Colt Stakes and Colt Sales Dominate the Conversation
Horsetalk
By
Hal Hennessey
Belfast PEI owned Pictonian Amanda wins her PEI Colt Stake division. Photo by Gail
MacDonald.
The PEI Colt Stakes were featured last Thursday night and also on a double header card
Saturday at the ‘Charlottetown Driving Park’. Only a couple of local connections picked
up any hardware. Dan Ross and Billy Bell’s Pictonian Amanda captured her stake in
2:00.1 and Touch Of Lightning who numbers Vernon Bridge’s Gerald Morrissey among
his ownership group, was a winner in 1:57. The Buntainwood Farm’s Malbrigo continued
her domination of the 3 YO fillys and is now 13 for 13. The Articulator 3 YO First Art
Down had the fastest trip of the day – a sparkling 1:54.4 mile. His was one of 5 wins on
the card for Gilles Barrieau who continued his rivalry with Marc Campbell in the most
wins category. Campbell on this day had 4. Jason Hughes and Eagle Luck captured the
Saturday night Preferred Pace in 1:56.2
The closest down east folks came to a trophy in the Thursday night trots was the Paul
Lanigan trainee Dusty Red Lane. He won his 3 YO stake in 2:02.2. Jen Trainor’s Le
Fugueur made it 2 in a row, winning the feature in 1:56.2 and Morell’s Brandon Webster
had a win with his CL Bella Rose in 2:01.2. Finally, Sunday past at ‘Summerside
Raceway’, Don MacRae’s Blue Star Outlaw was a winner in 1:59.3. General Luckypercy
won the Aged Pacing Mare in 1:57.2
-----------------------------------------The rosters for the yearling sales are now available on the Internet. The Atlantic Classic
Sale offerings & their pedigrees are at;
http://peiharnessracing.com/atlantic_classic.html. The Truro Select listings here;
http://www.truroraceway.ca/RWSelectSale.php. I noticed there seemed to be fewer
trotters available this year. This especially applied to the successful Meridian Farms stud
Northern Bailey. Bill Andrew explained that 4 of their mares did not go to term for
various reasons, thus there are only 2 of Northern Bailey’s offspring available, from a
total of 11 overall. Andrew also points out that of 35 registered trotting yearlings, only 9
are up for auction. He says that buyers seem unwilling to pay for trotters, even though for
example, Irish Lullaby sold for $6K last year and has already $20,000 made in 2012. Bill
contends that trotters are the hidden treasure of Maritime racing and as he says, Ralph
Annear has long proven that, i.e. good money and less competition. Still, with buyers so
hesitant, it seems breeders have chosen to keep and race their trotting yearlings in 2012.
---------------------------------------While on the subject of sales, the first fallout from the McGuinty government’s war on
horse racing was felt this past week. At the annual Standardbred yearling sale just
concluded in Ontario, average prices for the colts on offer had dropped by 50%. On the
Thoroughbred side they were down on average by nearly 30%. And so it begins.
----------------------------------------Speaking of Meridian Farms it was announced last week that they have once again
stepped up and will sponsor not 1, but 2 new pacing series this fall on PEI. I’ve asked
before and will again, has any breeder or anyone else for that matter, done as much for
racing in the Maritimes, particularly for overnight horsemen? I think not. This won’t
silence the critics of course, but Bill in particular is on record as not having much time for
PEI racing’s ‘Family Compact’ types or their flunkies anyway. The Island Pacing
Championship will be an Open event at the ‘Charlottetown Driving Park. The $5,000
Elimination will race on Saturday September 29 and the Consolation on October 6th. The
$10,000 (added) Final goes next day on Atlantic Breeders Crown Championship Sunday.
Nomination fee is $100.00 and is due September 24. Meridian Farms will also sponsor a
$3,500 claiming series for horses and mares. It will be named in honor of the late David
Rose, who passed away earlier this year. The first leg will race October 28, at
‘Summerside Raceway’, followed by a second on November 4 at the ‘Charlottetown
Driving Park’. The Consolation ($1,500 added) and Final ($6,000 added) take place on
November 11, in Charlottetown. The nomination fee is $25 and is due on October 22,
2012.
