Down The Stretch Podcast

Saturday was an amazing day at Woodbine. The longest shot, Wicked Django won the Autumn Stakesat 24-1. A horse called Nobals won the Kennedy Road Stakes and needed huge cahones to get past Patches O’Houlihan. Earlier in the card, Sahin Civaci won 3 races as he has virtually clinched the riders’ title at Woodbine. The 12th race was a mandatory Super Hi-5 payout. The winner was 79-1, and when no one correctly bet the first 5 horses, the payout for 4 was spectacular.

Emma-Jayne Wilson joins us on the phone to talk about the terrible accident she sustained in October. Wilson, 43, vows she will ride again. Woodbine’s Bill Ford explains the abundance of caution that the track employed, cancelling races after 3 horses died on November 9. At Chelmsford Race Course in England, how close did jockeys and horses come to catastrophe when the starting gate could not be moved off the track? And 71-year-old Keith Ballard, Australia’s oldest jockey, wrote a Hollywood ending to his 55-year career.

A dreadful day at Woodbine – 2 horses died and a Stakes race was cancelled. Kevin Attard talks about Moira, her win in the Breeders Cup, his stretch run exuberance, and the emotion of selling her 2 days later. Also, Korina McLean, the woman who has ridden Moira more than any jockey - she was also at Del Mar to witness the great mare’s spectacular win. There was a monster upset in the $10 million Melbourne Cup in Australia, and a great back story for the winning jockey Robbie Dolan, who dazzled tv viewers on the Australian version of The Voice. The Ontario-bred pacer, Southwind Amazon is now the winningest standardbred of all time. This episode has Tony Randall and Jack Klugman from a classic horse racing episode of The Odd Couple and continuing a sitcom theme – Lucille Ball winning at Aqueduct.

Of course, we lead this week with Moira’s great win in the Breeders’ Cup Fillies and Mares Turf. Comments from Donato Lanni and Kevin Attard. Rik Chapman called in from Sydney, Australia on the Golden Eagle Stakes and the Melbourne Cup. Trainer Angus Buntain talks about 8 great days in his career. We have an amazing result for an Ontario-bred pacer named Southwind Amazon, a 14-year-old who has now won 137 times. Did you see that Count Dracula won at Churchill Downs on Halloween? From the final day of racing at Ajax Downs, we give props to Cassandra Jeschke, Rachel Isaacs, Brian Bell, Diego Benitez, Jason Pascoe and James Bogar. And visa vis the Presidential race in the U.S., we tell you why a horse race is better than an election.

This week we have a complete breakdown of Canadian interests at the Breeders Crown., featuring James MacDonald and Scott Zeron at the Meadowlands and from Woodbine, a first for Leo Salles, Saul McHugh and Robyn Brohman. The Tour de Fort ended the racing season at Fort Erie and many of the horses wanted out much earlier. Is Fraser Aebly a likely candidate for apprentice jockey of the year? He says he’s not thinking of it, but we are. Driver Doug McNair tells us that his November appearance at an international race in Paris next month will be a return to the scene of the crime. We had 5-win nights last week for both Travis and Trevor Henry and Rik Chapman called in from Australia voicing a stunning and unlikely win in the Cox Plate.

This podcast covers all 3 genres of horse racing in Ontario and beyond. We have the Ontario Derby Stakes from Woodbine and a nice chat with veteran jockey Eswan Flores who recently scored his first Stakes win of the year. It was Breeders Crown elimination weekend at the Meadowlands and we tell you how Canadians did and how a couple horses blew up the tote board. At Western Fair last week, Sugar Doyle, Ghislain Paquet, Melissa Keith and even...James MacDonald called races. You can decide who did it best...and worst.

How much legal trouble did Jody Jamieson get into? The law firm of Hopple, Hopple, Hopple and Fetlock represent the trotter Paquet who was hurt by Jamieson’s post-race comments.

The quarter horse season at Ajax Downs is nearing its finish line. Did Diego Benitez wrap up the jockeys’ title by winning 3 times on the 3rd last card? And a bizarre finish at Keeneland as the jockey on a 13-1 shot thought the race finished at the 16th pole. It didn’t and a lot of pick-5 bettors were badly burned.

