Woodbine Mile

Beyond the headline-worthy feat that Taken by the Wind (Rock Your World) provided trainer Ken McPeek with his record fifth win in Saturday's GIII Pocahontas Stakes at Churchill Downs are several beneath-the-radar nuggets. For starters, even though McPeek has recently dominated a stakes that has a 56-year history, his victories in that fixture for 2-year-old fillies have all come since 2015, meaning that Taken by the Wind's 5 ¼-length score was the fifth by a McPeek trainee in the last 11 editions of that race. And it's not like all...

Charlie Appleby and William Buick have teamed to take the GI Rogers Woodbine Mile--a 'Win and You're In' qualifier for the GI Breeders' Cup Mile--two out of the last three years, and in the form of Godolphin's 'TDN Rising Star' Notable Speech (GB) (Dubawi {Ire}) they appear well positioned to add to that total Saturday afternoon in suburban Toronto. When Team Godolphin raid from Europe, you can rest assured that it isn't just for the Tim Horton's. They mean business and their record bears that out. Modern Games (Ire) (Dubawi...

Charlie Appleby says it's not easy to come over to North America and win major stakes, even though he makes it look that way. On Saturday at Woodbine, Appleby will send out three horses, all of them in Grade I competition, and each one looks to have an excellent chance. He usually does well when he ships to anywhere in North America, but has been particularly tough at Woodbine, where he is 9-for-17 (53%). All nine of his Canadian winners have come in Grade I stakes. "We have sent the...

Grade I winner Shirl's Speight (Speightstown--Perfect Shirl, by Perfect Soul {Ire}) has had his first mares checked in foal, Darby Dan Farm announced Tuesday. The 8-year-old stallion won the 2022 GI Maker's Mark Mile Stakes, as well as that year's GIII Tampa Bay Stakes and the 2020 GIII Marine Stakes. He was second in the 2022 GI Breeders' Cup Mile and 2023 GI Woodbine Mile. Shirl's Speight stands at Darby Dan for $5,000, S&N.

Three Grade I events, all of which are Breeders' Cup 'Win and You're In' qualifiers, north of the border at Woodbine will take the spotlight among nine graded stakes this Saturday as the racing calendar transitions to fall with all of the major summer meets now wrapped up. The $1-million GI Ricoh Woodbine Mile serves, along with the Queen's Plate, as the centerpiece of the Woodbine meet, and this year's renewal features an 11-horse field that includes last year's winner Town Cruise (Town Prize), who will be looking to bounce...

Town Cruise (Town Prize) went from gate to wire in the GI Ricoh Woodbine Mile, springing an 8-1 upset and earning a spot in the gate for the GI Breeders' Cup Mile. Breaking on top from his rail draw, the gelding clicked off an opening quarter in :24.08 and a half-mile in :47.10. Showing the way into the lane, the bay kept on finding more in the lane, rolling clear to score. Space Traveller (GB) (Bated Breath {GB}) was the runner-up. This was the first graded stakes win for trainer,...

Starship Jubilee (Indy Wind), a three-time Sovereign Award winner and Canada's Horse of the Year in 2019, was named Florida-bred Horse of the Year by the Florida Thoroughbred Breeders' and Owners' Association. She also took home honors ad the Florida-bred champion older female and champion turf female for the third time in four years. Owned by Adam Corndorf and Bonnie Baskin's Blue Heaven Farm and trained by Kevin Attard, Starship Jubilee won her first four starts as a 7-year-old, taking the GIII Suwannee River S., the GII Hillsborough S. and...

You'd be hard-pressed to find a more successful claim in the past decade than Blue Heaven Farm's Starship Jubilee (Indy Wind). Plucked for $16,000 from Jorge Navarro of all people in February of 2017 at Gulfstream, the now 7-year-old mare has taken trainer Kevin Attard on the ride of a lifetime, and scored her greatest triumph yet with a victory in Saturday's GI Woodbine Mile S., becoming a multimillionaire in the process. Wednesday, Attard joined the TDN Writers' Room podcast presented by Keeneland as the Green Group Guest of the...

Starship Jubilee (Indy Wind) bested the boys and earned a spot in the gate for the GI Breeders' Cup Mile with a victory in the GI Ricoh Woodbine Mile Saturday. Settling in fourth off the rail as Admiralty Pier (English Channel) clocked an opening quarter in :23.66, pilot Justin Stein checked Starship Jubilee for a stride, but they maintained their position with War of Will (War Front) running in tandem with her through a :46.14 half-mile. Shadowing the 2019 GI Preakness S. hero's advance towards the front approaching the far...

Mark Casse has a strong chance to take home his third GI Ricoh Woodbine Mile with a trio of contenders set to line up for Saturday's "Win and You're In" event for the GI Breeders' Cup Mile. Gary Barber's War of Will (War Front) tries to secure a Grade I double here off a win in Keeneland's GI Maker's Mile July 10. Winner of the GIII LeComte S., GII Risen Star S. and GI Preakness S. last season, the bay capped his sophomore term with a ninth in the GI...

Having already announced that the Queen's Plate would be held Sept. 12, Woodbine Entertainment released the remainder of the Woodbine Racetrack stakes schedule Wednesday. Featuring 75 stakes worth C$13.8 million, highlights include the C$1-million GI Ricoh Woodbine Mile, slated for Saturday, Sept. 19 and a "Win and You're In" qualifier for the GI Breeders' Cup Mile. Due to complications with travel due to the ongoing coronavirus pandemic, the GI Pattison Canadian International has been cancelled for 2020. The meet will open on Saturday, June 6 and end Sunday, Dec. 13....