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The Jockey Club of Canada revealed yesterday the finalists for the Media portion of the Sovereign Awards and excuse my self- promotion, but the paper I edit, Down The Stretch, Canada’s most informative and entertaining horse racing newspaper got the most nominations. We have five candidates in the finals, though the night of the Awards - January 29th - won’t necessarily be a night of abundant bling for us.

In the category of Outstanding Newspaper Article, I was disappointed that my submission on Mine That Bird winning the Kentucky Derby was overlooked, but the voters did pick three Down The Stretch stories. Perry Lefko’s Fate of the Fortwas a concise assessment of Fort Erie horse people trying to save the historic racetrack. Eleanor LeBlanc, the associate editor of Down The Stretch got in for Racing Stars change hats for a good cause,  her excellent coverage of the Equi-challenge in which jockeys and harness drivers had to play polo and ride equestrian style. And Keith McCalmont, whose Triple Dead Heat blog is the by far, the most interesting of all horse racing sites on line, got nominated for They’re really at the post, a bright and insightful look at the tough men who load horses into the starting gate. The fourth and last nominee is multiple Sovereign Award winner Curtis Stock who wrote Lifetime of Horse racing brings love, happiness and tragedy,the heart-wrenching saga of 86 year0old trainer Lorne Dupont. I just printed this off the internet and not only is it an amazing story of the kind of awful things that can beset one human being in a lifetime, it is also extremely well-written. Down The Stretch has a three-horse entry in a four-horse race ….and we have no chance.

Perry Lefko doubled up on his nominations with a spot in the finals of the award for Outstanding Feature Story. Lefko has a strong shot - Eddie and Jennifer is a very touching story about a Fort Erie jockey who has stood by his mate after she was severely injured in a car accident. Lefko’s competition comes from Bruce Walker who wrote A penny For Your Thoughts for the Canadian Thoroughbred Magazine and Jennifer Morrison whose Lindro and Impropriety appeared in Horse-Canada.com.

The big surprise for me is that I have been nominated, not for anything I have written, but for a photograph I took of Chantal Sutherland wrapped in a Canadian flag. Basically all I did was press a button - Chantal is just as good in front of the camera as she is on a horse. I joked to her at the time that we were making an ‘iconic’ picture. Maybe I was right. Dave Landry, brother of jockey Robert is also nominated and Michael Burns Photography and Michael Burns Jr  have a nomination each. I’m hoping I win, because traditionally, Michael Burns Jr is assigned to shoot the winners in each category and it would be very ironic if he had to take a picture of me beating hin out of the award ( which he’s won about 400 times.)

I should point out that Woodbine grants me free access to all the pictures that the Burns family takes. They do great stuff and in the course of a year, I stick about 100 of them in Down The Stretch, Canada’s most informative and entertaining horse racing newspaper.  Having the most nominations of any media outlet ( we have five) is very exciting to us. Each nominee gets two tickets for the Awards evening, which is always a glitzy and skillfully put together show.

As they say, just being nominated is an honour. Actually winning is much better.

In the next issue of Down The Stretch, Canada’s most informative and entertaining horse racing newspaper, we’re going all estrogen, dedicating most of the paper to the remarkable accomplishments of female horses, lady jockeys and trainers in 2009. The following is my attempt to get Chantal Sutherland some attention for the Bobbie Rosenfeld Award as the Canadian Female Athlete of the Year:

Why Chantal Sutherland is the Female Athlete of the Year 

Next month (December), sports editors across Canadawill cast their ballots for the Bobbie Rosenfeld Award which goes to the woman judged to be Canada’s Female Athlete of the Year. In 2009, it should go to Chantal Sutherland, and though the voters will have a wide field from which to choose, Sutherland should be an almost unanimous winner.

There are two big reasons why. One: Sutherland is completing a sensational year of riding; and Two: otherwise, it has been a surprisingly undistinguished year for all of the other potential candidates.

