by Jeff Renton, media/communications, the Woodbine Entertainment Group
Toronto, ON — Sometimes it must be enough to pull your hair out. Right before Breeders Crown night at Woodbine, Guelph’s Rene Laarman, trainer of the two-year-old trotting filly Philhallmonic, had to scratch his young pupil out of her event due to sickness. Although, Laarman knew that more big dances would be on the way for the Angus Hall daughter -– the first of which will go this weekend at Woodbine. Eight C$300,000 divisions of the Ontario Sires Stake Super Finals will be contested over the Toronto oval this Saturday and Philhallmonic is ready to do some strutting in the third race (8:20 p.m.). “She was sick with a temperature and she just wasn’t herself,” said Laarman, explaining why Philhallmonic didn’t take the Crown stage. “Yeah, she did (have mucous). We scoped her and she had been tying up too at the time, so it wasn’t even a question of whether to race her or not. We decided to scratch on the premise that she would be really good for the Canadian Breeders and the Super Finals.” With 10 starts under her belt so far, Philhallmonic, who is out of the Valley Victory mare Elena Victory, possesses a 1-2-0 record, a mark of 1:59 and $63,206 in earnings. Owned by Ottawa’s Mel Hartman, Brampton’s Charlie Armstrong and Campbellville’s Dr. Scott Anderson, Philhallmonic’s lone triumph came in an O.S.S. Gold elimination on September 28 at Mohawk. “She raced really game that night,” Laarman said of Philhallmonic, who won after starting from the nine hole. “She was parked past the half and took pressure basically the rest of the mile. A horse challenged her and she held game right to the wire. She had every reason in the world to give it up that night.” Sent off at 6-1 odds in the final a week later, the bay made a break off the gate, but rebounded to finish third. Even though the outcome wasn’t superior, Laarman was pleased with the effort and chalked up the early discombobulation to being a greenness issue. “It was just a green thing. She had never been behind the start car before. She had always been on an outside or inside wing and that was the first time that she had the six hole, which is directly behind the car, and she got a little scared to go in there. It was just a case of her getting a little scared and she didn’t know what to do when the gate left,” said Laarman. “It’s too bad she made a break because she had to spot the field (quite a bit),” continued Laarman. “I think they had her charted about 15 or 16 (lengths) off at the quarter, but initially, before she got back trotting, she had to be 20 or 25 lengths out. That was an impressive race that night too -– she only got beat three lengths for it all. “We trained her pretty well (this past) Saturday and we schooled her this morning (Tuesday) off the gate. She went a good mile this morning and we’re looking for a good race out of her Saturday night.” The field is as follows: PP – Horse – Listed Driver – Trainer – Sire/Dam Ontario Sires Stakes Super Finals are upon us this Saturday, so there is no better place to go than to the paddock to gauge how the drivers are feeling going in. Eight C$300,000 dashes will go postward on the weekend, and with that type of dough on the line, you know everyone has an opinion. Listed below are just a few quotes from the sulky sitters. Luc Ouellette on Isle Of Patmos (2CP, Race 6, 9:22 p.m.) “This colt has been sharp all year and he still is. Last week wasn’t too hard on him. It was a slow track so we didn’t really have to stretch him out, but the week before he was as good as he has ever been. I believe that he is coming into this race as good as can be. He definitely has some competition, but he doesn’t have too bad of a draw, so we’ll try to get a lucky trip out of it.” He’s been on the front for the majority of his races, do you think he can come from off the pace if necessary? “I think he could. He’s got such good gate speed usually and he can just grab the racetrack and control the race. He can be raced other ways as well.” Mario Baillargeon on Armbro Balmoral (3CP, Race 10, 10:46 p.m.) “He has great speed and he’s done it all year. He’s got over a half-million (in Canadian earnings) and they didn’t just give it to him. We’ve got a great post (the two hole). I’m right beside the horse to beat (Geartogear, who drew the rail) so I’m hoping to get a good piece.” Jody Jamieson on Lucks Mistress (2FP, Race 5, 9:01 p.m.) “Leading up to her elimination in Windsor, when my dad drove her, she had been out for almost a month. She came into the race a little short and half-sick and came out of the race with a high temperature. She ran a temperature for three or four days. Last week, before the final, we were even thinking of scratching her. “We treated her with sulfur pills all week and then she showed (in the final) how good she is. She paced in (1):54.4. I left her in third on the rail the whole time and I got lucky to get out around the last turn and she paced hard down the lane. “I wasn’t going to beat Lady Dillinger on that day, but hopefully with a good week again this week she’ll be good again.” Mike Saftic on Claires Apache (2FP, Race 5, 9:01 p.m.) “I didn’t drive her in her last couple of starts (O.S.S. Gold at Windsor), but she has been a tough filly. She has grinded it out. She’s got $125,405 made this year. (Trainer Gregg McNair) gave her a little bit of time off in between stakes and I think it has helped her finish the year off stronger. “In there you have Lady Dillinger, Almost Famous and Lucks Mistress and they are definitely the class of the division. I mean maybe if they are tuckered out a little bit we might get a little more than we should. If I got money in there I’d be happy.” Trevor Ritchie on Elena (2FT, Race 3, 8:20 p.m.) “Well, in her last start she made a break at London (O.S.S. Gold Final). It was maybe a little bit of my fault. We tried a new piece of equipment on her and it didn’t work out. She had raced really well the week before. She had been racing really consistently all year long, but last week was a little unfortunate.” Trevor Ritchie on Cincinnati Kid (3CT, Race 8, 10:04 p.m.) “To be honest with you, I wasn’t that surprised (with his second place finish in the Breeders Crown). I know he has got a little bit of gate speed and he is a quality horse. Some of the horses he was racing against were a little bit tired. He’s a fairly fresh horse; he hasn’t raced that much (only 11 starts) compared to some of them. “I like the horse. (Going in) I feel very confident. If he comes back to the way he raced (in the Crown) he is likely going to be the one to beat.”
1 – Honour Way – C. Christoforou – D. Tingley – (Angus Hall/Wharton)
2 – Fan Favourite – L. Ouellette – P. Buer – (Angus Hall/Looming Favorite)
3 – Dream On Bernie – G. Zirnis – G. Zirnis – (Berndt Hanover/Dreamfair Tierra)
4 – Philhallmonic – S. Condren – R. Laarman (Angus Hall/Elena Victory)
5 – Meadowviewprincess – TBA – B. Shakes – (Angus Hall/Frisky Mitchelle)
6 – Elena – T. Ritchie – C. Beaver – (San Pellegrino/Uni Score)
7 – World Class Image – Ra. Waples – P. Hunt – (Balanced Image/Gramola)
8 – Maleficent – T. Durand – T. Durand – (Royal Ballad/Cruellade Fille)
9 – B Cor Renee – R. Zeron – W. Core – (CR Renegade/Undersky Celeste)
10 – Lookit – W. Henry – R. Henry – (Royal Strength/Lukes Elvira)
AE1 – Gaelic – Ra. Waples – W. Bloomfield – (Angus Hall/Cloverleaf Kosmos)
AE2 – Heartful Image – S. Condren – B. McIntosh – (Balanced Image/Romantic Victory)