Down The Stretch Podcast

There was a huge Canada Day celebration with 5 Srtakes races at Woodbine. We go to Yonkers for the Messenger Stakes and the Yonkers Trot, and to Ajax Downs for a couple of races from last Wednesday. Why did it take jockey Rico Walcott 16 years to decide to ride at Woodbine? We find out from the Queenston Stakes winning jockey. There is an amazing group of apprentice jockeys winning at an unprecedented rate at Woodbine; hear how Sofia Vives, Desean Bynoe, Amanda Vandermeersch and Rachel Slevinsky dominated a full afternoon last week. Bulldog Hanover’s owner/trainer Jack Darling invites racing fans to suggest a name for Bulldog’s new filly. And you will have to listen to decide why Peter Gross’ interview with jockey Chantal Sutherland went off the rails.

It’s another fully entertaining Down The Stretch Podcast with the Ballade and Alywow Stakes from Woodbine. Jockey Jose Campos had his biggest day ever and driver Doug McNair talks about his extraordinary night at Mohawk -how he won two big Stakes sandwiched around a frightening crash. More McNair in Unfiltered, the OLG’s ground-breaking horse racing documentary which we sample. Woodbine CEO, Jim Lawson tells us how the new gigantic casino will benefit horse racing. We have Matt Kakaley winning 9 of 10 races at Yonkers and 96-year-old Red McKenzie still training winners at Century Downs. How did Jimi Hendrix and Sonny Liston get in the same horse race? And how did the Buffalo Bills direct Garnet Barnsdale to winning ticket?

The 40th North America Cup provided a full night of thrills and, unfortunately, spills at Mohawk Park – wait until you hear about Doug McNair’s night. Wonderful things from great jockeys – Emma-Jayne Wilson won 4 races on Saturday afternoon at Woodbine. Brian Bell won 5 at Ajax Downs on Sunday. Patrick Husbands has a strike rate of over 25%. We find out from the 50 year-old Husbands why he’s still so good. Jockeys’ agent Brandon Fairlie - known also as Agent Orange - tells Down The Stretch about his perfect afternoon at Woodbine with his jockeys Rachel Slevinsky and Omar Moreno. WEG executive Klaus Ebner explains how the new bet, the Swinger Omni, came to fruition, and Garnet Barnsdale tipped us on a dead heat between brothers, a 69 year old jockey still winning, Frank Mirahmadi calling a race that included a horse named after him, and Ken Middleton calling a race where it seemed every horse had the word Bettor in it.

This week, we are amazed by the women in horse racing – When Arcangelo won the Belmont Stakes, Jena Antonucci became the first female trainer to win a U.S. Triple Crown race. Too bad FOX tv blundered historically with its presentation. Three women - Sofia Vives, Skye Chernetz and Emma-Jayne Wilson brought in pricey horses at Woodbine. Women trainers won 3 of 4 eliminations at Mohawk for the North America Cup and we have a $200,000 race at Northfield, Ohio won by Lauren Tritton. Melanie Pinto is featured for her 2 wins last Tuesday at Fort Erie. But there is room for men to succeed in horse racing - Jason Pascoe is crushing it at Ajax Downs and we grill Michael Copeland, the man who will replace Jim Lawson as CEO of Woodbine. And how would you have called a race in which one of the horses was named Sumomomomomomomomomo?

We tackle horse racing on a chronological basis and by doing so, gets thrills from $100,000 races at Mohawk, 70 year-old amateur driver Robert Ciavardini and jockey Pierre Mailhot still winning at Fort Erie in his 40th year of riding. We visit the early returns from Woodbine’s new and intriguing bet. Then it’s on to quarter horse results from Ajax Downs and a good start for JB Botello. Is Justin Stein ready to break out? Will Churchill Downs solve its disturbing problem? Can anyone stop driver James MacDonald, and just how good was Saturday for apprentice riders, Sofia Vives, Amanda Vandermeersch and Deshawn Bynoe?. That same day, Patrick Husbands put on a Stakes clinic, and that night at Mohawk was jammed with big money Stakes legs and splits, Then, on Sunday, a breakthrough win for Keveh Nichols as he snapped a long losing streak.

