Tonight at Woodbine Racetrack, trainer Blair Burgess will be looking to capture a large chunk of the $539,000 purse in the Valley Victory for two-year-old trotters as he sends out four entries
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Burgess' highlight competitor, Blue Porsche, will certainly get notice from the betting public based on his 1:54.4 Canadian record performance in last week's elimination.
The son of Glidemaster-Machita was a $22,000 buy back last year at the Harrisburg Yearling Sale. With $136,161 earned this year, Blue Porsche will start from Post 2 in tonight's rich final for driver Trevor Ritchie. He has been installed with morning line odds of 6-5.
O'Brien Award winning trainer Burgess recently spoke with WEG's media department where he discussed Blue Porsche's Canadian record.
"I thought that if the trip worked out similar to the way it did work out that he would have a good chance in there because he won the first week in Lexington beating [the other elimination winner] Luckycharm Hanover and then in the second week he finished second to Manofallmissions, who was the Breeders Crown winner.
"I think [the elimination winners] are two of the ones that are obvious for the fans. Obviously though you can't eliminate Pastor Stephen. He was second in the Breeders Crown and won the Wellwood. He's certainly one to be watching. He's got to deal with the nine post but he hadn't raced since the Breeders Crown [prior to the Valley Victor elims] so he could be a little sharper too. And then the horse on the rail, [Tom] Durand's horse Whiskey Tax, he raced very well last week. There were a couple of others that put in credible performances too so I don't want to just break it down to two horses."
Burgess will also send out Can Anyone Explain, Pegasus Blue Chip and For You Almostfree.
Last year's Lexington Select Sale topper For You Almostfree, who was purchased for $270,000 by the Burgess Stable, Brittany Farms, M Biasuzzi Stable Inc. and Frank Cannon, finished fourth in his elimination and Burgess says the son of Glidemaster-Pizza Dolce will need some racing luck in the final.
"I'm hoping he gets a small prize, I'd be very happy. He's a late bloomer. He's grown a lot over the summer and I'm just not sure if he's ready to go with the better of these but at least he's got speed and he doesn't seem to know the end of a mile -- he keeps working right to the end -- so I'm really looking for to next year with him."
Rick Zeron will drive For You Almostfree, who drew the four post.
Pegasus Blue Chip, a son of Glidemaster-Palamo Hanover, was a $100,000 Harrisburg Sale purchase for Brittany Farms, Blue Chip Bloodstock Inc., Little E LLC and Pegasus Partners, and will leave from Post 7 with Jody Jamieson in the bike after finishing third in his elimination.
"He showed some honesty because he wasn't really trotting that well [in his elim]. He wasn't one, two, three, four out there. I think it was partly because he had to leave from the rail and he got a little bit sideways and he just never really hit his stride the whole way. He sort of followed Blue Porsche around all year. He was fifth and third in Lexington. He's a nice colt, a really flashy looking colt, and I sort of expected more from him at one time but now he's just going to have to grind it out and hopefully we can get a piece with him too. Maybe he's had enough this year."
Can Anyone Explain, who finished fourth in his elimination, has drawn Post 6 in the final. Steve Condren will drive for owner Ake Svanstedt. The son of Windsongs Legacy was sent to Burgess this spring by Harold Lunde.
"It was an unfortunate situation really," explained Burgess. "Harold got very sick in the spring, he's had diabetes for quite some time and it took a turn for the worse. He had to go back home to Norway. This horse was owned in Sweden and I took over three or four horses for Harold in the spring as a favour to him and to help him out. Two raced well for me in the summer but have since been exported. I still have a Kadabra filly and this colt, who is half-brother to Rotation out of Expressway Hanover. He was an inexpensive yearling [sold for $25,000 at Harrisburg] so I have to give Harold or the Swedish owners credit for finding him because he is a flashy looking, good-gaited colt that seems to be coming into his own. But just like For You Almostfree, he's a late bloomer and it's asking a lot of him and For You Almostfree to step up with the best of these colts right now. I think next year is the best shot for both of them."
Trainer Casie Coleman will be sending out her own crew of starters in tonight's Fall Four Stakes. Idyllic and Pretty Katherine will face off in the $501,000 Three Diamonds for two-year-old filly pacers while Ohmygosh Hanover will be looking to capture the $709,000 Governors Cup for two-year-old pacing colts.
