I have done many things in the world of horse racing. I was once MC for the Sovereign Awards. They’ve actually given me a couple of those coveted trophies. I have driven in a few celebrity harness races. I was once second in a Woodbine media handicapping contest. I have been to a Breeders’ Cup, a Preakness and about 35 Queen’s Plates. But on Tuesday, September 28^th, I fulfilled a huge fantasy.

   All summer long, I was fortunate enough to be engaged by Ajax Downs to help with the broadcast of their Tuesday afternoon simulcast. I handicap the card with track boss Nick Coukos and I conduct post race interviews with the winning jockeys, owners and trainers. Nothing terribly difficult. On this particular afternoon, Coukos had a surprise for me as I stepped into his office.

“You’re calling the races today,” said Coukos with a huge smile. “Frank’s lost his voice.”

Frank Ferrari has been calling the quarter horse races for 25 years. Each race takes under 20 seconds. There’s no time to elaborate, to refer to the sire or the owner, or the trainer’s in the money percentage. Frank nails the first leader, picks out the horses making a late move and gets the winner and runners-up at the wire every time.

Me, I once called a six-furlong race at Woodbine and told all in attendance that the heavy favourite had won…even though a 25-1 shot had nose it out at the wire.

 Fortunately, Frank was at Ajax Downs, sounding like the Godfather with a mouth full of gravel. My first task was to announce the changes.

“Welcome to Ajax Downs,” I said. “The first and most important change is that regular track announced Frank Ferrari has lost his voice and has been excused by the stewards. Peter Gross has drawn in off the also-eligible list.”

Now I think that Ajax Downs is brilliantly designed edifice. Live racing, off-track and slots all within a few yards of each other. But when they built this new building, they decided to ignore the requirements of the race caller. Between the announcer’s booth and the starting gate is a camera booth, which makes it impossible to see anything happening in the first 100 yards of a race.

 What I had to do was watch the race on a monitor and just before the finish, swivel to see who’s at the wire.

 Ferrari was in the booth with me, gesturing insanely at the tv set to point out the horses I should call and whispering through his gravel the names I needed. It worked out pretty well…except, perhaps for the 7^th race.

 The 7^th was the shortest sprint of the day, a mere 250 yards and it took all of 13 seconds for Heza Quik Six to win it. Problem was I couldn’t figure out who took the lead from the start.

“Jshashoomm,” gurgled Ferrari. I panicked, I had no idea what he was saying.

“Jshashooooom!” he insisted and much too late, I realized the leading horse was Jesshazoom. There was a very uncomfortable 7 seconds of dead air which in a 13 second race was pure agony, for both me and the bettors.”

There were some moments I was proud of. In the second race of the day, there was a horse called, Gch Byall Means Luvy, in my opinion, the worst named horse in the world. I was worried that Gch Byall Means Luvy would run well, which means I would have to spend half the race getting through its name, and, indeed, Gch Byall Means Luvy led most of the way and come second and I called it three times, while realizing that Kipty Mac was coming on to win in the final 50 yards.

My biggest disappointment? In the fifth race there was a horse with the wonderful name of TouchmeIkeelyouuu. I did a funny South American dictator voice when I introduced him and intended to incorporate TouchmeIkeelyouuu frequently in the call of the race, but sadly TouchmeIkeelyouuu left 9^th and stayed 9^th and I was so busy calling Wind Dancer to win and Yawl Gone Fishing to place that I completely forget to try and find TouchmeIkeelyouuu.

I’m declaring my race calling debut a modest success. I base this on the fact that I was able to leave Ajax Downs without being physically assaulted by any irate fans.

I’ve been thinking about gambling odds lately; actually I spend a lot of my time thinking of odds. However, it’s this new Poker game that the Lottery corporation has introduced. To be sure, it is a tempting seductress. You cough up your $2 and your poker hand instantly appears on the lottery screen. It’s the fastest lottery ever, certainly quicker than a scratch ticket and payment is made immediately. The OLG has wisely tapped into the huge poker phenomena and they’ve added a wrinkle to add to the appeal – even if you lose on the five cards dealt you, a second draw is conducted at night and you can win by matching as few as two of the cards on your slip.

But I’m here to tell you that this game offers the worst odds of any endeavor offered by the OLG. For example, after your five cards zap on screen in less than 2 seconds, if you get a pair of jacks (or higher) the payoff is a free ticket. But mathematically, a high pair defies odds of 7.7-1.  According to the true odds, you should be paid $15.40. Of course, the Lottery needs to take a big slice, which appropriately goes to hospitals and other charities, but the player should at least understand the odds before he bets. If you’re dealt two pair, you win $2 (or your money back), even though the math says that two pair happen every 21 hands. If you got $42 for two pair, that would be great; $2 represents less than 5% of the true odds payment for that. In the slots at Woodbine on video poker, with which I have a passing familiarity, you can use all or none of your first five cards and get up to five more. So even though you can get twice as many cards, two pair pays 2-1, or $4 on a $2 bet.

Three of a kind in instant poker gets you $5, though the odds against it are 47-1. Last night, in a local variety store, the man in front of me bought a poker hand and he got a straight, for which he happily accepted $20. Good thing the guy didn’t know that a straight defies odds of 255-1. The man got 9-1 or about 1/26^th of the true odds.

I admit to playing this game. It’s just too much instant gratification to ignore. On the fourth ticket I bought, I received two fives and three tens – a full house. Not bad, the guy in the PetroCan station made me sign it and immediately paid me $75, which I guess sounds pretty good. Except a full house will be drawn, on average, once every 649 hands. According to the odds, I deserved $1298.

