‘WISE’ GUY HORSE IS READY FOR THE MILE
The well-regarded Wise Dan is expected to go to post as the favourite in Sunday’s Grade 1, $1-million Ricoh Woodbine Mile.
The Charles Lopresti trainee arrives at the Mile off a spectacular five-length score, engineered by John Velazquez, in the one-mile Grade 2 Fourstardave at Saratoga, over a yielding turf course, a race Lopresti wasn’t sure he had won at the top of the lane.
With Get Stormy leading the field into the stretch and Corporate Jungle looming large with a three-wide rally, a patient Velazquez, riding the rail behind the leader, waited till the last possible moment for the rail to open up and surged home a resounding winner.
"Around the turn, I thought maybe he was backing off of it a little bit and those other horses were going to kick on and he wasn’t going to kick on," said Lopresti. "But, when he came back, Johnny (Velazquez) said, ‘I bet you were about to kill me around the turn down the backside’ and I said, ‘Yeah, I didn’t know what was going on.’ He said, ‘That was just me taking him back, I wanted him to make one run.’"
The five-year-old gelding has come a long way since his February 26, 2010 debut when fifth in an $18,000 maiden special weight at Turfway Park. The poor result surprised Lopresti.
"I liked him from way before the first time we ran him," admitted Lopresti. "He’d been showing brilliance in the morning. I really thought he would win first time out and I was a little disappointed that he didn’t, but then we brought him back and he broke his maiden by 15 lengths and the rest was history."
Although a graded winner on multiple surfaces, Lopresti might still be a bit undecided which ground suits his star pupil best.
"I do think he is better on synthetic and grass but he’s pretty good on the dirt as well…and an off track," said Lopresti, of the talented gelding.
Lopresti, who won the Mile last year with Turallure, hopes that Velazquez, recently inducted into the U.S. Horse Racing Hall of Fame, can continue his recent good form at Woodbine, which includes a memorable win in the E.P. Taylor, last year, with Miss Keller.
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EARLY LOOK AT SUNDAY’S RICOH WOODBINE MILE (9)
Horse/Owner/Trainer/Jockey
Artic Fern/Gustav Schickedanz/Mike Keogh/Justin Stein
Big Band Sound/Kendel Standlee/Dan Vella/Tyler Pizarro
Cityscape/Juddmonte Farms/Roger Charlton/James Doyle
Dance And Dance/Mohammed Rashid/Ed Vaughan/Garrett Gomez
Hollinger/Robert Harvey & Al Wortzman/Roger Attfield/Alex Solis
Hunters Bay/Stronach Stables/Reade Baker/Emma-Jayne Wilson
Riding the River/Dominion Bloodstock, HGHR & Linmac Farms/Dave Cotey/Todd Kabel
Wise Dan/Morton Fink/Charles Lopresti/John Velazquez
Worthadd/Diego Romeo/Sir Mark Prescott/Luis Contreras
CANADIAN RACING FANS HAVE SOMETHING TO ROOT FOR IN ARTIC FERN
Two years ago, Artic Fern was a hot prospect on the Queen’s Plate trail, until injury derailed his chances to contest the ‘Gallop for the Guineas.’ But the seven-time winner from 16 starts hasn’t wilted over time, making a winning return to the races in 2011, and now, into this year’s Grade 1 Ricoh Woodbine Mile picture.
On April 17, 2010, the dark bay, who was listed at 250-1 in the Queen’s Plate Winterbook, took his six-furlong Polytrack race by 1 ½ lengths, at 10-1, following it up with a 2 ¼-length score at 1 1/16 miles on May 23, duplicating that margin of victory at the same distance June 5.
With all systems go and a legitimate shot at Queen’s Plate glory in his sights, a shoulder injury in the days leading up to the race sent him to the sidelines for the rest of the campaign.
"It was one of the most disappointing days in my career," said trainer Mike Keogh, of Artic Fern’s absence from the Plate. "There was no way we could have run him. But I knew we would get him back. It was just a question of taking our time and getting him right."
Bred and owned by Gus Schickedanz, five-year-old Artic Fern will look to deliver the Hall of Fame owner his first Mile victory.
Jockey Justin Stein, who partnered Strait of Dover to victory in this year’s Queen’s Plate, will ride the son of champion Langfuhr on Sunday.
EARLY LOOK AT THE NORTHERN DANCER (8)
Al Khali
Celtic Conviction
Forte Dei Marmi
Irish Mission
Musketier
Ojibway Signal
Scalo
Wigmore Hall
EARLY LOOK AT THE CANADIAN STAKES (9)
All Star Heart
Barefoot Lady
Indian Pond
Kapitale
Laughing
Moment of Majesty
Shimmering Moment
Smart Sting
Stars to Shine
WOODBINE MILE DRAW AVAILABLE ON WEBSITE
A reminder that Thursday’s Woodbine Mile draw from the VIP tent will be streamed live at www.woodbinemile.com. Further information and event details for Mile day are available there. The Twitter hashtag is #WoMile.