A horse racing podcast should have horse races and this one does! We have all 8 OSS Gold Super Finals from Mohawk Saturday night. We have Sahin Civaci winning 5 times at Woodbine and Fraser Aebly sweeping both Stakes races on Saturday. Driver Doug McNair had a 6-win night at Mohawk Friday and we tell you why former jockey, Francine Villeneuve had maybe her best day of the year at Woodbine. Have you ever watched Unfiltered, the horse racing doc produced by Ontario racing Management? We sample several minutes of the latest episode that looks at the rivalry between trainers Mark Casse and Kevin Attard. We have all 7 races from the Wednesday card at Ajax Downs, and 15-year-old Alexandra Homorcean scored 1st place in the Bill Galvin Alliance Youth Literary Derby and she thrills us with a rendition of her award winning harness racing poem.

There were 4 Graded Stakes races - all on the grass – at Woodbine Saturday. Patches O’Houlihan won the Nearctic, so we’re touting him as the Sovereign Award winner as the next Canadian Horse of the Year. Owner Frank Di Giulio and trainer Bob Teller disagreed about Patches being in the race. Last Thursday, the final leg of the Woodbine Turf Sprint Series was run, and the overall champion was a horse that didn’t win a single leg. Jockey Jose Campos is from Mexico and he tell us what it was like winning the Prince of Wales in Fort Erie. Harness horse owner Dave Byron talks about buying a filly for $3,000 then winning the $75,000 Grass Roots Final at Mohawk We have 7 races from Ajax Downs this week as we try and figure out who the leading jockey and trainer will be and Garnet Barnsdale turned 60 last week, so instead of co-producing this podcast, he went to Las Vegas; we do get to participate vicariously as he sends us his breakdown of a day in Sin City

The $400,000 Breeders’ Stakes assured we would have 3 different winners in the Triple Crown. A night of Stakes racing at Mohawk and we focus on the great work of Louis-Philippe Roy and Doug McNair. What’s the profit situation in horse racing books? We find out from Perry Lefko, Jennifer Morrison and Curtis Stock. This podcast also features 7 race calls from Ajax Downs and on Military Appreciation Day at Woodbine, did the special guests get a huge tip?

It was the most lucrative night of harness racing this year at Mohawk and we have the Metro Pace, the Mohawk Million, the Canadian Trotting Classic, the Elegant Image and the She’s A Great Lady. Let’s just say it was a great night for Dexter Dunn and Captain Treacherous. At Woodbine, Jose Campos added another Stakes win to his Prince of Wales triumph, winning the Zadracarta with Owen’s Tour Guide. We document Canadian outcomes in the Little Brown Jug and the Jugette at the Delaware fair Grounds. Harold Ladouceur speaks with Down The Stretch about becoming the first indigenous trainer to win a Canadian Triple Crown race and Ken Albu reveals he was one of the very few to bet on Gambler’s Pose, the horse he trains that produced the largest win price in North America this year. And a great moment at the Shenandoah Fair race course in Virginia as 95-year-old trainer, William Fletcher sent out his first winner in 4 years.

We have a 6-pack of Stakes races from Woodbine; the 4 Breeders’ Cup Win and You’re In turf races and two others – David Moran’s emotional win in the Ontario Matron Stakes and Sofia Vives delivering the white hot, Patches O’Houlihan in the Vigil. Then we’re off to Mohawk for the Milton Stakes and eliminations for the Metro Pace and the Canadian Trotting Classic. John Burness of Colebrook Farms revealing that Simply In Front’s win in the Music City Stakes was the first time he had ever had a horse in a $2 million race. At Fort Erie, Vitality won the Prince of Wales Stakes making Harold Ladouceur the first Indigenous person to win a Triple Crown race in Canada. As usual, we cover the card of racing from Ajax Downs, but not as usual, when a heavy favourite self-destructed at Pocono, the show prices went nuts. And how many bettors wondered where their money went when a 1-5 shot lost the Wonder Where Stakes?