The toughest hand to be dealt is the royal flush, which you will see, more or less, once in 649,740 times. If you get it in the new poker game, they pay you $5000.

To their credit, the OLG prints all these odds on their webpage, easily accessible when you click on the Poker Lotto page.

And based on the results from the first two weeks of this game, it’s a huge hit. Every time I’ve been in store or a gas station, there have been people lining up to play. For Wednesday, September 15, the OLG displayed the payoffs for 91,827 winning tickets or $182, 654 of bets. Since the lottery claims that 59.9% of tickets are winners, we can calculate that over $300,000 worth of tickets was purchased. For one game, every day, that’s a lottery success story.

Ok, why am I telling you this in a horse racing blog? Well, last Friday, I hit the final daily double at Woodbine. The first horse paid $21.10, the second paid $9.50. I received $105. There were 11 horses in the first race and 12 in the second, so the natural odds were (11 X 12) 131-1. So my payoff was about 75% of the math of simply picking any two numbers. Mind you, I was able to reject several horses in each race simply because they didn’t fit my handicapping criteria.

The next day, I scored a double at Belmont that kicked back $111. I was particularly please with that payoff since the first horse was 4-1 and the second was 7.7-1. You multiply that together and you get  30.8-1, which at the track would pay you $63.60. So my payoff was almost $47 more than a parlay. There were 7 horses in the first leg and 8 in the second, so the random odds were 56-1. $111 represents odds of 54.5-1. I received very close to 100% of the true odds.

Then yesterday, I bet the double spanning the 3^rd and 4^th races at Woodbine. The first winner was 7.1-1 and was a surprisingly easy winner from a small field of 5. When the next race was won, also by a horse at 7.1-1, my double paid a lovely $128, or odds of 63-1 on my $2 bet. There were 8 horses in the second race so the actual random odds were 56-1.

I’ve been playing the races since the Eisenhower administration. It’s all science and math to me. I have very specific handicapping rules I apply to each race and each bet. But for a person who might pick numbers out of the sky, or off his phone number or area code, it’s obvious that betting the horses offers a much fairer and more lucrative payoff.

If you defy odds of 21-1 in Poker Lotto, they pay you $2. Do the same at the track and they’ll gladly give you over $30.

I know what risk I prefer.

I was very sad to hear that Nancy Dolman, the wife of comedian Martin Short died on the weekend. I had a couple of degrees of involvement with Nancy.

She was two years younger than me and we both attended York Mills C.I. As a teenager, she was a stunning young woman, often the subject of admiration among the young males in the school.

She became an actress and singer and in 1972, while in the production of Godspell, she met Short and they married in 1980.  My understanding is that it was a fruitful, loving and successful marriage until the end. She was diagnosed with cancer about three years ago.

In the mid 80s, I was employed at CITY-TV and somewhere along the line, I submitted a very mediocre film scrip to Moses Znaimer. But timing is everything, and, as I recall, Moses wanted to branch out and make movies, so he told me to rewrite my script. It was called Butterbump in the Eighth and was a half hour little story and Moses decided that CITY would produce it.

Marcia Martin, a CITY TV producer was in charge of the production. Her sister Andrea, the great comic actress was married to Bob Dolman, Nancy’s brother. Marcia decided from the start that Nancy would get the role of Audrey. I was friends with actor Jonathan Welsh and persuaded Andrea that he should have the lead role of Stewart.

The plot, what there was of it, concerned an inveterate cabdriver horseplayer, who meets a beautiful woman at the track, falls for her while pursuing a big ‘tip’ and right after he scores a big win, she rips him off for the proceeds.

The third lead role was that of a 12 year-old boy – a track rat – who perhaps latched on to the Jonathan Welsh character as a father figure.  We spent a lot of time casting for the right kid and I remember distinctly when Sean Roberge came in to read. He was so smooth and natural that I simply blurted out,

“You’re the one! You got the part.”

Shooting Butterbump in the Eight (the cabdriver gets a tip on Butterbump in the Eighth, get it?) was a great experience. Woodbine pretty well gave us carte blanche to shoot anywhere we wanted.  It is certainly not a terrific film by any measurement, but I am proud of the race sequences. Unlike Seabiscuit, we could not create races – we had to shoot the real ones and sew them together to suit our purposes.

There was one scene between Welsh and Dolman that was intriguing to film. Basically he seduces her with the idea that he has a big tip that is going to render a lot of cash. We shot it in a hotel room and it was the first and only time in my life in which I had to direct actors to kiss each other.  I think every guy in the room was jealous of Welsh that night. Nancy looked gorgeous.

We shot Butterbump in 1985. By then, Martin Short was very much a rising star. His work in the SCTV series was hilarious and brilliant. One day he showed up at Woodbine to watch us shoot a scene with his wife. He had the couple’s first child in a stroller and was perfectly content to play the abiding father on the sidelines, while mom got all the attention. One scene involved Stewart leaving the track after a losing day and handing off his racing form to someone coming in. I asked Martin if he would be the guy coming in.

Then I could brag that I directed Martin Short in my movie.

Marty was more than happy to do it. The problem was, each time he took the form, he had to do a piece of business, a pratfall, a head splat into a garbage can, whatever. He had us in stitches.

I’d like to say you can see this scene on YouTube or that the movie is available at Blockbuster, but I don’t even have a copy myself. Maybe Marcia Martin does. Someone ask her.

Nancy Dolman was terrific in a poorly written part. At no point do we really figure out what makes her tick and that was my fault as the writer.

There is a very weird sidebar to this. Sean Roberge, the gifted kid who played the 12 year-old went on to do some very fine work. Among his roles was an ongoing part as the sidekick in the revamped Tarzan series. Sadly, Roberge was killed in a car accident in 1996.

