Equine Niagara News Off to the Races with Nick Costa

Hi everyone! I find myself in an odd situation. I prepared this column on Thursday, 2 days before the Belmont Stakes, but as you read this, the race is over. So, either the racing gods (yes, they do exist) have allowed I'LL HAVE ANOTHER to race into immortality, giving us our 12th Triple Crown winner, or we have to wait another long year.

Now that the American Triple Crown series is over, it becomes Canada's turn to showcase their best 3-year olds, beginning with the QUEEN'S PLATE at Woodbine, June 24th. My beloved Fort Erie racetrack hosts the second race in the series, PRINCE OF WALES STAKES, July 15th. The final event, BREEDERS' STAKES, heads back to Woodbine and will be contested over the turf course on August 5th. I will preview all 3 races on my blog page. www.triplecrownchase.blogpsot.com You can link right to the page from the Equine Niagara News Home page.

Staying with the Triple Crown theme, CAMELOT, won the Epsom Derby last Saturday, setting up a potential charge at England's horse racing's Triple Crown. Trained by Aiden O'Brien and ridden by his 19-year-old son Joseph, CAMELOT, added the prestigious title to his 2,000 Guineas win in comfortable fashion, triumphing by five lengths. He will now be targeted at the St. Ledger Stakes later this year.
If successful, he will become the first horse since the great Nijinsky in 1970 to complete the sweep.

A TRIAL RUN:
"If you can save some ground it would really help." Those were the instructions trainer Reade Baker gave to jockey Jim McAleney prior to the June 3rd running of the Plate Trial. McAleney followed those words to perfection and it resulted in a winning trip aboard maiden RIVER RUSH. The Stronach owned colt with only two prior starts, took a dramatic leap forward, closing from last place at the half-mile mark to win going away by 5 1/4 lengths.

Understandably sent off at odds of 21-1, RIVER RUSH breaking from the far outside post 11, was dropped back and angled across to the rail. He toiled at the back of the back some nine lengths off the pace established by Incredicat through spilts of :23 4/5 and :47 1/5. When the pacesetter reached six furlongs in 1:10 4/5, RIVER RUSH was already on the move. Making rapid progress on the far turn while still sticking to the inside, he rallied powerfully to take command at the 3/16ths pole. RIVER RUSH only got stronger in the final eighth and, despite shying from a right-handed whip and brushing the rail, pulled clear to win by daylight. Incredicat held for second by one length over Classic Bryce.

The final time of 1:48 4/5 is a new record for 9 furlongs on the Woodbine Polytrack. Baker admitted to entering his colt in the Plate Trial only after a maiden special race in the condition book failed to fill. The winner will likely be pointed to Canada's signature race for three-year-olds.

FUN-FILLED FORT:
As we head into summer, Fort Erie Racetrack has a hot lineup of activities scheduled, beginning with the popular Twilight Racing program which kicked off on Tuesday, June 5th and will run every Tuesday until August 28th. First post for the Tuesday card is at 4:15 p.m. At the trackside Tiki Bar Patio, the free Summer Concert Series will once again be offered after live racing is completed.

Concerts begin approximately at 7:30pm and will run until 10:00pm. This season featured bands include Heads Up Lincoln, New Kid in Town, Ear Candy and New York Minute.

The Prince of Wales Dining Room will host a special themed buffet during Twilight. The month of June will feature an Italian theme, July will feature a Hawaiian Luau and in August the popular Down Home BBQ will return. The buffet begins at 4:00pm and runs until 7:00pm. Reservations can be made by calling
905-871-3200 ext.3617.

New additions for 2012 include Twilight, the track s mascot who promises to be quite the hit with fans of all ages. Also, New Bettor's Kits will be sold at Customer Service. They include six pre bet $2.00 wagers beginning in Race 3. The kits will be on sale for $10.00 offering a value of $15.00 including bets and a program.

For information about upcoming events and promotions as well as dining information, see the attached flyer pictures or visit the track's website:
www.forterieracing.com

Truly folks, there IS something for everyone's taste happening this summer at Fort Erie Ractrack, so get together with your family or your friends and come on out and enjoy a beautiful setting while experiencing exciting thoroughbred racing.

FORT ERIE RACING JOURNAL: WEEKS 3 & 4 MAY 27th - June 3rd The beautiful spring time weather in Southern Ontario continued for bettors in week 3 with sunny skies and sweltering temperatures, but week 4 saw significantly cooler conditions and alot of rain during the first two days before sunny skies and fast conditions reappeared for day three. Fort Erie racegoers have a remarkable acumen for handicapping, and because of it, win value was down as 28 of the 48 winners 58%) went off at less than 3-1 odds. The longest priced winner was sent postward at 15.90-1 odds and that occured on the second to last race on the final day of week 4. The entry box saw an increase, but still continued to be light with 334 horses taking part in the 48 races covered, for a 6.9 average. There were only 5 cards that featured a field of 9 or more runners. Fort Erie betting favorites won as expected, with 33% of the races successfully taken by the top choice. Woodbine shippers/droppers continue to have success. Ten were victorious over the two weeks covered, giving the invaders a high win clip of 20%.