On the first issue; in her tenth year as a professional jockey, Chantal Sutherland is re-enforcing the fact that she is one of the very best. As of November 19, Sutherland had a total of 142 wins in North America, surpassing her previous best year, when as an apprentice in 2002, she rode 124 winners at Woodbine. Her 2009 totals include 14 victories at tracks in California, a jurisdiction that traditionally has produced extremely low win figures by female jockeys. Her numbers at Woodbine won’t be good enough to catch perennial leader Patrick Husbands, but she will finish second in the standings without having the benefit of a leading outfit using her exclusively. Sutherland has ridden for more owners and trainers than any other jockey in Canadaand has scored at the excellent rate of 14% or about one out of 7. If a style can be attributed to her, it’s that she gets horses to relax and has her mounts running their best at the ends of races. There was another jockey who in the 70s excelled at this. His name is Sandy Hawley, who was a two-time winner of the Lou Marsh Award as Canada’s most outstanding jockey.

With 11 Stakes victories to her credit, Sutherland is 22^nd in North Americaon the purse earnings list with more than $7 Million. There’s some terrific names ahead of her – Julien Leparoux, Garrett Gomez, Ramon Dominquez – but consider some of the tremendous jockeys who are behind her – Cornelio Velasquez, Jeremy Rose, Alex Solis, Corey Lanerie, Chris Emigh, Michael Luzzi, Rochard Migliore, Jorge Chavez – some of the finest jockeys to ever entice a $2 win bet.

There’s a wonderful list of great Canadian women who have won the Bobbie Rosenfeld Award. In the last ten years, the deserving winners were Chantal Peticlerc (wheelchair athlete), Hayley Wickenheiser (team Canadahockey), Cindy Klassen (speed skating, twice), Lori-Ann Muenzer (cycling), Perdita Felicien ( track), Catriona Le May Doan (speed skating, twice) and Lorie Kane (golfing). As worthy as those recipients were, they never competed with men.  

Now the second issue: Who else should be considered? Team Canada lost to the United States at the World Hockey Championships in Finland. That would seem to discourage a vote in that direction. Our top lady golfer, Alena Sharp, didn’t have a single top ten finish this year and won $122,000. In tennis, Blaineville, Quebec’s Alexandra Wozniak showed some promise, winning a few early rounds and amassing over $440,000 in winnings. She was ranked as high as 21 in the summer and seems to have great potential. But she won no tournaments this year.

In November, speed skater Christine Nesbitt won three golds in events in Europe. The voters love the skaters and she is a real candidate, but 2010 is an Olympic year and that’s when the celebratory bling should ring. Skier Emily Brydon was no better than 11th in her races, figure skater Jeannie Rochelle came second at the Worlds, swimmer Annamay Pierse had a second in 200m breaststroke at the Worlds, Marie Pier Boudreau Gagnon a third in synchro swimming, and Patricia Lopes-Schliep a second in the 100m hurdles at the Worlds. Oh wait…Sherraine Schalm got a silver medal in individual epee at the World Championships.

There is the argument that a jockey shouldn’t be rewarded because the horse does all the work. That’s about as bright as saying, ‘Catriona Le May Doan couldn’t have won without her skates’ or ‘Lorie Kane was nothing without her driver,’ or ‘Chantal Petitclerc had a wheelchair.’

Chantal Sutherland came out five, six days a week from January through November. She piled up the wins in an extremely difficult and demanding sport; she won more money than any other Canadian female; she beat men on a regular basis; and she attracted tremendous positive attention to her sport.

When the idea of being Canada’s Female Athlete of the Year is presented to Sutherland, you get the feeling it’s never crossed her mind.

“It would be incredible. It would be an honour,” she gasps. “I would love to win something like that.”

Not much of a braggart, Sutherland does realize she has the stats to justify the votes. 2009 will be her best season ever.

“I’ve earned more money than in my bug year,” she says. “I feel like I’m having a phenomenal year.”

Sometime in December, if the privileged voters correctly appraise the sports landscape, it might get a little more phenomenal for Chantal Sutherland.

Here’s how I see the 8 races on Saturday going. Aside from the fact that I clearly have employed a European bias, the quality of the horses coming from outside the US and Canada is extraordinary.

Saturday:

 Juvenile Turf  for Colts: 

1)      Pounced – 7 furlongs in 1:19.4 – are you kidding me!