------------------------------------------The Maritime Provinces Harness Racing Commission, is an Agency of the Council of
Atlantic Premiers. It regulates harness racing at the 8 Maritime tracks. There are 6
commissioners and currently Don Dalling of NB serves as chairman. The others are;
David Lewis, James Cameron, NS, Robert Wilson, NB, Wendell Shaw, Fred Paynter,
PEI. The MPHRC’s Director of Racing (similar to a GM) is Dr. Paul Hogan, who
supervises racing at the tracks, the officials, rule enforcement, drug testing etc. The
doping of horses has not been a big issue on the East Coast. The penalties, lower purses
and the cost of the illegal drugs, just don’t make the practice worthwhile. However
there’s always a few cases and the offenders are subject to fines and suspensions when
caught. Recently I passed on a fan’s suggestion to Dr. Hogan. It was that one more step
should be taken. This person thinks that when folks are nailed with a positive test and
there’s no extenuating circumstances, in addition to the usual sanctions, the guilty parties
should also be obliged to identify their supplier before reinstatement. Those names would
then be turned over to the RCMP for investigation. Talk about a deterrent – that’d do it!
Dr. Hogan says this would require a change in the rules, but that he will present it to the
MPHRC’s industry working group for consideration. It’s a good idea and should be
considered in other jurisdictions as well. We’ll certainly be following up on this with the
commission and will let you know the outcome.
------------------------------------------------------------Short Shots;
Arabica, owned by the Hardy Mill Stable of Stratford won the $7500 Johnny Conroy
Memorial in Truro Sunday. Time of the mile was 1:56.2. Two of PEI’s native sons had
career nights recently on Ontario tracks.
Robert Shepherd celebrates 6 wins at Grand River. Photo courtesy of Standardbred
Canada.
At Rideau John MacDonald had a 5 win night, but Robert Shepherd did him one better.
He won 6 of the 12 races on a card at Grand River. He’s got 1803 lifetime and has
earnings of $14 million.
The Little Brown Jug goes Thursday in Delaware Ohio. Mark MacDonald will drive his
regular mount Bolt The Duer, who’s earned $583,343 this year. They leave 4th in the first
elimination.
--------------------------------------------Horses For Courses
Ontario winners of interest this week included Act Of Magic for Robert and Jodilyn
Shepherd and Patrick Morris – 1:58.3; Don MacRae’s Lucky Boot Cam – 1:55.1; Dave
Dowling’s Loose Talk – 1:57.1; Brett and Gary Revington’s Addys Way – 1:55; Jason
Ryan’s Hammers Cam – 1:58.2. At North Sydney, Barrett Jackson was a winner for Neal
Moase in 1:59 and Sarahstar at Inverness in 2:01.4 for son Jonah. Honor Roll won the
Bev Sears Stake for 3 YO fillys at Alberta Downs in 1:53.3. She’s owned by Bill Andrew
and George Rogers. Brandon Campbell drove.
---------------------------------------------Tip O’ The Whip:
Robert Shepherd and John MacDonald – both are a credit to PEI Harness Racing.
------------------------------------------BTW - thanks to my friends for all the ‘rubbing’ about the photo caption mix-up.
Apologies to Jack and Jason.
Questions/Comments hal.al@sympatico.ca
The Post Script
I don’t want to say the sleeping giant is awake, but at least he might be stirring. Let me
explain. My emails and other messages, phone calls etc., tell me that some people at least
are getting pretty fed up with what has been going on with the positive tests and the drug
suppliers in their industry. Now there are a folks, who may not understand what I’m
talking about, some deliberately so, but as I suggested in the column, if you put the
suppliers out of business, you solve much of the problem. A while back, I told you that
my sources were warning me that the spit was about to hit the fan after Old Home Week.
I also said that in spite of a great week, the fall-out from positives was going to put a
damper on that. Meaning of course, the industry would not be happy with a rash of
positives right after such a great show. At no time did I say that the positives would all
come from the racing that week. And they haven’t - but you cannot tell me that folks
aren’t feeling upset over what has been going on. Now I know most of you get this
because you’re intelligent, sane people. As for the others – well them’s the breaks.
