Can't be Coward and Lucky

If you think you have the winner of the 2016 Queensplate, I will advise you to look no further.  No need to keep checking the past performances of the other horses.  Stick with your horse and if you have doubts then play another ticket.  How many times have you doubted yourself and of course you jinx yourself in the process just to see your original horse win.  Sounds familiar to you?  Many times I have spoken to horse players and its the same story over and over, telling me how they picked the winner but changed at the last minute.  Of course, it never sounds true obviously to me but the look on the losers faces can always let me know that they wished they had that one back, to do it all over again.  You can afford to lose but to lose when knowing you had the winner saddled and ready to cash in can really hurt.  I have had my share of misfortunes along the way but no sense complaining, I just jump right back on that saddle and giddy yup!  

Do you fall in love with horses, jockeys, trainers or owners?  What determines a winner for you.  A good jockey can give you a winner but I always look at the horse and its running style before choosing my selection.  Your favorite jockey will probably not be my favorite jockey and an argument can break out at the track trying to determine who is a better jockey.  Some folks stick to numbers and others just go to the wicket and ask for a quick pick.  No sweat, right!

Patrick Husbands (triple crown winner at Woodbine)

Well the great Patrick Husbands is back on "Gamble's Ghost" a filly this year and Josie Carroll who is the only Female trainer in the race trains this one.  She also trains Amis Gizmo who by the way happens to be one of the favorites in this race this year. Luis Contreras who is second in the jockey leaders statistics at Woodbine gets the mount for this one. 

Another interesting horse in this race is Narrow Escape who attracts the mount of Sheena Ryan.  This colt won an allowance race last time in a short field but wired them all the way with a low speed figure.  I like this colt even with the low speed figure and the mount of Sheena Ryan who sometimes gives you a good ride and sometimes could be lost in the shuffle.

Leavem In Malibu is a big beautiful colt by Malibu Moon,ridden by Gary Boulanger and trained by Mark Casse.  I am really excited to watch this one go on Sunday but can Gary get him to wake up early and blow away this field?  Only time will tell but he is a very interesting horse and cannot be left out.

All on Red is a Hard Spun colt who was a very good horse in his time and ridden by the leading rider at Woodbine, Eurica Rosa Da Silva and train by Sid Attard.  This is a nice horse who look like he was just testing the waters last time out only to lose by a head.  Da Silva isn't the leading rider at Woodbine for nothing and shouldn't be overlooked, he loves winning.  Good luck to everybody!

I cant help but to tell you about the jockey Simon Husbands who is a very good story.  One day I have to chat with him to hear directly from the horse's mouth, his story. So Simon gets the mount of Rocket Plan in this race.  Simon Husbands is a jockey who for whatever reason had to leave Woodbine for a few years, he rode across the border in the USA only to return last year and did a helluva of a job with the mounts he got.  This year he is doing a pretty good job again and I will be cheering him along.


Headley's Picks

Woodbine Thoroughbreds

July 2nd

race 6 - Sugar Jones
race 7 - Papa Zulu
race 8 - Hammerstein
race 9 - Where's the Widget***


July 3rd

race 4 - Lady Shipman
race 6 - Bear'sway
race 7 - Guitar George
race 8 - Danish Dynaformer
race 9 - Industrial policy
race 10 - Leavem In Malibu