Bred by Fayetteville, New York’s Patricia and James Crawford, Gypsy Balance leaves the rigors of racing with 17 career wins to her credit and $952,745 in earnings.
A past O.S.S. participant, the bay mare compiled a 6-5-3 record and C$322,551 in earnings from her two years in the provincial program.
This past September at Woodbine, Gypsy Balance proved she could still knock heads with the best of them.
Battling the boys in a C$35,000 Trot early in the ninth month, the fancy-gaited lass reached quite an accomplishment. Racing as a 29-1 shot, Gypsy Balance equaled the 1:53.3 trotting mare track record, which is also shared by such classy mares as Dresden Dolly and Moni Maker.
In a brief conversation with Woodbine Entertainment, Creighton elaborated on Gypsy Balance, touching on all things from future breeding, career highlights and what the special mare has meant to him.
Creighton’s views are as follow:
“Just this fall we started to think about it (retirement). The Stakes races where she can race against the mares are over for the season, so she’s had to race against the boys and it’s gotten to be pretty tough for her. We’ve decided that she is going to be bred to Self Possessed.
“She’s meant everything to me. She’s been the best horse that I’ve ever owned and she’s had a career that’s lasted quite a bit longer than a lot of decent mares. She maybe hasn’t won as many races as some good horses, but she’s had an ability to make money in a lot of those good races and that means a lot.
“She’s been a warrior really -– as far as for me -– to race until she’s six. She was a very good two-year-old; she was erratic, but she was a fast two-year-old and quite often they don’t last and race until they’re six-years-old, and she has. She has shown her character and her courage to be a race horse and I think that the time is perfect to bring it to an end.
“What I remember about her is that through her career there were times that I was convinced that she had had enough and was done, and then she came back and raced at a high level. I think that is what means a lot to me, that she bounced back more than once from what I thought was the end of her career and she’s raced brave through the whole deal. And you know what? She’s retiring sound as a dollar. She is as sound today as she was as a two-year-old.
“For me if I had to pick a highlight it would have to be racing in the Breeders Crown as a three-year-old because it was the first time I had ever raced in the Breeders Crown and that was always a dream of mine for many years. She didn’t get any money (in the Crown Final); she was second in the elimination and made the final. She made a break (in the final) but it was still a huge accomplishment for her and us too.
“She got a really nice trip that night (where she equaled Woodbine’s track record) and got a record that she really deserved. She has raced hard all the way through and she took her record two or three months from the end of her career. It’s not like she wasn’t good at all this year, she made $141,455.
“The girl that takes care of her (Kim Percival) — she has brought her back to where she can race at this level more than once. She was down and out and (Kim) put a lot of heart and hard work into bringing her back.
“If she can through any of her character, gait and desire into a colt, I mean she’ll definitely have a nice colt because she is beautifully gaited, has all types of courage and desire.
“I really enjoyed the (ownership) originally with Dave and Terry Hudson and Jerry Henry. After, (Al) Libfeld and (Marvin) Katz bought in. We all had a great relationship and I can’t say enough about being connected with those guys.”
Artaffection is also set to retire
Following the recent announcement that Gypsy Balance will be calling it quits, Woodbine Entertainment has also learned that the gritty pacing mare Artaffection will be putting in her last ever mile this weekend.
Scheduled to perform in race five (a C$21,000 conditioned event) this Friday evening over the Toronto oval, Artaffection will be retired after the dash.
A seven-year-old daughter of Artsplace—Sweet Affection, Artaffection has been racing out of the barn of conditioner Joe Stutzman and has this year put together a record of 3-5-4 and $124,089 in earnings from 27 starts.
Owned by a group consisting of the Lightning 5 Stable (Plainview, New York), Shoot The Moon Stable (Yonkers, New York), Terry Barnett (Guelph, Ontario) and Harness The Power Canada (Campbellville, Ontario), Artaffection currently has 23 career wins and $698,488 earned overall.
The Open class stalwart took her mark of 1:51.1 over the Meadowlands’ mile strip as a four-year-old and notched a win in 1:52 earlier this season on the Woodbine Entertainment circuit.
Canadian Breeders eliminations on tap this weekend
With eliminations not required for the pacers, the two-year-old trotting colts and fillies will be the focus this weekend at Woodbine, as the preliminary round of the Canadian Breeders Championships (CBC) is set to get underway.
Races three (8:20 p.m.) and four (8:40 p.m.) will house the two C$28,398 trotting filly divisions on Friday, while the trotting colts will be under the lights in a pair of eliminations on Saturday. All participants will be gunning for the CBC finals, which are slated for November 27.
In 1996, conditioner Wayne Bloomfield captured the CBC’s two-year-old colt trot title with a Super Pleasure colt named Pleasant Time. With his pupil coming in off of a game performance in the recently concluded O.S.S. Super Final, Bloomfield is again represented in this year’s running of the CBC by Gaelic in the two-year-old filly trot.
Gaelic, a bay Angus Hall—Cloverleaf Cosmos filly, was in the right place at the right time last week. With World Class Image scratching sick out of her Super Final, Gaelic drew in from the also eligible list. Leaving from post seven with driver Mike Saftic at the helm, Gaelic was sent off at odds of 55-1, followed cover and charged home late, just finishing three-quarters of a length behind the eventual race winner, Fan Favourite.
“From the first of the year I thought that she was going to be a fairly decent horse or probably one of the better ones around — and then she got sick,” said Bloomfield, of his fledgling. “She’s just starting to get a little better now and I didn’t think she was 100 percent even last week.