There’s no doubt a lot of horsemen/women aren’t happy about this. The question is, how
long will they put up with the situation? The other questions is, how long will the
government, ALC, taxpayers etc. be supportive if this continues? Someone said to me
recently, oh yeah – but look at Ontario, and how many positives they have. Well no, they
didn’t in this case. In the two month period from Lobster Carnival Week to now, there
have been SIX (6) Class 2 positives, ($1500 fine and 6 month suspension), in the
Maritimes. While in Ontario none!. Yes there have been minor infractions, but none at
the level of the Maritimes. Case closed on that.
----------------------So what has been going on. Well it’s pretty hard to sift fact from rumour, but I can tell
you what is being said to me. It would appear that many of those caught up in this, had no
expectations that what they gave their animals could possibly test positive. They were
perhaps sold on the idea that the ‘mother’s little helper’ was just that – a little help for
their horse. Doesn’t excuse them of course, since they know the rules about prescribed
meds etc. I have also been told that supposedly the main trail of the product(s), leads from
Ontario to PEI and are then dispersed from there. I’m also hearing that the purported
suppliers are now at loggerheads, blaming each other for what has happened. Folks think
this is great – that the egg looks good on their faces. And for those who would claim there
are no drug dealers involved – give your head a shake. Too many people at too many
tracks think differently. And yeah, I have some info on that, but as always, I guaranteed
folks anonymity and that’s a promise I intend to keep. Some folks think I should be
careful - thinking of the Randy Rankin case in Ontario no doubt. Not worried on that
score – I have USB sticks with all my files & documents going back 10 years, tucked
away safely in a lawyers office. The main point, is how long are horsemen/women going
to risk the support the industry has and its reputation, before they step up and say enough
is enough?
------------------------------------As I predicted in the column above, the 2 new series and others on PEI sponsored by
Meridian Farms has raised a lot of comment. That’s a good thing. All these discussions
should be out in the open anyway for all to see. Amongst at least some industry leaders
and their supporters, this is just Meridian looking out for themselves. So while many
horse people, fans and bettors say they appreciate the effort, not all do. I’m not surprised,
even though, like many, I thought any aged mares series was great and would bring
potential broodmares to the region. I also liked the idea of a big Open Pace late in the
season, as it would be great for the fans, the bet etc. But some think this is only an excuse
for Meridian to race their top horses. Anyway, next week in the column I’m thinking of
sounding out the fans and bettors as to their opinions on the proposed series and the
debate about Meridian’s role. And the wider debate it relates to. It’s often forgotten the
fans are racing’s primary customers after all, so I’m interested in their take on all this.
-----------------------------------------The argument has been put forward, backed up by some stats, that PEI now has a level
playing field and that overnight horsemen are being treated as fair as the stake guys.
That’s a great comfort to all I’m sure. It also would seem to indicate that there’s no need
for any more special series for the colts, who can’t make it in the stakes and no need for
those special classes for under achieving Island breds in general. It would also seem to
say there’s a place for a few lower priced claimers, that some horsemen have been asking
for. After all, if it’s a level playing field, then a $2K claimer, is worth the same as any 3,
4 & 5 YO capable of going the same speed – prices them all right? I’m sure horsemen are
good with that. I’ll be saying as much in my next column.. Maybe it’ll get all those
anonymous posters and their personal shots off my back. LOL – not likely. But then
again, that’s a motivator to keep going. Love touching those nerves.
----------------------------------------BTW; I welcome your feedback on any of the above, particularly the 2 New Series and
the issues raised. As always confidentiality is guaranteed.
Reach me at hal.al@sympatico.ca
---------------------------------------Couple of quick notes: Susan Whelan director of the Matinee Race Tracks Development
Project reminds you that The PEI Matinee Championship Finals, are taking place Sunday,
September 23rd at ‘Summerside Raceway. Post time is 1 PM. Hope lots of you take these
races in and support the folks who do it just for love of the game.
Andrea Rennison sends along word that the Truro Harness Horse Owners Association
will have a mixed horse sale, plus equipment etc. at the MacMillan Center, October 19,
prior to the Select Sale. There’ll also be a dance afterwards. For more info contact Andrea
at 902-956-2180 or Steve Morton at 902-790-1003. You can also check out their Ways
and Means Committee Group on Facebook too. Please support them.
Thanks for all the feedback pro and con and keep letting me know what you think.
Ciao!