TRACK PROFILE:
Note - a wire-to-wire winner is identified as any winner who was on the lead, or within .50 lengths of the lead, at every call.
May 27th - Fast - SPRINTS - 7 races - Two wire-to-wire winners: Five other winners were on the lead or between 1.0--5.5 lengths back at the second call.
TURF - 1 race - No wire-to-wire winner. Lone winner was 1.0 length back at the second call.
MAY 28th - Fast - SPRINTS - 6 races - Five wire-to-wire winners: Other winner was 5.0 lengths back at the second call.
ROUTE - 1 race - No wire-to-wire winner. Lone winner was 10.5 lengths back at second call. TURF - 1 race - No wire-to-wire winner. Lone winner was
6.0 lengths back at second call.
MAY 29th - Fast - SPRINTS - 5 races - Two wire-to-wire winner: Three other winners were between HD--4.0 lengths back at the second call. ROUTES - 3 races - One wire-to-wire winner: Two other winners were bewteen 5.5--6.0 lengths back at the second call.
JUNE 3rd - Sloppy - SPRINTS - 4 races - Three wire-to-wire winners: Other winner was 3.5 lengths back st the second call. ROUTES - 4 races - One wire-to-wire
winner: Three other winners were between 2.0--3.5 lengths back at the second call.
JUNE 4th - Sloppy - SPRINTS - 6 races - Three wire-to-wire winners: Three other winners were between .50--7.25 lengths back at the second call.
ROUTES - 2 races - Two wire-to-wire winners.
JUNE 5th - Fast - SPRINTS - 4 races - Two wire-to-wire winners: Two other winners between .50--2.0 lengths back at the second call. ROUTES - 4 races - One wire-to-wire winner: Three other winners between 1.0--8.75 lengths back at the seocnd call.

POST POSITION PROFILE:
-Main Track-
4.5 FURLONGS - 1 race - Winner from post 5
5 FURLONGS - 6 races - 0 winners from the rail: Widest winner from post 5
5.5 FURLONGS - 13 races - 3 winners from the rail: Widest winner from post 8
6.0 FURLONGS - 5 races - 2 winners from the rail: Widest winner from post 6
6.5 FURLONGS - 7 races - 0 winners from the rail: Widest winner from post 9
1 MILE 70 YARDS - 9 races - 1 winner from the rail: Widest winner from post 6
8.5 FURLONGS - 5 races - 0 winners from the rail: Widest winner from post 3
-Turf-
8 FURLONGS - 2 races - 1 winner from the rail: Widest winner from post 9

TRAINER PROFILE:
36 different trainers sent out winners over the period covered, with nine finding the winner's circle multiple times.
Three trainers sent out three winners apiece:
GARY CHUDOBIAK - Three different riders were aboard. Two winners were race favorites. One longshot winner. This was the second consecutive two-week period in which Chubobiak saddled three winners.
JENNIFER DAVIS - She won races at varying class levels using three different riders. Two winners were race favorites. Two of her sprint winners went wire-to-wire.
SHAWN RIDEOUT - All three winners came in sprints and were ridden by Juan Crawford.
The following trainers had two wins each:
NICK GONZALEZ - Both winners came in routes.
RAVENDA RAGHUNATH - Both winners ridden by Neil Husbands.
ROSS ARMATA - One sprint 8-1. One route 5-2. Both winners ridden by Roderick DaCosta.
WILF JONES - Both wins were main track sprints ridden by Regina Sealock. One race favorite.
NATHAN SQUIRES - Both sprints wins were ridden by Bradley Wilson. One race favorite.
PAULA LOESCHER - Both wins came on the June 3rd race card in routes.

THAT'S ALL FOLKS:
I haven't vomited in a long time, but the announcement that Fort Erie Racetrack will close permanently at the end of the year, was enough to make me hurl...literally!!! Yes, I'm sick and saddened by the bad news. Not only is the closing shocking and devastating to the entire Fort Erie township, a place where over 2,000 of it's population are employed by the track during the racing season, but the closing also directly affects those wonderful and dedicated personnel who operate independently on the backstretch toiling long hours in every facet of the sport to bring the finished product to the public on race days. Trainers, jockeys, excercize riders, grooms, hotwalkers, blacksmith...etc... All of them are my fellow horsemen/women and many are my friends. All of them will have to find another racing venue. Woodbine in Toronto, which will absorb some of the group, seems the most likely "go to"
destination. But so many others are now forced to uproot, with a high probability of having to leave the province, if not the country, in order to continue to ply their skills. My heart sincerely goes out to every person affected. I hope they all succeed!!
The final live racing day will be Tuesday, October 30th. By my calendar, that's
4 1/2 months away. I will make the best use of that time frame to enjoy the remainder of the final season. Then, it will be time to vomit again.

Thats all for this edition, until next time, hope to see you At The Races. Nick can be contacted at niagnick@gmail.com or read his blogs at Horse Racing Nation.
http://www.horseracingnation.com/blogs/Trackside

Photo credits: Camelot courtesy of Getty Images. River Rush courtesy of Michael Burns