With six starts and not doing worse than second, Twin City has managed to be a good little soldier going into the Marine Stakes at Woodbine Racetrack on Canada Day.
He is the son of Klimt who was able to finish eighth in the grade 1 Breeder's cup juvenile at Santa Anita back in 2016. Klimt also won the grade 1 Delmar Futurity as a two-year-old and finished up his career as a racehorse the very next year.
Twin City seems to be a chip off the old block and so far has not disappointed trainer Stuart Simon. Last time out Twin City finished first in the King Corrie Stakes at Woodbine, nipping Wico by a nose and taking the purse in a tough field of seven rivals.
So far in 2023, Twin City has had one winner for trainer Simon at Woodbine and he has to be very optimistic going into the Marine Stakes with his chances.
On June 11th at Hastings racetrack I stood in the George Royal suite screaming my lungs off at the screen, cheering Kaukokaipuu on in the Queenston Stakes at Woodbine racetrack. Of course I drew attention but it was the perfect opportunity for me to introduce myself to a brand new audience and tell the story of the little barn and the horse everyone said would stop short of winning.
photo Woodbine/by Michael Burns
On that day Kaukokaipuu went off at 6-1 and was ridden to victory by Rico Walcott who had brought a trail of winning habits with him from out west. So again, I introduced myself to some brand new strangers and told them the stories of the growing grey colt who is trained by Tedston Holder in the little barn at Woodbine racetrack. Then I reminded them of the jockey who rode the horse and then I began to see the faces lit up as I told them that the jockey was Rico Walcott.
There always seem to be a bit of joy whenever jockeys rode at smaller tracks and moved on to bigger tracks and gain some accomplishments.
During the year 2022 kaukokaipuu kept knocking on the doors but just couldn't get to the finish line first. Maybe it was a good thing that he didn't win and his peeking is happening at the right time for trainer Tedston Holder and the Culpepper Island Syndicate. Looking back at the past performances of the Queenston Stakes winner you can now see the steady progress of the colt and the direction he is heading. I get the feeling that he will still be written off in this grade 3 race with trainers like Chad Brown and Mark Casse entering one horse each.
The field is set and when July 1st comes around fans will find themselves making some tough decisions choosing a winner from this race even though the choices are very inviting.
As a matter of fact, when horses improve usually their trainers improve as well.
Renico Lafond
Canadiansweetheart has somehow managed to go quietly into the winner's circle six times out of her last nine races. Even if the races weren't allowance or stake races this is still a wonderful achievement of spotting a horse in the right races.
Canadiansweetheart broke her maiden on October 6th, 2022 and on that day she was ridden by Juan Crawford and then trained by Keith Edwards. She won by four lengths on that day after putting away her rival at the quarter pole.
Since then Canadiansweetheart has landed in two different barns and is currently managed by one of the young trainers at Woodbine Racetrack Renico Lafond. I spoke with Renico Lafond back in the winter who was very eager to show the world that he can train horses to win and do it competently.
If Canadiansweetheart stays in the hands of Renico Lafond he may have his work cut out for him but would have a sweetheart of a filly to help him grow and continue to improve.
At first glance, the beauty of the mountains and the ocean which sit adjacent to Hastings racecourse just takes your breath away.
You naturally pause from whatever you were doing and what you were about to do and just stare. It is breathtaking if you are seeing this for the first time.
You don't need to know what is going on in the horse racing world you just need to take this all in at least once and then return to have your kids cheer for a horse they like or a jockey you have made them familiar with. They were kids running around with hot dogs drooping from the buns, folk music playing live in the background for those who sipped their cold beverages, and an ice cream line that caught the interest of more adults than I expected to see.
More people on the grounds than in the stands wasn't what I expected to see.
Somehow the numbers have shown that more people are watching the races at home or online because, in today's world, it just makes sense.
Between races, I watched as a flock of birds chased an eagle or perhaps it could have been an eagle teaching its fleet to fly. Crows are everywhere in this city just like robins are in the city where I reside. This was fascinating to me as I don't openly see eagles soaring by in the parts where I live or crows so plentiful.
This is Vancouver, the most western area of Canada.
Many races have small fields but fans are still active just like the other race tracks I have visited. I saw groups of young males separated by tables of beer positioned in ice-cold buckets and they were all very vocal as if they were celebrating an event. They couldn't have been just at the races like that, especially in today's world of online activity?