Welsh acted in a number of excellent Canadian series. He was the fastidious bureau manager in Adderly and played the gay story editor in the E.N.G. series. Jonathan died in 2005 and sadly, he passed with virtually no fanfare. I can’t even tell you what he died of.

So the three leads in a mediocre horse racing movie that I wrote and directed have all died.

There was a brief moment in my life that I was involved with Nancy Dolman. She was a beautiful woman, who at all times conducted herself with grace, skill and humour.

Like many others, I extend my sympathies to Martin Short and his children.

I haven’t contributed to my blog for awhile and that has a lot to do with the fact that I was in Saratoga from July 23 through Sunday August 1. This is an annual trip that I take with buddies Jim McKenny and Clint Nickerson. We’ve lost count, but this could have been the 15^th time since the early 90’s we’ve made the journey.

And we declared this one the best ever. In previous years, we had arrived on the Wednesday and stayed through Sunday, but when I learned that they had decided to push opening day back to the Friday, I proposed a ten-day trip which received unanimous approval.

To be honest, we didn’t make any money; in fact we left a healthy contribution to the New York Racing Association, but that’s hardly the point. We had glorious weather, saw some great racing, ate tons of food and even got a little golfing in.

It’s the grass racing at Saratoga that really stands out. At some point, we simply lost track of the heart-pounding finishes. Every final hundred yards seemed to feature half a dozen surging horses heads with anyone of them having a chance to win. Usually there are four or five turf races a day at Saratoga. In previous years, we have attended when it rained all week, and most of the grass races were canceled and run with depleted fields on the dirt. It was wonderful to have the perfect sunny warmth all week and none of the races were affected.

On Wednesday, July 28, they ran the $150,000 Lake George Stakes for three year-old fillies at a mile and a sixteenth on the inner turf. Lots of Canadian content as trainer Roger Attfield sent out Perfect Shirl and No Explaining, Mark Casse entered Exclusive Love, and Brian Lynch had Bay To Bay. This one had a typical finish as 9-1 shot Perfect Shirl and rider John Velasquez  roared from mid-field in the stretch to win by about three quarters a length. In second was Exclusive Love who went off at 57-1, but had a lovely trip, sitting third most of the way for jockey Shaun Bridgmohan. Attfield’s second horse, No Explaining was third, creating an all-Woodbine tri that was worth $6,100 . Casse had a brilliant comment after the race.

“I had to come all the way to Saratoga to get beat by Roger Attfield,” he cracked. “I can do that at Woodbine any day of the week.”

We saw a lot of amazing stuff in a ten day span that went by in a blink of the eye. I kept wondering of Lindsay Lohan’s fourteen day stint in prison went as quickly. I guess not. On Saturday, July 24, jockey Javier Castellano made history when he became the first rider ever to win five straight races at Saratoga. He captured the second on 5-2 shot Yawkey Way, came right back in the third on the favourite (43.60) Cody Samora, scored the fourth race with Desert Key ($8.80), had the crowd buzzing with his fourth straight on 3-2 shot Fiddler’s Chaparito in the fifth and saved his best for last when he scored in the sixth with 12-1 longshot, Stand Proud. Not only did Stand Proud have minimal form, but he staggered out of the gate and was last of nine after a quarter mile. But Castellano was patient, got his horse in stride and was making up ground in the stretch. Not doing this with style points however, as the Daily racing Form chart says he “veered in several paths  in upper stretch.”  Late in the lane, though, Stand Proud was straight as an arrow and got the lead in the final stride to win by a neck.   Some jockeys have won 5 races on a single card at Saratoga, but Castellano is the only guy to win five straight. And a unique circumstance at Saratoga made this even cooler. The jockeys walk back to their quarters right through the crowd and when Castellano made his way back to the jocks room, he received a huge roar from the masses and extended applause.

At Woodbine, for comparison, the jockeys weight in after a race under the track and then disappear in a tunnel that takes them back to their room. There is little opportunity for the fans to interact with the riders.

There have been a couple of good moments for Woodbine based jockeys at this Saratoga meet. Eurico Rosa da Silva, the leading rider at Woodbine, came to the Spa and rode Biofuel to a nifty second place finish in the American Coaching Club Stakes on July 24. This was a mile and an eighth on the dirt for three year-old fillies and the winner, Devil May Care was just too much, galloping home by four lengths. But Biofuel, the Sovereign Award winner as the best two year-old filly in Canada, ran strongly in the stretch to get the second money. Want to know just how great a race this was for the fillies? Devil May Care’s time for the nine furlongs was 1:49.42. On Sunday, August 1, Looking At Lucky got rave reviews for his awesome win in the $Million Haskell Invitational at Monmouth. Looking At Lucky buried a very strong field, winning by four lengths and leaving Kentucky Derby winning Super Saver back in fourth. Looking At Lucky was timed in 1:42.83 for the mile and an eighth. In other words, based on the times, the filly devil May Care would have hit the wire two lengths ahead of Looking At Lucky.

And yesterday, Chantal Sutherland rode Audre Cappuccitti’s speedy Essence Hit Man in the Amsterdam Stake. Sutherland took Essence Hit Man right to the top as soon as the gates opened, but she was stalked down the backstretch by the 3-5 favourite Discreetly Mine, ridden by John Velasquez. Essence Hit Man set some torrid fractions…21.45, 44.07 and 1:07.76 for six furlongs. That worked out well for Discreetly Mine who wore down Essence Hit Man in mid-stretch and just kept on to the wire, winning by almost 9 lengths. Essence Hit Man’s speed was too much for the others and he held on for second…good for $30,000, a tenth of which goes to Sutherland and you could lure me to the Spa for $3000 a day.