2)      Buzzword – I’m picking Europe 1-2 here

3)      Bridgetown – even with a third, Robert Landry would earn $12,500 Turf Sprint: 

1)      Lord Shanakill – set up perfectly to score here

2)      Desert Call – great at the distance

3)      Gotta Have Her – loves this track; loves this distance  Sprint:

1)      Fatal Bullet – Da Silva wishes everybody “Good Luck!”

2)      Fleeting Spirit – is she as good on the synthetic as she’s been on the lawn?

3)  Crown of Thorns – the surprise in a surprisingly small field Juvenile Dirt for Colts: 

1)      Beethoven – headline writers will conduct a masterpiece

2)      Alfred Nobel – Europe will run 1-2 here as well

3)      D’Funnybone – getting better every race Mile Turf: 

1)      Zacinto – last in the alphabet, first in the Mile

2)      Goldikova – because it’s fun to bet against the heavy favourite

3)      Delegator – North American horses won’t hit the board Dirt Mile:

1)      Bullsbay – got within 2 lengths of Rachel Alexandra last time

2)      Mastercraftsman – successfully tested Polytrack

3)      Pyro – should cash something in a weak field

  Turf Mile and a Half: 

1)      Conduit – last year’s champ here 2 GR 1 wins and $3 Million at the distance

2)      Presious Passion  - his 42^nd race – 13 wins on the turf

3)      Red Rocks – is he as good as he was when he won this in 2006?  Classic:

1)      Rip Van Winkle – huge figures in England

2)      Summer Bird – can he handle the Pro Ride?

3)      Mine That Bird – will win an Eclipse if he wins this

Ok…here’s the first installment of my Breeders’ Cup selections. You will notice a trend. In many cases, I have shown preference for European horses. The trainers overseas have figured out how to win these races. It’s a huge feather in their caps to come over and steal the money from the North American horses. They know what they’re doing and they know how to get a horse ready to win on the Pro Ride. These picks are for the six races on Friday. I will post the Saturday picks tomorrow. My advise is to empty your bank account, drain your credit cards, re- mortgage your house, cash the RSPs and bet everything you have on the following:

Breeders’ Cup Picks:

  Friday The Marathon: 

I love the two European imports:

1) Mastery – He’s had just eight races and has improved with each one…won his last race at a 1 3/8ths

2) Father Time – Also lightly raced ( only 7 starts), beat a field of 15 in his only race on synthetic dirt

3) Cloudy’s Knight – the 2007 Canadian International shocker will be running for the 39^th time

 Juvenile Fillies Turf: 

1)      Junia Tepzia – only two races in her life, but she won each and her Racing Post Rating puts the Beyers of everyone in this race to shame

2)      Lillie Langtry – a two year-old with almost a $million earned.

3)      Tapitsfly – Only race on the turf was impressive

 Juvenile Fillies Dirt: 

1)      Sara Louise – ready to break through here

2)      Seventh Street – two grade 1 wins already

3)      Ventura – apparently, she can win on any surface

 Filly and Mare Turf: 

1)      Forever Together – the defending champion

2)      Midday  - shortly after noon, she should run well

3)      Magical Fantasy – four race win streak will be snapped

 Filly and Mare Sprint: 

1)      Informed Decision – has won 7 of her last 8 races

2)      Seventh Street – she’s getting better each time out

3)      Ventura – great horse, this is probably the toughest field she’s ever faced

 Ladies Classic:  

1)      Careless Jewel – did you see her in the Alabama? ‘Nuff said!

2)      Life is Sweet  - at least she doesn’t have to run against stablemate Zenyatta

