Down The Stretch Podcast

It was the $400,000 Breeders’ Stakes at Woodbine and staying on his horse proved to be a winning strategy for jockey Declan Carroll. Pacer Bulldog Hanover demolished the field in Ohio and that provoked us to wonder if it’s time to call him the greatest harness horse of all time. We get opinion from Garnet Barnsdale, Brad Grant and Paul MacDonell . We have audio from a great night at Mohawk by driver Louis-Philippe Roy and Flamboro Downs race-caller Gary Guy getting a little ahead of himself. How lucky must one fan have been to take down the whole Jackpot High-5 pool when none of the longshots made the top 5? And just to make you smile… when 88 year-old horseman Bill Megens won another race, he tipped us on his impending retirement…sometime in the 2030s.

Last Saturday gave us another monster night of Stakes races at Mohawk, including the Mohawk Million, Canadian Trotting Classic and the Metro Pace. This podcast is heavy on the harness racing; we interview Doug McNair, go to the Little Brown Jug and watch in amazement as 70 year-old Reg Gassien takes down another driving title. Julie Ezra is the daughter of trainer, passionate horseman and borderline lunatic Darryl Ezra and we discover he has passed on his horse racing genes. The sensational Bulldog Hanover crushed again and set a track record at Hoosier. We also have Stakes races from Woodbine and Ajax Downs and we hook up with Frank Salive, Jack Darling and Shadow Play to get their reactions to being finalists for the next induction into the Canadian Horse Racing Hall of Fame.

The Ricoh Woodbine Mile was the hilite of a monster day of racing at Woodbine on Saturday. That same night, fillies and mares went at it at Mohawk in the Milton Stakes. Then on Sunday, Emma-Jayne Wilson capped a terrific day by winning the Singspiel Stakes. This podcast has the Prince of Wales from Fort Erie; Justin Stein discusses his win aboard Duke of Love and Declan Carroll explains how he got ejected from Sir for Sure. Teenage phenom Slade Jones had the biggest day of his riding career. Moncton’s Ailsa Morrison scored a pair of wins at Gulfstream last Friday. And James MacDonald is crushing it at Mohawk, soaring past the $50,000,000 mark, but even so, he might not even be his mother’s favourite driver.

Woodbine CEO Jim Lawson talks about the impact Queen Elizabeth has had on horse racing and reveals the amazing moment he spent with the Queen chatting about horses.

Lots of Stakes races – the Wonder Where and the Toronto Cup from Woodbine and from Mohawk, 3 versions of the Simcoe and 2 of the Champlain

Fort Erie race caller Doug McPherson will be announcing his first Prince of Wales on September 13; he analyzes the field for us. It won’t make the Hebsies, but iconic sportscaster Mark Hebscher reveals how he was the first race caller at Flamboro Downs. Horse trainer/owner Blake McIntosh tells us just how dilapidated and neglected Flamboro Downs has become. And we’ve got the moment when a horse driven by James MacDonald pushed his purse earnings past the $50 million mark.

Does this podcast have the Greatest Horse Racing Story ever? Listen to our report on Cody Dorman and the great horse named after him and make your own decision. Is Bulldog Hanover the greatest pacer ever? Listen to his win in the Canadian Pacing Derby and jump into the debate. This podcast also goes to Woodbine for a couple of weekend Stakes and to Ajax Downs for the Picov Derby. Lots of Tim Tetrick in this audio – after notching his 13,000th win at Harrah’s, he drove the upset winner in the Maple Leaf Trot. We found bloodstock agent, Donato Lanni at the CTHS Yearling Sale – did he buy the next Queen’s Plate winner? And you might want to raise a glass or guzzle a shot or two when you hear a booze- fuelled harness race from the Meadows.

If you thought a podcast covering the week after the Queen’s Plate would be an anticlimax, with nothing to talk about, listen to this one and admit you were wrong.

There was a monster card of harness racing Saturday night from Mohawk - the William Wellwood Memorial, the Eternal Camnation, Jimmy Freight and Bulldog Hanover, both impressive in Canadian Pacing Derby Eliminations.