Just an example of the sensational racing we saw during the fastest ten days of our lives. Back to the grind now. Only 356 days until I leave for next year’s trip to Saratoga.

Just about the only thing missing from the 151st Queen’s Plate was a spine-tingling finish to the race itself.  I doubt that jockey Eurico Rosa da Silva or trainer Nick Gonzalez are at all disappointed that their horse Big Red Mike won a race in which he led from the beginning with Hotep running second almost the whole length of the mile and a quarter race. Not exactly one of the Zenyatta coming out of the clouds finishes.  Not even close to the final 50 yards of the Canadian Oaks in which Roan Inish squeezed between two rivals to win by a head. Roan Inish was third in the Plate.

So even if the race lacked heart throbbing adrenalin, the day at Woodbine had several memorable aspects. I was gifted by VP of Media Glenn Crouter,  a table for eight in the corporate tent which was trackside halfway up the stretch. The lobster and shrimp and roast beef and beverages were abundant and while the huge crowd in the grandstand might have lined up 20 deep to place a bet, that was not an issue in the tent, where betting machines stood empty waiting for my action.

Sadly, this was another typical Queen’s Plate for me. My betting record since my first Plate in 1967 is deplorable. I think I’ve picked three winners and one of them was Jumping Joseph who payed $4.40 to win. I wish I had a dollar for every $100 I’ve thrown away on Queen’s Plate days.

Through 12 races on Sunday, I didn’t cash a single ticket. I did hit a couple of doubles at Belmont, but nothing from Woodbine. I took Mobilizer and Giant’s Tomb in the Plate and got a mild thrill around the far turn when it appeared that Giant’s Tomb was making a nice run, but he flattened in the stretch and finished 4th.

Now normally at the track, nothing matters more to me than my next bet, but I have to admit, it was thoroughly thrilling to see the Queen, decked out in a shimmering aqua suit. I wouldn’t be caught dead in a colour like that, but Her Majesty always pulls it off somehow.  There was something else I haven’t seen since the 70s at Woodbine…a crowd so large that the fifth level looked to be full. And when the Queen got out of black limo at the head of the stretch to sit with her husband in the open, horse drawn landau, there was a huge roar of approval from the mob. As old school as the Royalty might be, it was incredible to see Queen Elizabeth in person.

As for the race, give Eurico Rosa da Silva all the credit. A mile and a quarter under 126 pounds on a hot day at the track is no easy assignment for a three year-old horse. Da Silva recognized that no one was willing to sacrifice his horse and he was able to gallop out gentle fractions that allowed Big Red Mike to have something in the tank for the stretch run. Hotep, under Patrick Husbands ran second the whole race and in the stretch, tried hard to get close, but if anything, Big Red Mike was opening up in the final strides. It was Big Red Mike, Hotep and the filly Roan Inish 1-2-3 at the head of the stretch and that’s the way it finished. Not particularly dramatic, but it was a magnificent afternoon for trainer Nick Gonzalez. He was in the winners circle after Daniel Be Good scored in the 9th race for the Terra Racing Stables and just after meeting the Queen who awarded the Plate Trophy, Gonzalez learned that Talk to Da Manager, a horse he trained at Fort Erie, took the final race at the Fort.

It reminds me of the Richard Dreyfuss movie, Let It Ride in which the main character chortles,

“I’m having a good day!”

And Woodbine Entertainment Group (WEG) had a very good day….it was the largest crowd to attend the track in this century/millenium and clearly they had employed their bank cards – the total amount bet for the day was over $6,800,000 – I’m pretty sure that’s a record for a card of racing at Woodbine…

And  because I’m obsessive about these things, it appears that I’m the only one who noticed that with two wins on the card, Eurico Rosa da Silva has moved into a tie for first Patrick Husbands in the jockeys riding race.

 I have a special exhilarating portion of my brain for the quarterhorse racing at Ajax Downs and some full disclosure here – I have been hired by Ajax Downs to be the on-camera host for their televised races.  It is nice to be generating some extra cash; my challenge is to lose less on any particular day at the quarterhorse track than I earn.

But my history with Ajax Downs goes back more than 25 years before the smart looking slots/track facilities were built just off Kingston Road west of Salem. I was lured out to Picov Downs in 1983. Norm Picov had been maintaining his family’s interest in quarterhorse racing, a sport that had pretty well been innovated by his father, Alex in the early 60s. Norm suggested I try my hand at riding one of the speedballs and in the early 80s, as tv reporter with Citypulse, I foolishly saw myself as equal parts journalist and stuntman.

I’d never been on a horse before, let along a fractious, hyper, edge-of-panic quarterhorse and when the one they put me on began to canter, I had no clue. I was filled with abject fear, but couldn’t get off the horse, because I felt committed – I’d come to Picov Downs to get video of me riding a quarterhorse.

In the starting gate, two jockeys huddled over me, giving me an initial lesson in wrapping the horse’s mane around the reins. I could feel my heart driving through my chest like a jack-hammer.

“Open the fucking gates!” I screamed. And in an instant, I was fulfilling my personal sports fantasy. I was a jockey! At full gallop, somehow centrifugal force kept me firmly glued to the paper thin saddle. In my mind’s eye, I was mimicking Sandy Hawley, flying at close to 40 miles an hour, the extraordinary power of a remarkable entity under my body. In less than 20 seconds, we reached the finish line and only then, did it sink in.

No one had told me how to stop this thing!