Idyllic is the richest of the entries thanks to her victory in the $688,000 She's A Great Lady Stakes earlier this year. With earnings of $555,329, the daughter of American Ideal-Magical Dreamer has a speed record of 1:51.4 for owners West Wins Stable, Michael and Joseph LaCova and John Campagnuolo. Just a $13,000 yearling purchase from the Lexington Select Sale, Idyllic has only been beaten once in eight career starts. She has been installed with morning line odds of 3-1 and will start from Post 2 for driver Mark MacDonald. She finished third the Breeders Crown at Pocono Downs on Oct. 9 and is coming into the Three Diamonds off a 1:54.1 qualifying effort.
"Idyllic seems awesome. If anything she seems better than what she was early in the year if that's possible,” said Coleman to WEG's Media Dept. “I trained her here thinking the elims would go the week before with Western Silk in [1]:55 and she was just awesome. She went head to head with Western Silk, who is a three-year-old, and she was very good. I qualified her the other day in [1]:54 with the plugs in and Mark said she was as good as she's ever been. I'm very happy with her coming into the race right now. She seems real good so hopefully we can have some luck."
Pretty Katherine, Coleman's other entry in the Three Diamonds, also has only one defeat in her young six-race career. A $120,000 yearling purchase from Harrisburg, Pretty Katherine equaled the word record as the fastest two-year-old pacing filly in history with a 1:50.3 performance earlier this year. With $300,578 earned this season, the daughter of Rocknroll Hanover-Fox Valley Shaker will start from Post 3 for driver Mark MacDonald and owner John Liviakis. She is listed at 6-5 on the morning line. Coming into the race off three qualifiers, she will be making her first start since winning the Champlain Stakes at Mohawk on Sept. 11.
"Her first qualifier she was awesome. She was very good, the same Pretty Katherine she always is,” explained Coleman. “Her next two qualifiers she was a bit flat on the wire. I wasn't real happy with her last two. Last week she was a lot better, but still not 100 per cent. I had her into Dan McMaster's [clinic] on Monday and Melissa [McKee] found a couple of problems with her so hopefully we got her touched up and she seems a lot better. She was just hurting a little bit and hopefully we'll be all systems go for Saturday night with her.
"Yes I wish we had a real race under her belt and not just qualifiers but the elims never filled and they never got a class to go for a two-year-old open so I kind of got in a hardship there but she seems good and if she's 100 per cent she's going to be real tough on Saturday night.
"They're two great fillies," said Coleman of her entry. "I'm just thrilled to have them both in my barn. It's hard to separate them. I think [it will come down to] whoever gets the better trip. Besides them, Bob McIntosh has a tough filly in there [Strike An Attitude] and it's a horse race."
After finishing a disappointing sixth in his Governor's Cup elimination last week, Ohmygosh Hanover will be looking for a stronger effort in the final from Post 4. The son of The Panderosa-Oohs N Ahhs has earned $155,129 this season from six starts for owner Tom Hill. The $52,000 yearling purchase has been installed with morning line odds of 10-1 for driver Mark MacDonald.
"I wasn't happy with him [last] Saturday night but the horse has been off two months and he never had a real race into him except a couple of qualifiers,” noted the three-time O’Brien Awards winning trainer. “He still paced [1]:52 and came home in :27. He was getting at his knee around the last turn over Woodbine so we made a shoeing change. I put glue on shoes on him this week and his feet were hurting him so we did some vet work. We trained him here yesterday and he was just absolutely awesome. He's going to have to step it up at least two full seconds to have a shot in there. I'm not saying he's going to go out and beat them -- I don't know that -- but I think he'll be right there and get some money, I think you'll know he's there.
"He has all kinds of talent, which we found now that we didn't know training down," laughed Coleman. "He has a ton of talent in him it's just he doesn't always put out 100 percent -- he's still a baby, he's green. I really think this colt will come back to be a top three-year-old. I'll definitely have him staked up to everything as a three-year-old. I think it will be a huge year and hopefully make some good money there Saturday night also."
(With files from WEG)