3)      Music Note – May not love the Pro Ride

Last week I wrote about daily doubles and I alluded to how betting on the horses offers the player the best odds and potential payoffs. I wish to re-inforce that idea today with a look at the new Lotto Max offered by the generous Ontario Lottery Corp.  This is the draw that has replaced Super 7. In Super 7 you paid $2 for a ticket. Lotto Max asks for $5. Same number (49), so exactly the same ridiculously low odds of winning…but check out what they did.  In Super 7, if you had 3 of 7 numbers and the bonus, you won $10. Bad enough, considering the odds of doing that are 76.7-1.  In Lotto Max 3 0f 7 and the bonus pays $20.  And this sucks - why? Because you’ve just paid 2.5 times the normal price and you were paid off only twice the past amount. If you bet $5 on a horse that closed at 5-2 on the board and it won, you’d get back $17.50. You’d be royally pissed if they changed that to just $15 (2-1), but that’s what the OLG has done. Made you paid two and half times as much, but only applied 2-1 to the only payoff you have any reasonable chance of winning.  At the track, if the odds are 76.7 -1 one before takeout, a winning $2 ticket would be worth about $120. A winning $5 ticket under the same conditions would pay $300. Lotto Max pays $20. It gets worse with the bigger prizes. This weekend, 5 of 7 in Lotto Max (defying odds of 1,584-1)  paid $115.  The last four Super 7 payoffs for 5 of 7 paid, $95, 98, 95 and 101. In other words, even though the ticket cost 250% more, the payoff increased less than 25%. 1,584-1 at the track after takeout would pay about $6000 on a $5 bet, or about 60 times as much for the same degree of difficulty . If lottery players had the vaguest sense of math, they would be apoplectic and never play the stupid game again. Lottery addicts, however, are the dumbest of all gamblers (or maybe it’s the slots players). Horse bettors wouldn’t stand for an 80% shrinkage of their payoffs.

Ok, got that out of my system. Now let’s get ready for the Breeders’ Cup. Here’s a question - have they undermined the effectiveness of the Breeders’ Cup by putting 7 more races on Friday. I’m saying yes  because I’ve lost track of what horses are running in what races. It’s all great racing, to be sure and the field will be full of talented horses and jockeys, but it feels diluted to me. Kind of like making the World Series a best of 11.

 I’m sure the Canadian connections of ten horse don’t necessarily share my concerns. Any time you get to run for a $ million or more, there’s little to complain about. The wonderful filly Careless Jewel gets a break when she runs in the $2 million Ladies Classic at a mile and an 8th on Friday because the unbeaten Zenyatta has chosen to take on the boys in the mile and a quarter Classic the next day. Careless Jewel will be ridden by Robert Landry and there is no better human being on the planet who would deserved to win a Breeders Cup race. Careless Jewel comes in on a five race win streak; she won the Fitz Dixon Cotillion at Philadelphia on October 4 after her brilliant 11-length conquest of the Grade 1 Alabama Stakes at Saratoga in August.

Landry also gets the call on Bridgetown , Eugen Melnyk’s excellent two year-old colt. Bridgetown won the Grade 3 Summer Stakes by a lengths and a half and will run on Friday in one of the new races, the Juvenile Colts Turf.

Square Eddy, unable to run  in the Queen’s Plate because of injury will represent Paul Reddam in either the Dirt Sprint or the Turf Sprint.  Square Eddy, a son of the great stallion Smart Strike was second in the Juvenile race last year. Reddam has also entered veteran Red Rocks in the Turf, a race Red Rocks won in 2006.

Jockey Eurico Rosa da Silva has two very strong chances for his first BC victory. He’ll ride the four year-old Fatal Bullet in the Spring on Saturday. Da Silva has had the pleasure of firing Fatal  Bullet to an impressive win in the Phoenix Stakes at Keeneland on October 9. da Silva will also ride Biofuel, which like Fatal Bullet is trained by Reade Baker. Biofuel, a two year old filly will try and parlay her win in the Grade 3 Mazarine Stakes into a greater win in the BC Juvenile Fillies at a mile and a sixteenth.

You don’t have to be a genius to think Frank Stronach has a shot in the Breeders’ Cup Classic with Einstein, though to win, he’ll have to pin Zenyatta with her first career loss.

Mine That Bird, Canada’s two year-old champion, who has not won since the Kentucky Derby has been entered into the Classic

Trainer Steve Asmussen will be sending Jungle Tale to the Juvenile Fillies Turf and the  Ontario bred Bickerson, a two year-old filly who has been racing in California will take her best shot in the Juvenile Fillies race.

Friday and Saturday - my confusion notwithstanding will be two long days of great betting on amazing fields for huge amounts of money, Trust me, there will be some wild payoffs, a lot of horse wearing 11, 12 ,13 and 14 on their saddle cloths hitting the board, and somewhere in there ( my prediction) a win by a Canadian horse and a Woodbine based jockey.