In those early, almost pre-historic, days at Picov Downs, the racing strip pretty well ended in an unmowed field. It was a ‘J’ track that curved away from the broken down grandstand into nothing more fancy than untended grass that had been flattened by horses’ hooves. I’m not sure what went through my terrified mind as my horse began to negotiate the turn, but the next thing I knew, I was hanging from her neck, having crawled up along her back, much like Jackie Kennedy trying to get out of that limo as snipers fired at the President. I do remember the resident jockeys at the time howling in hysterics at my undignified dismount.

They even staged a winners circle event for me. Actress Linda Renhoffer offered me an extended embrace and I recall thinking that in quarterhorse racing, the celebratory kiss can often go on longer than the race itself.

Ok, that’s your backgrounder for what ensued on Tuesday, June 15 at Ajax Downs. For last year’s racing, the ‘J’ track was replaced, Picov Downs was renamed Ajax Downs, a bright crisp sets of stands was built, there’s several hundred slot machines and a well-thought out off-track wagering facility and Norm Picov is always in attendance, a look of wonder and pride permanently pasted to his face as he realizes how forty years of persevering in this sport has made him an overnight success.

Less than a year ago, Nick Coukos was hired as the VP of Corporate Affairs. I have no idea what that title means, but Nick is a pro-active kind of guy. His genesis in horse racing began when he was betting the horses profusely as a much younger man. For several years he was president of the Horsemen’s Benevolent and Protective Agency. He was a very good hire in terms of expanding the reach and impact of the racing at Ajax Downs. By virtue of his dogged persistence, Coukos persuaded Woodbine to carry the Ajax  signal and wisely decided to run races on Tuesday afternoon when the simulcast buffet is not as sumptuous as most other days. Tuesday, the 15^th of June was the first day that Coukos’ quarterhorse racing would be broadcast across the country, on the internet and in off-track betting theatres around the world.

It was also the first day for me as host of the proceedings. Coukos cracked that he had to decide between me and a nice looking woman and elected to go with the guy who can deliver a three hour dissertation on the merits of the daily double.

Our day began at 1:30 when Nick and I presented Talking Quarters in which we breakdown the races, offering our selections. It wasn’t quite up there with riding a quarterhorse, but it was kind of neat to see Pete’s Picks up on giant screen in the infield.

And if you’ve never seen quarterhorse racing in person, Tuesday might have been a good introduction to the game for you, although the action was more on the extreme end of horse racing. It seemed the animals were aware that something different was happening. Many were fractious and stubborn in the walking ring. Before the first race, I watched in near horror as Streaking For The Wire panicked when he stepped in a puddle. He reared up violently and at least twice drove his head into his handler, a brave young woman who refused to let go of his leash. It was remarkable that she wasn’t knocked down or that the horse didn’t manage to run loose. Streaking For The Wire would finish last in the first race, but not before a series of unfortunate events.

There was a 15 minute delay when Stollywood Style reared up and landed upside down wedged under the doors of the starting gate. David Piques had won the first race of the season on this horse and was fortunate to escape injury. After several scary minutes, Stollywood Style was extricated, apparently without serious damage, though he was scratched.

Jockey Jeff Mclaren had a painful day. His first race mount, Cruise My Fortune was fractious before the start and while jumping around in the gate, pinched McLaren’s foot. McLaren hobbled around with a noticeable limp the rest of the afternoon.

When the first race finally went off, the 10-horse, Mighty Oak, veered dramatically inward and crashed into Pegasos Willing who lost all chance. Ridden by Kim Ito, Mighty Oak was the race favourite at even money, but finished 7^th and after the stewards saw the bumper cars at the start of the heat, they disqualified Mighty Oak from 7^th to 8^th.

There was a nice all-female finish to the second race, the second of four $12,500 Maiden Derby Trials. The winner was the filly Lil Fishy who was ridden aggressively by Erika Smilofksy for trainer Bridgette Cheatham. Lil Fishy went off at 7-1, and there was a noticeable whoop from her peeps when it was announced that she had run the 330 yards in a 98 speed rating – an excellent figure that would be, easily, the fastest of the day.

Fifty year-old Marty Mercieca was the winning jockey in the third race, but not before a little grief. Mercieca was on the 9-horse Azoomin Thrill (which vividly describes this kind of racing) and he admitted that his filly did cut across the field from the outside.  Jockey John McInery on the 7^th place finisher, The Country Side, lodged a claim of foul, but the stewards saw no reason to change the finish. When the gates opened, Ten to Lousiana lunged and threw jockey Michell Reakelboom to the dirt. She was a little flustered, but unhurt.

The wildness carried on in race five. As the gates opened, the 4-horse, All Wacked Out and the 6-horse, Ms Mollie Malone ducked right and left respectively making the 5-horse, Eyediamond Face the filling of a quarterhorse sandwich. All Wacked out, trained by Bob Broadstock for his wife Marie won by half a length and Ms Mollie Malone, the 8-5 favourite came second and the judges were once again asked to consider a claim of foul, but in spite of the mayhem in the first twenty yards, they left the finish intact.

The potent combination of jockey Jesse Daigrepont, trainer Clinton Crawford and owner Roger Girard won another three races to widen their lead in all their respective categories. After each race, my job is to conduct interviews with the winning parties, so I got to chat with each of these guys, who form the three corners of a conversational triangle. Daigrepont never uses three words when one will suffice, Crawford talks with a broad Oklahoma drawl and enjoys expounding on the sport and Girard converses in a fast Quebec-born accent and made a point of welcoming the world to Ajax Downs.