“I was kind of glad that she drew in from the also eligibles. She hasn’t had a lot of luck, so I guess it was time that she did get a little bit.”
Still currently a maiden, Gaelic has a pair of places and a trio of show finishes in her 10 starts, in which she has earned $91,542.
“Actually, I had talked to Mike (driver Saftic about the plan of attack in the Super Final). I told him that the horse was a really good stalker if you could give her a trip behind another horse,” said Bloomfield, a resident of Kerwood, Ontario. “She’s pretty green yet. I train all by myself at home and she doesn’t get to train with other horses.”
“As soon as she’d get to the front some other times she’d just think that the race was all over and she would pretty well stop on her own. (Mike and I) just talked about a little bit of strategy; just getting her to follow along until the right time and then to bust her through. I said ‘she’ll probably go a long way’ and it worked out pretty good that way (last week).”
Owned by Shedden, Ontario’s Karen Carroll, Gaelic has drawn post three in the first of Friday’s two elims.
“Speed has never been a factor with her,” said Bloomfield, who was introduced to the sport 30 years ago by Elton Barnes, after living in close proximity to a racetrack. “It’s all about her being healthy -– and she is -– and as long as she’s healthy she can go.”
The fields for Friday’s and Saturday’s CBC elims are as follows:
Two-year-old filly trot
Elimination #1
PP – Horse – Listed Driver – Trainer – (Sire / Dam)
1 – Elena – T. Ritchie – C. Beaver – (San Pellegrino / Uni Score)
2 – Xtreme Youth – M. Baillargeon – N. Jones – (Wesgate Crown / Hazy Yankee)
3 – Gaelic – M. Saftic – W. Bloomfield – (Angus Hall / Cloverleaf Kosmos)
4 – Le Reve – M. Lachance – T. Vandenplas – (Fill V / Catch Fortuna)
5 – Taylorlane – Bliss – R. Mayotte – F. O’Reilly – (Royal Ballad / Kiss Me You Fool)
6 – Merry Rules – M. Saftic – S. Kerwood – (Mr Lavec /Hts Sweetiepie)
7 – Maleficent – T. Durand – T. Durand – (Royal Ballad / Cruellade Fille)
8 – Jolie Tempest – Y. St. Jacques – J. St. Jacques – (Fortuna Winner / Luce Tempest)
9 – Lookit – W. Henry – R. Henry – (Royal Strength / Lukes Elvira)
Elimination #2
PP – Horse – Listed Driver – Trainer – (Sire / Dam)
1 – Honour Way – C. Christoforou – D. Tingley – (Angus Hall / Wharton)
2 – Whispering Girl – T. Ritchie – H. Lunde – (Angus Hall / Beatty Jean)
3 – Lava Rock – W. Ray – G. Carachi – (Imperial Style / Fiorina)
4 – Pretty In Plaid – J. Jamieson – B. Maxwell – (Angus Hall / Next Victom)
5 – Emme Emme – P. MacDonell – F. O’Reilly – (King Conch / Vickilou Who)
6 – Dream On Bernie – G. Zirnis – G. Zirnis – (Berndt Hanover / Dreamfair Tierra)
7 – Draven – L. Walker – L. Walker – (Berndt Hanover / Joyous Image)
8 – Fan Favourite – L. Ouellette – P. Buer – (Angus Hall / Looming Favorite)
9 – Kind Gesture – W. Henry – R. Henry – (Angus Hall / Classic Gesture)
10 – Philhallmonic – S. Condren – R. Laarman – (Angus Hall / Elena Victory)
Two-year-old colt trot
Elimination #1
PP – Horse – Listed Driver – Trainer – (Sire / Dam)
1 – Travelin Lite – C. Christoforou – D. Marfisi – (Shipps Speed / Travelin Superlite)
2 – Freewheel Hanover – J. Gilchrist – J. Gilchrist – (Berndt Hanover / Frances Lobell)
3 – El Leonard – T. Ritchie – J. Barrington – (Sugarcane Leonard / Uptown Victory)
4 – Reve de Victoire – S. Filion – M. Camirand – (Victorys Force / Reverie De Cour)
5 – Kenny Boy – T. Ritchie – G. Barr – (San Pellegrino / Sarahson)
6 – Feeling Frazzled – R. Kinney – R. Kinney – (Mr Lavec / Stress Factor)
7 – Stormont Welldone – M. Baillargeon – N. Jones – (Balanced Image / Grill Now)
Elimination #2
PP – Horse – Listed Driver – Trainer – (Sire / Dam)
1 – Classic Lavec – P. MacDonell – A. White – (Mr Lavec / Prima)
2 – St Lads Speedy – M. Saftic – P. Barkley – (Mr Lavec / Special Speed)
3 – Stonebridge Diablo – Ra. Waples – Ro. Waples Jr. – (Angus Hall / Velvia)
4 – Fearless Pleasure – T. Ritchie – D. Morrissey – (Armbro Ricochet / Key To Pleasure)
5 – Armbro Cameron – J. Gilchrist – J. Gilchrist – (Mr Lavec / Armbro Katrina)
6 – BJs King – T. Kerwood – D. Furness – (King Conch / BJs Glass Slipper)
7 – Last Flight Out – J. Moiseyev – S. Kerwood – (Angus Hall / Oksana Byeyule)
8 – Mill Work – R. Zeron – R. Zeron – (Mr Lavec / Lemons Mill)