Breeders' Cup Friday Unlucky For Canadian Horses
Jungle Tale and Biofuel Get Fourth Money, Careless Jewel Last
Nov 9, 2009
The first northern horse in action was Woodbine-based runner Jungle Tale in the Juvenile Fillies Turf for 2-year-olds. The Lion Heart filly is trained by American Steve Asmussen and owned by Christopher Bardasian, and went off at long odds from post six.
With Shaun Bridgmohan aboard, she was last going down the backstretch, but rallied late to finish fourth behind an outstanding performance by Tapitsfly and Rose Catherine. House of Grace was third.
Juvenile Filly
Two Canadian runners tackled this 1-1/16 mile event. Bickersons, a Silver Deputy filly bred in Ontario by Mississauga resident Robert Harvey and owned by George & Lori Hall, drew post five. The Kelly Breen trainee was outclassed, finishing 10th of 12 after a brief rally earlier with rider Joel Rosario.
Biofuel, trained by Reade Baker and ridden by Eurico Rosa Da Silva, both based at Woodbine in Toronto, broke from post 12. The daughter of Stormin Fever is owned and bred by former Kentucky Governor Brereton Jones.
After the start, Biofuel settled near the back of the pack and stayed there until the final turn. When Da Silva called on her, she moved from last with a strong run. She Be Wild, Beautician and Blind Luck (who would finish in that order) fought for the lead, with Biofuel in full flight on the outside. Then Negligee suddenly bore out and slammed hard into Biofuel.
The collision caused Negligee to turn sideways, and she fought to stay on her feet while leaning on Biofuel. Biofuel stayed running, but lost all chance of cracking the top three places.
Caton Bredar, who spoke to Da Silva right afterward, said this normally cheerful and even-tempered rider was “furious” that his filly was taken out of contention. There was no inquiry because Biofuel, who got fourth money, finished in front of Negligee, who was sixth. The race chart made no mention of the incident. Biofuel came out of the race with swelling on one leg from the collision.
Ladies Classic
With star Rachel Alexandra on vacation and Zenyatta entered against males on Saturday, Careless Jewel was the 9-5 choice in the Ladies Classic. Prior to this race, she had won five straight, including three major stakes.
The ghostly grey daughter of Tapit, trained by Josie Carroll and ridden by Robert Landry, both from Woodbine, is owned by Donna and Vern Dubinsky of Alberta. She was one of just two 3-year-olds in the race.
Careless Jewel broke fast from post one and settled into a relaxed lead, then sprinted away. Despite Landry’s efforts to slow the pace, the filly ran a second quarter in a blistering 22-1/5 seconds. She was eight lengths in front going down the backstretch and increasing her lead with every stride. By the time she hit the turn for home, the field was closing on her, She had nothing left in the stretch drive and finished last. Afterwards, Landry said she grabbed the bit and took off as fast as she could, and he couldn’t slow her down.
The win went to Life Is Sweet for trainer John Shirriffs and rider Garret Gomez, with Mushka second and Music Note third.
Filly Friday ended with no in-the-money finishes for any of the Canadian connections, with Careless Jewel being the biggest disappointment for fans of the speedy filly.
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