And then there’s Kim Ito. I don’t know what voodoo dolls she plays with at home, but she was convinced that I was ‘jinxing’ her. In the pre-race show called Talking Quarters, Coukos and I identified several horses that the talented and tough Ito was riding for trainer Don Reid. Ito and Reid are off to a sensational start at Ajax. She won 11 of her first 25 rides and was hitting the board at a sensational 80%. So, naturally, anyone considering a bet has to take a long look at any Don Reid horse she gets on.

But after I set up one race in which I suggested the horse she was on had a strong chance, she turned to me as the horses paraded on to the track and asked,

“Do you dislike me, or what?”

I don’t buy the ‘jinx’ concept. 30 of the last 32 Queen’s Plate horses I bet on did not lose because of my wagering, but because, as I can do with great skill on any day, picked the wrong horse.

Somehow, Kim Ito thinks that telling people her horse has a chance diminishes any chance the horse has. Of course, she’s wrong and she proved it.

In the seventh race, she was on the Don Reid trained Freds Knockout and she won this heat in very un-quarter-horse fashion, rallying from off the pace (how do you rally from off the pace in a 350 yard sprint?), passing five horses in the last 150 yards to win by an expanding length. Her successful ride meant she had to be interviewed by me and my first question was:

“Tell me what happened in the first race when you were disqualified.”

Ito responded with,

“In this race, my horse broke well and was full of run at the end.”

And when I pointed out that she had a good shot to win on either of her final two mounts, she acted as if I’d pushed a knitting needle through a doll-like effigy of her. The interview came to an abrupt finish, though she was laughing at me as she ran off to be weighed.

In fact, Ito would win a second race on the card, leading from start to finish in the 9^th race on the 3-5 choice, True Country Choice.

There was more mayhem in the tenth and it sure illustrated the advantage for horses leaving either from the inside post or from the extreme outside. Right from the break, the 5,6,7, and 8-horses all went for the same spot; for an instant they formed a near-perfect triangle with My Illegal Runaway and jockey Regan Knowles getting much the worst of it, being pinched off on both sides. With the middle horses all converging, the 9-horse, Carlos Avenger and Jesse Daigrepont had nothing but open road and he took it to the wire, hanging on by a neck over the rail horse, Chicks Failure and Brian Bell, who also had a completely unimpeded trip. A subsequent stewards’ inquiry did not change the order of finish.

And Mr. Coukos had great reason to smile when he perused the betting totals. Two days earlier, the handle was 13,574. On that Sunday, there was no simulcasting. Tuesday handle, enhanced by satellite exposure was $60,205, a increase of almost 450%!

In the truest sense of the word, quarterhorse racing in Canada is now on the map.

This weekend verges on the sensational in terms of a wide variety of racing action on the North American scene. The primary source of our attention will be Sunday at Woodbine for the $500,000 Woodbine Oaks (presented by Budweiser). A couple of very speedy fillies will meet in that one. Embur’s Song and Resentless will see who can outrun each other. Enbur’s Song, trained by Todd Pletcher comes into the Oaks off a sensational mile and a sixteenth in which she missed the track record by .22. It was just the filly’s second career race, so if she improves off that, she’ll be a handful, Garret Gomez, the best jockey in North American drops into Rexdale to ride. The chief rival will be Resentless, trained by Ian Howard for Gordon Ross. Resentless, a daughter of Trajectory has not just won her last two races – she has crushed her opponents. In the Ontario Lassies Stakes last November, Resentless cruised home by 5 1/4 lengths at odds of 3-4. In her only start in 2010, she buried seven other fillies in the Fury Stakes, winning by five in 1:21.66 for seven furlongs. Chantal Sutherland has a great chance at winning her first Oaks with this one.

Also on Sunday is the $150,000 Queen’s Plate Trial with eight horses entered and all eight have something to prove, making this a a very appropriate Trial. Sid Attard has told me he thinks his Ghost Fleet has a shot, but he will have to proof his ability at a distance after losing by six lengths to Essence Hit man in the Queenston Stakes at seven furlongs. Big Red Mike will be ridden by Eurico Rosa da Silva, winner of last year’s Plate on Eye of the Leopard, but Big Red Mike’s last race makes you wonder. He was third, two lengths behind the winner Gold Medallion in an allowance race at a mile and 70. The time of 1:40.83 was excellent, so maybe Big Red Mike moves forward off that. Mobilizer, to be ridden by Jono Jones for trainer Roger Attfield comes into the Trial off a second place finish to Arctic Fern at a mile and a sixteenth and he was running nicely at the end.

Hollinger was unbeaten in 2009 for Attfield, but his 2010 opener was disappointing. He went off as the 3-4 fave in the Queenston Stakes and flattened out in the stretch for a fourth place finish behind the fast Essence Hit Man.

D’s Wando gets Emma-Jayne Wilson and he comes off an ordinary third in the Queenston Stakes.

Captain Canuck probably won’t attract much of the bettor’s action in the Trial. He broke his maiden with David Clark on May 28 at a mile and an eighth. Wisely, Clark had Captain Canuck close to the pace, because this race went quite slowly – the nine furlongs was timed in 1:53.18; if you extrapolate that to the mile and a quarter Queen’s Plate distance, you get about 2:06..which isn’t likely to win.

Giant’s Tomb comes into the Plate Trial after a non-descript third to Tierre Del Tigre in an optional claim at a mile and a sixteenth in early May. The son of Awesome Again has tons of ‘bottom’ as far as experience is concerned. Trainer Mark Frostad ran him around two turns in three races at the Fairgrounds and in the last of those three, Giant’s Tomb won by two lengths for Patrick Husbands who will ride him in the Trial.

Starting on the outside in this field will be Mobthewarrior for trainer Greg De Gannes. Mobthewarrior lost by a nose to the infamous Bug’s Boy in a seven furlong allowance race on May 9. Not sure how good that looks on his resume, but he was gaining dramatically in the last 100 yards.

