Down The Stretch Podcast

From Woodbine, 3 Stakes – the Belle Mahone, the Eclipse and the Jacques Cartier. From Mohawk - the Somebeachsomewhere and a pair of $100,000 Graduate Series races for 4-year-olds.

Woodbine’s Alanna Nolan is on the phone telling how the company’s production team notched a pair of finalists for the Hashtag Sports Awards.

A horse bred by Sam Son Farm won at Churchill Downs and paid $54.50 to win.

Chantal Sutherland is now 50 and still winning races – 2 on one afternoon at Monmouth

At Ajax Downs, another good day for the Benitez brothers and a pair of quarter horse rarities. A mother horse racing against her daughter and a speedster named Peighntmeadiamond, who is not only a blood relative to the great Northern Dancer, but on May 27, which would have been the Dancer’s 65th birthday, the 4-year-old won a race.

And when Conn Smythe the horse won 2 races in a row, we recalled the human Conn Smythe and how he financed a Stanley Cup win after betting on a 107-1 shot. Jockey Jeffrey Alderson admits he knows much more about the horse named Conn Smythe than the man,

No Stakes races Saturday at Woodbine but trainers Josie Carroll, Katerina Vassilieva, Catherine Day Philips and Krista Cole combined for an incredible pick-6. OSS Gold Legs at Mohawk Saturday night and no horse yet has figured out how to defeat the amazing Beau Jangles. We have his trainer, Dr Ian Moore wondering if the 30-race win streak by the trotter A Worthy Lad is attainable. Former Maple Leaf, Eddie Olczyk makes the podcast after the remarkable choices he promoted for the Kentucky Derby and the Preakness. We have a Family Feud theme for our Ajax Downs Coverage – could the Benitez brothers outride Mrs. Botello’s favourite son? And from Los Alamitos, a race that could indicate your wagering is having a negative effect on your marital life.

Saturday’s Stakes race at Woodbine was the Ruling Angel. Mohawk featured 4 SBOA Stakes events including a 14th straight win for Beau Jangles.  The 151st Preakness went to a horse that raced near the front all the way while paying tribute to a classic 60’s tv series. You never forget your first – we’ve got Kemaire Blackett breaking through at Woodbine, Landon Campbell nosing out his dad in Charlottetown and Corry Beland with his first riding win at Ajax Downs. Make that 3,000 wins for Travis Cullen; what does the trotter Switch have in common with Beau Jangles, and how did the bridge jumpers feel when the usually reliable Logan Park broke stride just before the wire?

The great Beau Jangles began his 3-year-old season at Mohawk. The great Had to be Fabulous ran her streak to 10 at Ajax Downs. Jim Bannon reveals the incredible Canadian pedigree that dominated in this year’s Kentucky Derby. Who is Kemaire Blackett and how did he win a race at 43-1? Doug McNair put up a five spot last Friday. Tyler Borth has repeated as regional driving champion. Dan Noble had an historic 11 wins at Northfield. Full brothers on the trot with a rarity at Mohawk and the Down The Stretch version of the legendary Who’s On First routine.

A spectacular finish to the Kentucky Derby and it contributed to our theme this week of brothers in sports. A rarity at Woodbine as two King’s Plate winners went head-to-head at Woodbine. It was the race before the Whimsical Stakes. We have Emma-Jayne Wilson in this podcast speculating if she can, like Perry Ouzts, compete until she is 70. Owner Bruno Schickedanz showed us again how to win races and make money doing it. Our brothers in sports feature includes Mark and Anthony Macdonald, but which brothers do you think have combined for the most wins in harness racing? And from the other side of the world, a horse named Ka Ying Rising won for the 20th straight time.

Complete coverage of the Sovereign Awards including Rosie Day, Sid Attard, Santino DiPaola, Pietro Moran, Rafael Hernandez and Kevin Attard. Patrick Husbands tells us why he is retiring after 37 years and why he might un-retire. Sofia Vives is back riding at Woodbine and she delivered Mony Mony to victory in the first Stakes race of the year. Kentucky Derby #152 is upon us. Mike Smith has ridden in 28 of them and he tells us - he still gets chills. We talk with Smith about some of the greatest moments in his amazing career. The 6-year-old trotter, Ghostly Casper, cracked the $1,000,000 barrier. His favourite human, Sara Baillargeon tells us how special this horse is. And when an absolute sure thing broke stride at the start at Mohawk, how much did the other horses pay?

We’re all over Opening Day at Woodbine with Jeff Bratt, Robert Geller, Rafael Hernandez, Romero Maragh, Jose Campos and Garnet Barnsdale.  Micah Husbands and Mike De Paulo combine for a win at Gulfstream.  Award winning writer Jennifer Morrison provides her pick of Horse of the Year for the upcoming Sovereign Awards. A landmark win for driver Bob McClure – he’s now cracked the $60 million barrier. Kazushi Kimura is putting up excellent numbers down south, but he got days at Keeneland and it’s kind of strange. And if you struggle to hit the daily double, bow down in awe at Ryan Willis who spearheaded a bet in the Meadowlands Pick-8 and was the only winner.

This week we have wins at Aqueduct by 2O24 Sovereign Award winning jockey Sahin Civaci. Rachel Halden had Kazushi Kimura aboard for a win at Keeneland for Chiefswood Stables. The Eclipse Award winning Pietro Moran is coming back to Woodbine and we know this because he told us from the Keeneland Jocks’ room. On Saturday, Moran was at Gulfstream to win a nice little handicap for Gail Cox. The latest inductees into the Canadian Horse Racing Hall of Fame were announced last week - harness driver Mike Saftic gets in and so does jockey Richard Dos Ramos. Making it even better for those two athletes - each of them has a Down The Stretch interview. Rideau Carleton is the latest Canadian racetrack to close its doors. We discuss the impact of that with race caller Melissa Keith and trainer Mandy Archer. And those wise enough to follow Garnet Barnsdale’s recommendations in the Mohawk Journal were nicely rewarded Friday night. I'm Peter Gross.