At Woodbine on Sunday, 4 Yearling Sales Stakes races.

We’re still buzzing about Moria and in our Moria pack, trainer Kevin Attard tells us how the Queen’s Plate changed his life. Owner Donnato Lanni of X-Men Racing explains how a group of harness men came to own Moira and how his children come up with colourful names, and Joe Nevills of the Paulick Report explains why Moira is a big story in the US.

We’ve got the Travers Stakes from Saratoga and chaos at Mohawk Park last Monday in which no one was hurt thanks to safety protocol. Then there’s this race from The Track On 2 in which the top 4 horses all shared the same name. And those listening to the entire podcast will be treated to music from Dire Straits, The Tubes, Norman Greenbaum, The Bobby Fuller Four and, of course, Jay and the Americans.

Not only did the filly Moira crush 10 others in the Queen’s Plate, she ran the fastest Queen’s Plate ever. We talk with the winning jockey Rafael Hernandez and the trainer Kevin Attard. Visiting jockey Flavien Prat plays along with us as we attempt an interview in two languages. Saturday night at Mohawk provided a full card of eliminations for big Stakes races next week. Marie Claude Auger won the ladies’ race at Mohawk and driver Scott Young extended a very rare winning streak with the trotter Cool Muscle. A great night in Summerside, PEI for Anthony MacDonald and thestable.ca as Sintra won the historic Gold Cup and Saucer. And the greatest father-son combination in Canadian harness racing ran 1-2 in a legends race at Kawartha Downs. Wait until you hear what the all-Waples exactor paid.

As we heat up for next week’s Queen’s Plate, trainer Katerina Vassilieva reveals that imported jockey Flavien Prat will ride Rondure and Prat’s agent, Brad Pegram tells us what a good call that is. We feature 6 Stakes races from Woodbine and the Dan Patch from Hoosier Downs which was another tour de force from the world’s fastest harness horse, Bulldog Hanover. There’s free music from The Reklaws who will perform at Woodbine on August 21. Jockey Daisuke Fukumoto had his best day of the year with 3 wins and we play all of them. Two eliminations in Charlottetown for the Prestigious Gold Cup and Saucer - James MacDonald drove the winners of both, then gave us quite the scoop. At Ajax Downs, there was an upset in the final leg of the Quarter Racing Owners Sprint Series and trainer Lauren Spada won with the first horse she ever sent out. We have a nice chat with longtime harness horse breeder and owner Jim Bullock, who recently was ushered into the Canadian Horse Racing Hall of Fame...and a race at Rideau Carleton with an outcome that was... 6,000-1.

This podcast includes the Ontario Colleen Stakes from Woodbine and a night at the Horse Racing Hall of Fame Inductions. We talked with Gary Boulanger, Sue Leslie, Paul MacDonnell, Vicki Pappas and Randy Waples. Garnet Barnsdale was at the Meadowlands Saturday night to witness the biggest upset in the 97-year history of the famed Hambletonian. Jockey Amanda Vandermeersch talks about the first win of her career and agent Brandon Fairlie is working on a riding resurgence for the career of veteran Omar Moreno. Canadian quarter horse champ Had To Be Ivory pulled off another win at Ajax Downs. We’ve got an exactor from Mohawk – the biggest payoff in 59 years and Peter Gross, the host of this podcast does the hard work at the official opening of the Stella Artois Lounge at Woodbine, because if someone doesn’t eat the giant shrimps, the Asian chicken and the brisket sliders, how would anyone know what it is like?

This week, Emma-Jayne Wilson’s electric ride in the Niagara Stakes from Woodbine. Sylvain Filion’s 5-bagger at Mohawk Park. Jockey Nicole Hein scratching one off her bucket list, winning for the first time at Woodbine. Trainer Jason Pascoe crushing it at Ajax Downs. Linda Rainey of the Canadian Horse Racing Hall of Fame on this year’s inductees and the enticing prizes up for bid in a virtual auction. A 12 year-old harness horse in Nova Scotia won a race after being off for 4 years. Ever heard of a betting prop that kicks back an ROI of over 150%? We’ve got one and Rafael Hernandez has a dilemma all of us would like to have.