Ricardo Santana Jr. displays New York Thunder under the wet and rainy Toronto weather condition at Woodbine Racetrack.

 Last weekend the races at Woodbine Racetrack displayed exciting events of drama, spoiled predictions, and pure awesome talent.

In the Star Shoot Stakes which went six furlongs on the all-weather track, Saffie Joseph Jr. sent Blind Spot across the northern border with jockey Tyler Conner.  Blind Spot did finish first crossing the line but was later reviewed and placed 2nd by the judges. Jill Jitterbug was the eventual winner with jockey Sahin Civaci.

New York Thunder and Ricardo Santana Jr.

In the Woodstock Stakes which was competed at six furlongs on the all-weather surface, New York Thunder showed up in the blistering rain and displayed a very impressive victory guided by Ricardo Santana Jr. in the saddle.  Santana showed every experience he had with this victory and muscled New York Thunder to the lead and finally to the finish line in 1:08:45.

Jill Jitterbug wins the Star Shoots - Photo by Michael Burns. 

Some of the other highlights of the weekend were Steven Chircop acquiring his 200th career victory, with Uncle Joe in an Optional claiming race with a purse of $61,800.  I am sure there has to be a story to the name of the horse!

The 2nd race of Saturday's card featured a $111,600 maiden special weight for three-year-olds.  The morning line favorite kaukokaipuu was guided by Rico Walcott for the first time but ended up second again.  Kaukokaipuu has now run second six times with eight career starts.  The eventual winner of the race was True Temper who was ridden by the veteran and classy jockey Patrick Husbands.

On other notes, Kazushi Kimura won four races on the Sunday card and he seems to be picking up where he left off in 2022.  He now has six first-place finishes at Woodbine for the year and is on top of the leaders' board.

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