With the next issue of Down The Stretch, Canada’s most informative and entertaining horse racing newsaper coming out in less than two weeks, it was time to consider who would be our next Jockey of the Month. We have a promotional relationship with Shortman Brown’s who make terrific suits and stuff for men who are vertically challenged ( a description that applies to me). The first two winners of the $250 gift certificate have been Patrick Husbands and Jim McAleney and even before he lit up the board a few times this week, I had decided to annoint Tyler Pizarro as the next recipient (don’t tell him by the way, it’s meant to be a surprise.)
Pizarro did some good work last season, but this year, it’s as if every week, he’s getting better and the racing charts are full of examples this week. On Wednesday he brought in Me the Sea and GT to win the $125,000 Bold Ruckus Stakes at odds of 23-1. Me the Sea and GT broke the track record by speeding six furlongs in 1:08.65, .14 better than the previous record.
Then yesterday, Pizarro had a great day at the track. He won the 6th race on Heidi’s Bay trained by his mother Donna, getting up by a neck in the final strides at the end of the six furlong race for maiden claimers. Heidi’s Bay was 14-1 and paid $30.40 to win. The very next race, Pizarro was in the winner’s circle again and again his timing was perfect as he rallied Hate Your Money from far off the pace to score by a head. No one hated the money they won on this horse, which went off as the 2-1 favourite. Scott Fairlea is the trainer of Hate Your Money.
Less than half an hour later, Pizarro completed an impressive triple by winning the 8th race on Mighty Fenian. Mighty Fenian, trained by Sam di Pasquale, also came from off the pace and made it to the wire about three quarters of a length the best at odds of over 6-1. The last pick three of the card was all Pizarro and it returned a healthy $936.35 for $1.
Pizarro’s neat week has him with 28 wins in 166 rides, good for fourth in the jockeys standings. Patrick Husbands looks uncatchable with 57 wins, Chantal Sutherland is second with 37 and a very Emile Ramsammy is third with 30.
The 150th Queen’s Plate is one week this Sunday and surely the connections of the filly Milwaukee Appeal must be thinking about sticking their girl in against the boys. Milwaukee Appeal, ridden brilliantly by Stewart Elliott, won the Canadian Oaks for fun last weekend and her time for a mile and an eighth was almost two seconds faster than Eye of the Leopard recorded the week before when he won the Plate Trial. I’m not sure if we have a stellar cast of colts capable or really running a mile and a quarter this year, so surely the filly, if she’s fit should take a shot.
One of the more appealing aspects of Horse Racing is that the girls beat the boys with regularity. Chantal Sutherland and Emma-Jayne Wilson win almost daily and the Queen’s Plate does have a history that includes fillies. The last lady to win the Plate was Dancethruthedawn in 2001 and she, of course is a daughter of Triple Crown Winner Dance Smartly who included the Plate in 1991 among her sweep. The first Queen’s Plate I ever attended - in 1967 - was won by Conn Smythe’s filly Jammed Lovely. And if you’re looking for some kind of mathematical karma, 100 years ago, the Queen’s Plate in 1909 was Shimonese, a filly.
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