Hastings is a small track and because of its size as explained to me, the purses are naturally smaller. The jockeys are a lot easier to speak with especially if you have Mike Pounder making some arrangements for you with them. Mike Pounder is a jockey Agent with many years of knowledge and experience around tracks out west. He started out in the racehorse world by pursuing a career as a jockey but decided to become a professional exercise rider due to weight issues and the struggle to keep the weight down. Mike Pounder has a fascinating story to tell and he explained to me that everything has to be worked for and nothing is given to you based on his experience and trying to break into the game of horse racing.
At Hastings, I witnessed fans lined up against the rail on the stretch drive with their cell phones out to see if jockey Amadeo Perez would win all seven races on the day's card. It was a spectacular sight and I was just lucky enough to be there at that time.
Amadeo Perez pauses for a photo.
Unfortunately for those fans, he came up a bit short and only managed to win six races from the seven-race card.
No one expected an American triple crown winner this year since Mage lost in the 2nd leg of the trio of races and decide to skip the Belmont. Most people anticipated the return of Forte to see how well he would do after scratching from the Kentucky Derby and he didn't disappoint even though running 2nd last Saturday. One of the stories which were brewing just before the race was the chance of Jena Antonucci becoming the first female trainer to win the Belmont stakes. Well, we all know now what happened and Jena Antonucci did become the first female trainer to be successful in accomplishing the title of winner. She did it with a lightly raced horse by the name of Arcangelo who now has three wins from five career starts and he has carved out a spot in history for Jena Antonucci.
One of the other bright moments for me was watching Cody's Wish win his sixth race in a row. It was special watching him come from way behind to win by about three and a half lengths in the Metropolitan Handicap at Belmont and ridden to victory by Junior Alvarado.
On Sunday Afternoon at Woodbine racetrack, we got to see kaukokaipuu the three-year-old son of Mr. Speaker win the Queenston stakes which put him in a very good spot now, especially with his king's plate nomination and a chance to be the first to win the King's plate in modern times. What Kaukokaipuu does next will be interesting to watch as we have seen this grey son of Mr. Speaker come into his more mature side. Speaking with the Trainer Tedston Holder earlier in the year he assured me that kaukokaipuu had developed some new adopted ways over last winter with one of them being cheeky and hopefully winning will be one of them also.
I also spoke with trainer TedstonHolder after the race to find out what his plans are for this new winner of the Queenston Stakes and how he was doing. kaukokaipuu is fine Tedston Holder uttered, he came back good and is in good shape. All the gears weren't cranked up as yet and a decision hasn't been made on his next race. I asked him about the company he beat and his legitimacy of contending for the king's plate in August. Holder replied Kaukokaipuu had solid excuses for running second in his previous starts dating back to 2022. There was a time also when the horse was hit in the eye and that bothered him in the race, causing a setback. All those horses are pretty good horses and Kaukokaipuu is just one also.
I asked Tedston Holder about his decision to dedicate the win to Ricky Griffith and without hesitation he said to me it was a no-brainer, especially with all the work Ricky had done with getting Barbadian horseman to this type of stage in Canada.
The great sport of horse racing provides the thrills and also disappointment that comes along with it. Fortunately for Nigel Burke his early success at Woodbine this year has provided him some relief going into the summer. When you have a small barn the room for error is calculated on a different level, much greater than a huge stable with a huge outfit and plenty of opportunity to make up the losses.
Trainer Nigel Burke / photo by Barn and track
Trainer Nigel Burke comes from a family of horse people which balances on both mom and dad's side of the family. His involvement and experience as a horseman have helped him to be ready for the good times and also the letdowns which come with the sport. I spoke with Nigel earlier in the spring to hear his thoughts on this season at Woodbine and to hear a bit more about him as a horseman.
Last year at Woodbine was his best year with purse winnings as a trainer so I asked him about that when I last spoke with him. To hear more about the conversation you can click the link from Behind the Scenes.
Rockcrest who is the six-year-old son of Old Forester has been the trainer's best horse in the stable providing earnings of $397,042 to date. Rockcrest now has won two of three races this year with the losing race at Tampa Bay Downs in the Turf Dash Stakes.
His latest victory was in the Pink Lloyd Stakes at Woodbine Racetrack going six furlongs on the all-weather surface. Regular rider Keveh Nicholl's was in the saddle for this victory making it his first-ever stake win at Woodbine.
Nigel Burke Racing Stable so far this year at Woodbine.
