Post by Peter Gross on Jul 13, 2009 7:07:05 GMT -5
For trainer Mark Casse, jockey Corey Fraser and the Woodforde Racing Stable, that was certainly a sensational win the Prince of Wales Stakes yesterday at Fort Erie and thank you, we gladly accept our $300,000 share of the purse. But much of this race identifies the state of horse racing in Canada and just how grueling the chase for the Triple Crown can be.
Gallant was the only horse in the field of six that hadn't run in the Queen's Plate and do you think an extra three weeks meant the difference of less than an inch at the wire? Gallant had won a maiden race on May 31 and elected ( well his people did) to pass on the Plate. Less than an inch was how much Gallant beat Milwaukee Appeal by and for most in the crowd, it actually looked as if the filly had won. Milwaukee Appeal ridden by Stewart Elliot prompted the pace from the start. She hooked up with Gallant pretty well as soon as the field straightened out down the backstretch and the two exchanged blows right to the wire. Milwaukee Appeal seemed to have her head in front just steps from the finish line, but heads bobbed, women gasped, men screamed and for ten minutes the judges examined the picture, which show Gallant on the inside, lifting his head just at the wire while Milwaukee Appeal's nose was pointing downward. The difference was the width of your thumb, assuming you have a slender thumb.
Gallant went off at 15-1 and paid $33.10. Eye of the Leopard who won the Queen's Plate was just three quarters of a length back in third.
The strange thing about this is that neither Mark Casse, the trainer, nor the regular jockey Patrick Husbands thought enough of Gallant's changes to even come to the Fort on Sunday. That's why Corey Fraser got the ride - he was piloting the horse for the first time. Fraser is from Toronto, but his mother, Susan took him to Niagara when he was six as she sought out new work. Susan, a single mother, apparently busted her ass to give Corey a decent life and sadly, she died of cancer a few years ago at the age of 51.
She'd be proud though. Son Corey is a terrific jockey, with a warm, friendly, infectious disposition and now he has his first Triple Crown victory.
As for the Triple Crown trail, it is now littered with the aches and pains of horses that fell by the wayside. Square Eddie never made it, neither did Southdale, Utterly Cool or Van Lear's Rose. Parabola, El Brujo, Costalivin, Collarosa and others figured out they just couldn't handle the distance.
And Eye of the Leopard and Mr. Foricos Two You might have been asked to do too much. It seems we're breeding a more fragile thoroughbred in Canada. Hard to imagine that we'll ever get to see a horse fit, hardy and versatile enough to win the Triple Crown in the next decade or so. Makes you wonder just what kind of monsters we had in With Approval (1989) Izvestia (1990), Dance Smartly (1991), Peteski (1992) and Wando (2003) when those special animals took the Triple Crown.
Gallant was the only horse in the field of six that hadn't run in the Queen's Plate and do you think an extra three weeks meant the difference of less than an inch at the wire? Gallant had won a maiden race on May 31 and elected ( well his people did) to pass on the Plate. Less than an inch was how much Gallant beat Milwaukee Appeal by and for most in the crowd, it actually looked as if the filly had won. Milwaukee Appeal ridden by Stewart Elliot prompted the pace from the start. She hooked up with Gallant pretty well as soon as the field straightened out down the backstretch and the two exchanged blows right to the wire. Milwaukee Appeal seemed to have her head in front just steps from the finish line, but heads bobbed, women gasped, men screamed and for ten minutes the judges examined the picture, which show Gallant on the inside, lifting his head just at the wire while Milwaukee Appeal's nose was pointing downward. The difference was the width of your thumb, assuming you have a slender thumb.
Gallant went off at 15-1 and paid $33.10. Eye of the Leopard who won the Queen's Plate was just three quarters of a length back in third.
The strange thing about this is that neither Mark Casse, the trainer, nor the regular jockey Patrick Husbands thought enough of Gallant's changes to even come to the Fort on Sunday. That's why Corey Fraser got the ride - he was piloting the horse for the first time. Fraser is from Toronto, but his mother, Susan took him to Niagara when he was six as she sought out new work. Susan, a single mother, apparently busted her ass to give Corey a decent life and sadly, she died of cancer a few years ago at the age of 51.
She'd be proud though. Son Corey is a terrific jockey, with a warm, friendly, infectious disposition and now he has his first Triple Crown victory.
As for the Triple Crown trail, it is now littered with the aches and pains of horses that fell by the wayside. Square Eddie never made it, neither did Southdale, Utterly Cool or Van Lear's Rose. Parabola, El Brujo, Costalivin, Collarosa and others figured out they just couldn't handle the distance.
And Eye of the Leopard and Mr. Foricos Two You might have been asked to do too much. It seems we're breeding a more fragile thoroughbred in Canada. Hard to imagine that we'll ever get to see a horse fit, hardy and versatile enough to win the Triple Crown in the next decade or so. Makes you wonder just what kind of monsters we had in With Approval (1989) Izvestia (1990), Dance Smartly (1991), Peteski (1992) and Wando (2003) when those special animals took the Triple Crown.