So that’s the deal for Sunday. We also have both of North America’s great ladies running this weekend. On Saturday, Rachel Alexandra gets a chance to atone as she will be the very heavy favourite in the Fleur De Lis Grade ll Stakes at Churchill Downs. There doesn’t seem to be anything in the five-horse field that can beat Rachel at a mile and an 8th, but that seemed to be the case on April 30 when Rachel was stunned at the finish line by Unrivalled Belle in the La Troienne Stakes at Churchill. If Rachel Alexandra loses this race, she will never again be entered in a race with a French name.

On Sunday, expect horse racing history to be set when Zenyatta takes on five others in the Grade I Vanity Stakes at Hollywood Park. The sensational six year-old mare has won all of her 16 starts and, upon winning, will set the modern record for a thoroughbred running in unrestricted races- 17 wins in succession. Her five opponents should be fearful. Zenyatta is the defending champion of the Vanity and she has won four times at Hollywood. This is a handicap race and Zenyatta will be burdened with 129 pounds, some of which will be jockey Mike Smith. Zenyatta will be giving away as much as 17 pounds to her opponents.

This weekend verges on the sensational in terms of a wide variety of racing action on the North American scene. The primary source of our attention will be Sunday at Woodbine for the $500,000 Woodbine Oaks (presented by Budweiser).  A couple of very speedy fillies will meet in that one. Embur’s Song and Resentless will see who can outrun each other. Enbur’s Song, trained by Todd Pletcher comes into the Oaks off a sensational mile and a sixteenth in which she missed the track record by .22. It was just the filly’s second career race, so if she improves off that, she’ll be a handful, Garret Gomez, the best jockey in North American drops into Rexdale to ride. The chief rival will be Resentless, trained by Ian Howard for Gordon Ross. Resentless, a daughter of Trajectory has not just won her last two  races – she has crushed her opponents. In the Ontario Lassies Stakes last November, Resentless cruised home by 5 1/4 lengths at odds of 3-4. In her only start in 2010, she buried seven other fillies in the Fury Stakes, winning by five in 1:21.66 for seven furlongs. Chantal Sutherland has a great chance at winning her first Oaks with this one.

Also on Sunday is the $150,000 Queen’s Plate Trial with eight horses entered and all eight have something to prove, making this a a very appropriate Trial. Sid Attard has told me he thinks his Ghost Fleet has a shot, but he will have to proof his ability at a distance after losing by six lengths to Essence Hit man in the Queenston Stakes at seven furlongs. Big Red Mike will be ridden by Eurico Rosa da Silva, winner of last year’s Plate on Eye of the Leopard, but Big Red Mike’s last race makes you wonder. He was third, two lengths behind the winner Gold Medallion in an allowance race at a mile and 70. The time of 1:40.83 was excellent, so maybe Big Red Mike moves forward off that. Mobilizer, to be ridden by Jono Jones for trainer Roger Attfield comes into the Trial off a second place finish to Arctic Fern at a mile and a sixteenth and he was running nicely at the end.

Hollinger was unbeaten in 2009 for Attfield, but his 2010 opener was disappointing. He went off as the 3-4 fave in the Queenston Stakes and flattened out in the stretch for a fourth place finish behind the fast Essence Hit Man.

D’s Wando  gets Emma-Jayne Wilson and he comes off an ordinary third in the Queenston Stakes.

Captain Canuck probably won’t attract much of the bettor’s action in the Trial. He broke his maiden with David Clark on May 28 at a mile and an eighth. Wisely, Clark had Captain Canuck close to the pace, because this race went quite slowly – the nine furlongs was timed in 1:53.18; if you extrapolate that to the mile and a quarter Queen’s Plate distance, you get about 2:06..which isn’t likely to win.

Giant’s Tomb comes into the Plate Trial after a non-descript third to Tierre Del Tigre in an optional claim  at a mile and a sixteenth in early May. The son of Awesome Again has tons of ‘bottom’ as far as experience is concerned. Trainer Mark Frostad ran him around two turns in three races at the Fairgrounds and in the last of those three, Giant’s Tomb won by two lengths for Patrick Husbands who will ride him in the Trial.

Starting on the outside in this field will be Mobthewarrior for trainer Greg De Gannes. Mobthewarrior lost by a nose to the infamous Bug’s Boy in a seven furlong allowance race on May 9.  Not sure how good that looks on his resume, but he was gaining dramatically in the last 100 yards.

So that’s the deal for Sunday. We also have both of North America’s great ladies running this weekend. On Saturday, Rachel Alexandra gets a chance to atone as she will be the very heavy favourite in the Fleur De Lis Grade ll Stakes at Churchill Downs. There doesn’t seem to be anything in the five-horse field that can beat Rachel at a mile and an 8th, but that seemed to be the case on April 30 when Rachel was stunned at the finish line by Unrivalled Belle in the La Troienne Stakes at Churchill. If Rachel Alexandra loses this race, she will never again be entered in a race with a French name.

On Sunday, expect horse racing history to be set when Zenyatta takes on five others in the Grade I Vanity Stakes at Hollywood Park. The sensational six year-old mare has won all of her 16 starts and, upon winning,  will set the modern record for a thoroughbred running in unrestricted races- 17 wins in succession. Her five opponents should be fearful. Zenyatta is the defending champion of the Vanity and she has won four times at Hollywood.  This is a handicap race and Zenyatta will be burdened with 129 pounds, some of which will be jockey Mike Smith. Zenyatta will be giving away as much as 17 pounds to her opponents.