This podcast cover lots of ground - some of it on the turf because Woodbine ran its first grass races last Saturday. It was a big day for South African jockey Ryan Munger. It was Opening Day at Fort Erie and when a lady named Rachel Slevinsky won a race, it piqued our curiosity. Race caller Sugar Doyle had his ’A’ game at Western Fair for the Forest City Pace and the Camluck Classic. Garnet Barnsdale hooked up with Chris Christoforou at the President’s reception for the new inductees into the Canadian Horse Racing Hall of Fame. Host Peter Gross got his idol, the legendary race caller Tom Durkin on the phone to chat about him coming out of retirement to call the Belmont Stakes. And for families that like to have all the cheques coming to the same address, we have races at Mohawk won by father Dustin and son Tyler Jones, and a heat from Australia in which the Parnham brothers ran 1-2-3-

This is another very busy horse racing podcast. We’ve got a couple of Stakes races from Woodbine and 4 SBOA Finals from Mohawk. Irwin Driedger passed away on the weekend and we remember him. There was a slight upset in the Preakness at Pimlico, so once again, there will not be a Triple Crown winner. Mighty Heart, who won the 2020 Queen’s Plate, has been retired and author Jennifer Morrison tells us how life-changing this one-eyed wonder was to her and all the people involved in his racing career. We have 2 Morrisons in this podcast – Moncton’s Ailsa Morrison won again at Gulfstream. The terrific Modern Games won a Group l race in England, but not before a rival tried to rip his face off. Ever seen a husband-wife team take down the daily double? It happened at Louisiana Downs. And sit back and laugh at horse racing jokes from the King of the One-Liners, Henny Youngman.

We have the Whimsical Stakes and the Jacques Cartier from Woodbine. Apprentice jockey Amanda Vandermeersch brought in a huge longshot. South African rider, Ryan Munger is off to great start. Veterans Emma-Jayne Wilson had a great 5-win weekend at Woodbine. We chat with Ariane Milligi Fuller who tells us the best thing to do if you’re going to Saratoga and need a place to stay. We run 3 legs from Mohawk of the eliminations for the SBOA Stakes and go to Ajax Downs for Opening Day which included a race call from the Down The Stretch host, Peter Gross.

As exciting as the 149th Kentucky Derby was, with a 15-1 upset, it wasn’t the best story at Churchill Downs on Saturday, it was the Churchill downs Stakes in which Cody’s Wish won for teenager Cody Dorman.

We have the three finals of the Ontario Sired Graduate Series at Mohawk and we talk with Mark Etsell, the owner and trainer of the wonderful Adare Castle.

How about Ryan Munger? In the South African jockey’s first ride at Woodbine, he delivered a 10-1 shot, then told us how he did it. We chat with both Brad Grant and Yvonne Schwabe, who were named respectively to the Standardbred and Thoroughbred racing committees at Woodbine.

In recent weeks horses named Toronto and Boston won on the pace, but were those wins accurate predictors of what would happen in playoff hockey series?

And on the same day that King Charles lll was being coronated, a horse owned by the king was racing in a Stakes event at Newmarket.

There was a disqualification in the 1st Stakes race of the year and it was all about not checking the Blind Spot. Expert handicappers Jim Bannon, Jennifer Morrison, Garnet Barnsdale, Jim McKenny and Peter Gross submit their Kentucky Derby picks. We talk with the latest Horse Racing Hall of Fame inductees, Irwin Driedger and Chris Christoforou. Ailsa Morrison broke through at Gulfstream. James MacDonald knows how to rinse and repeat at Mohawk. Chad Rosema explains the brave expensive move that Grand River Raceway is undertaking and what was it that Ken Middleton said in a recent race call that aroused the ire of 1000’s of Maple Leafs fans?