Winter Series action will resume this week at Woodbine Racetrack with strong numbers for the start of the Blizzard and Snowshoe.
A group of 19 three and four-year-old female pacers will compete in two $17,000 divisions of the Blizzard on Thursday, while 33 three and four-year-old male pacers have been separated into four $17,000 divisions of the Snowshoe for Friday.
The conditions for each series are the same (non-winners of two races or $30,000 in lifetime purse earnings as of October 31, 2017 were eligible for nomination).
The opening round of the Blizzard appears to be quite competitive, as two nine-horse splits will head postward.
The first division is led by Meadows invader Circle The Page, who will start from Post 8 with driver Jonathan Drury.
A four-year-old daughter of Real Artist, Circle The Page has been sent up to trainer Victor Puddy by co-owner/trainer John Sullivan for her Woodbine debut. She has won two of her last three starts and finished in the top-two in eight consecutive outings.
Circle The Page leads the field in career earnings with $46,494.
Ted Macdonell trainee Katies Gal has the most wins in the field with six career visits to the winner’s circle. The four-year-old daughter of Camluck went five for 14 in 2017 to go along with a single victory during her two-year-old season.
Katies Gal will team up with Woodbine’s top driver, Doug McNair, to start from Post 6.
The second division, which will feature another competitive group, will showcase Eric Adams trainee Franschoek (Post 7), who has been listed as the 3-1 morning line choice.
The four-year-old daughter of Bettors Delight leads the field in earnings with $61,930 banked in her career. Her most recent victory was a career-best effort of 1:54.4, which came in a ‘non-winners of two’ race at Woodbine on December 22.
Mike Saftic has driven Franschoek in nine of her last 10 starts. The duo has not missed a cheque while also posting four top-three finishes.
An intriguing filly to watch in the second split is three-year-old JK Lockherup, who will start from Post 3. The daughter of American Ideal will be making just her fifth career start. She is coming into the tilt off of a maiden-breaking score last Thursday at Woodbine.
JK Lockherup is owned by 3 Brothers Stable and trainer Nancy Johansson, who sent the pacing filly up to Ben Baillargeon to race at Woodbine. The Bettors Delight filly made two starts south of the border in December before being sent to Baillargeon.
Mario Baillargeon drove JK Lockherup to victory last week and will once again get the call in the sulky.
The Blizzard Series divisions have been carded as Races 4 and 6 on Thursday’s program.
Standardbreds cut through the snow at Woodbine Racetrack (New Image Media)
The Snowshoe Series will take over on Friday evening and four divisions have been scheduled for the 10-race program.
Friday’s first division will feature a field of eight, and Bruce Goit trainee Lyons William is the 9-5 morning line choice.
The four-year-old son of Big Jim has won three of his last four starts heading into the Snowshoe, including a 1:55 score on January 8 at Woodbine. He came into 2018 off a three-year-old season which saw him win four of 12 starts and earn over $22,000.
Lyons William will start from the rail with driver Paul MacDonell.
The eight-horse second Snowshoe division should be a battle between four-year-old Artofficial Flavor and three-year-old Burn Out Hanover.
Trained by Dean Nixon, Artofficial Flavor started his career last season in Iowa at fair tracks before being acquired by Nixon and company in October. The son of Art Official has won three of nine starts for Nixon, including a career-best 1:51.4 score in his Mohawk debut on October 9.
Artofficial Flavor most recently finished fifth in the final of the Valedictory Series. He enters the Snowshoe with seven wins and $46,640 earned in 21 career starts.
Jack Darling trainee Burn Out Hanover enters the Snowshoe on a three-race win streak. The three-year-old gelded son of Well Said won five of 14 starts during his rookie season and carried that momentum over to post a victory in his 2018 debut a week ago.
Burn Out Hanover has hit the board in 10 of 15 starts and banked $55,310.
Bob McClure will drive Artofficial Flavor (3-1), while Jody Jamieson will steer Burn Out Hanover (5-2).
Friday’s third division will be the first to feature a field of nine, but once again the rail starter promises to be a big factor.
Chad Milner trainee In Spades is the 3-1 morning line favourite and has the rail starting spot. The four-year-old gelded son of Bettors Delight has won three of his last five starts and has finished in the top two in all five.
In Spades comes into the Snowshoe with five wins, 16 top-three finishes and $51,630 earned from 26 career starts. Milner will use driver McClure behind the four-year-old for the second consecutive start.
The final division of the evening will see the return of JK Pridenjoy to Woodbine for more winter series action.
The Nick Surick trainee came to Woodbine in December to race in the Valedictory Series and posted a third and second-place finish in the preliminary legs before being roughed up in the final.
A four-year-old son of Rock N Roll Heaven, JK Pridenjoy has since made two starts at Yonkers, including a six-length score on January 8. The Surick trainee will be coming to Woodbine on short rest, as he last raced on Monday at Yonkers.
JK Pridenjoy will be driven by McNair and is the 8-5 morning line favourite.
The Snowshoe Series divisions have been carded as Races 1, 3, 4 and 6 on Friday’s card.
Both the Blizzard and Snowshoe Series will feature two preliminary legs before wrapping up with their series finals scheduled for Friday, February 2.
Free programs are available for the Thurday (here) and Friday (here) cards. Post time each evening is 7:10 p.m.
To view the entries for Woodbine’s Thursday and Friday cards, please click the links which appear below.
(WEG)
I would like to make the
I would like to make the recommendation to have few claiming series done at woodbine. We could use the following:
1- 8,000 claiming series
2- 10 to 12K claiming series
3- 15 to 20K claiming series
4- 25 to 30K claiming series
2 or 3 races and a final (use cancel program purses to upgrade purses a little bit and have a nice purse for the final to get everyone in our business interested in getting their horses to participate.
This would give be very good for horse racing in general at no cost if you take cancelling days into consideration, moving that money to purses for the series. Those series would be very beneficial for those reasons:
1- Make it exciting and challenging for the racing fan
2- Make it great for horse people, increasing purse in finals, purses that would be redistributing from cancel days to a final purse for each division)
3- More interesting claims for owners and mostly potential new owners coming into our sports (God knows we need new blood)
4- Get horses in those claiming series that usually races in condition only (those horses people are tired of seeing in the bottom condition classes)
5- Keep people interested in our sports even during those long winter months.
Hope this will be well taken and get you guys excited about my recommendation.
Thank you for reading.
Mike Strasbourg.
Horse Fan and Owner.