The Belmont Stakes will be run this Saturday and looking at the lineup it’s clear that once again we have a strong argument that the American Thoroughbred triple Crown asks way too much of three year-old horses. Of the 12 horses running the mile and a half on Sunday, not one has taken part in both of the first legs. Preakness winner Looking At luck is taking at pass..and Derby Champ Super Saver is not in the third leg as well. Ice Box, second in the Derby, might be the favourite – he wisely side-stepped the Preakness. In fact , 7 of the horses in the Belmont did not run in either the Derby or the Preakness.  The reality is that it’s just unreasonably cruel to ask young horses to run three distance races under top weights within a five week period. There is a much wiser Triple Crown schedule in Canada. The Queen’s Plate, the first leg is on July 4, a full two months after the Kentucky Derby. The second leg in Canada, the Prince of Wales at Fort Erie is on July 25, three weeks later. And the Breeders Stakes at Woodbine, on the grass is August 15. That’s 42 days – 7 weeks that the three races are spread out. Which explains why Canada has produced many more Triple Crown winners than the U.S. does. Affirmed in 1977 is the last American Triple Crown Champion, but since then, With Approval (1989), Izvestia (1990) ,Dance Smartly (1991), Peteski (1993) and Wando (1993).

It’s also interesting to note that Mine That Bird, after winning the Kentucky Derby last year, has not found his way again to the winners circle. It’s a whole argument about making sophomore horses go a mile and a quarter on unfriendly dirt so early in their careers and how much it can hurt them. Discuss amongst yourselves.

Meanwhile, have you noticed, how once again, Patrick Husbands is dominating the jockeys’ race at Woodbine. Eurico Rosa da Silva started the year brilliantly and through the first month seemed to have a healthy lead, but Husbands has been cranking out the wins at a prodigious pace lately. Over the last ten cards of racing, ending on Sunday, May 30, Husbands has totaled 13 wins to take over top spot from da Silva with 40 wins to Eurico’s 37. Husbands’ 40th win came in the 10th race on Sunday when he brought home 14-1 shot, Accomplice to victory in a maiden special weight. Husbands had to hold off 48-1 longshot Sir Andrew, ridden by his nephew Terry. The all-Husbands exactor paid a mind-boggling $1,136.00

On the harness side, Randy Waples is clearly in his comfort zone. After dominating the Woodbine meet with 129 winners, 30 more than runner-up Sylvain Filion, Waples is clearly very comfortable at his home track, Mohawk. Through the first nine cards at Mohawk, Waples has 19 wins, putting him easily in first, well ahead of Mark Macdonald who holds down second. And maintaining the theme of keeping it all in the family (ala the Husbands), on Friday, May 28, Randy won two races  and his father, the legendary Ron Waples won the fourth race on Learn The Lingo, who rang up a $47.20 win price. Waples the senior only drives a handful of times a year these days, but is still capable of teaching the younger generation of drivers a few things.

Kentucky Derby winner Super Saver has been installed as the 5-2 favourite for Saturday’s running of the Preakness Stakes at a mile and three-sixteenths. What’s very intriguing about the second jewel of the Triple Crown is that only 5 of the 20 three year-0lds that ran on the first Saturday in May will be gunning at Pimlico. So what happened to the other 15.

In all likelihood, many of them are sore. It’s tough sledding to run a mile and a quarter in the mud, with 126 pounds of jockey and lead aboard and many of the horses in the Derby are probably still suffering bruises from the roller derby type trip they endured. Ice Box, who was a very impressive late running second in the Derby isn’t coming to Pimlico. He had a brutal trip, his momentum completely stopped on two occasions and his people are probably being wise not to bring him back just two weeks later. Paddy O’Prado is hoping to parlay his third place finish at Churchill Downs and the other three horses re-upping are Dublin ( 7th in the Derby),  Jackson Bend ( 12th) and Looking at Lucky (6th). Looking At Lucky drew post 7 for Saturday’s race, which means he’s assured of a much cleaner trip than he got in the Derby. Looking At Lucky was the 6-1 favourite two weeks ago, but coming out of post one was deadly. He was squeezed at the start and severely bodychecked into the rail about an eighth of a mile in. Still, Looking At Lucky was running strongly at the end and rallied from 18th to pass a dozen rivals. Calvin Borel has been boasting that Super Saver will win the Triple Crown, but I would put money on Looking At Lucky if that one has longer odds.

Seven fresh horses will enter the fray in the Preakness..Todd Pletcher, training of Super Saver has entered Aikenite. Dale Romans, trainer of Paddy O’Prado has also submitted First Dude, whom I would bet, if I were President Obama. Also in the Preakness, Schoolyard Dreams, Pleasant Prince, Northern Giant, Yawanna Twist and Caracortado. It tells you just how much the chase for the Triple Crown can take out of a three year-old horse when you see that only 12 have been entered for the second leg.

And looking at last night’s results from Woodbine, it was nice to see 2008 Queen’s Plate winner Not Bourbon and Jono Jones teaming up for another win.  Not Bourbon ran off from the field in the 7th last night winning a $75,900 allowance race at six furlongs in the fine time of 1:08.3 Sprinting was always Not Bourbon’s game; before the 2008 Plate, trainer Roger Attfield wondered aloud if Not Bourbon could last the ten furlongs. He did under a terrific ride by Jones, lost the Prince of Wales Stakes, then captured the $125,000 Overskate Stakes at 7 furlongs by a widening four lengths. After that, Not Bourbon clearly needed a lot of time to recover from some infirmities and last night’s race was the first appearance by him in in about 20 months.Even with the layoff, Not Bourbon showed a lot of class using the entire length of the stretch to overtake the front-runner Paso Doble who did not yield easily.