Jockey Rico Walcott is displaying his riding experience in his short time at Woodbine Racetrack.

 For fans of Woodbine Racetrack, Rico Walcott may be a newbie to the colony but his riding career goes way back to Northland Park which is no longer around as a racetrack.  It's quite clear that he has been around in the trenches and he is quite an experienced rider and a jockey who knows how to ride the big races at crunch times.

Rico Walcott has had over 6500 mounts in North America and over 1500 first-place finishes to add to his portfolio.  The last time Woodbine had a Rico as a champion it was Eu-Rico Dasilva who was exceptional in his time as a jockey before he retired.  Not jumping ahead of myself and proclaiming that Rico Walcott is a Woodbine racetrack champion jockey but he surely plays the part, confidently.

Rico Walcott waits patiently - photo by Nitro1photo

Walcott's career has him winning thirteen graded stake races with all of them being grade threes.  Not bad for a guy who spent most of his career in western Canada with very few to no other graded stake races other than grade three races ever coming that way.  He has won the Canadian Derby five times and the BC Derby four times.  A closer look also shows that he won the Oklahoma Derby at Remington Park once with Broadway Empire in 2013 while teaming up with Trainer Robertino Diodoro.

In 2023 when Rico Walcott made a decision to ride at Woodbine for the season/meet it was a decision that was met with excitement by fans if you knew his history as a rider out west in Canada.  The previous year in 2022 Walcott rode most of his races at Century Mile Downs in Alberta winning 53 races, 52 second place finishes, and 42 third place finishes that year from 250 mounts.  At Woodbine in 2023, Walcott has managed to win 12 races from 83 mounts and has landed the Kingsplate's local favorite kaukokaipuu which is trained by Tedston Holder.  

I spoke briefly with Rico and he was evenly excited and confident with his chances with Kaukokaipuu in this year's running of the King's Plate at Woodbine racetrack.

Rico Walcott

One of Walcott's better-ridden races seen lately was Walcott riding Midnight in Malibu at odds of 32-1 and finishing first in the Allowance Optional claimer which was run at One mile and one Sixteenth over the All weather track at Woodbine.  It was a race of pure advantageousness on Walcott's behalf and it worked out perfectly to his benefit with Midnight in Malibu taking off around the field at the half way  point and putting distance between the rest of the field.  As they arrived at the wire the field was closing in on Midnight in Malibu but it was all too late on that day for the other contenders.

derek.barntrack@gmail.com

Canadiansweetheart is a darling at three years old

 She has now won seven from her last ten starts including one race at Gulfstream Park back on March 11th.  Canadiansweetheart has caught some attention and shone brightly on July 15th at Woodbine Racetrack in a six-furlong allowance optional claimer with a purse of  $111,000 on the line. What a runner she is turning into and after speaking with the trainer Renico Lafond he was more than happy to see the leap she has made to this level of racing.

Eswan "dynamite" Flores broke well with Canadiansweetheart and then took her back slightly behind the pace Ima Beast ridden by Patrick Husbands. Once in the stretch and sensing the finish line Eswan Flores popped Canadiansweetheart out from slightly off the rail and steered her home in winning form.

It was a tremendous ride Lafond said complementing the jockey Eswan who always seem to blow the tote board up with his wins.  

Canadiansweetheart is an ontario bred own by Chris K. Manohar and bred by James Everatt, Janeane Everatt & Arika Everatt-Meeuse.

derek.barntrack@gmail.com

Jockey Rocco Bowen continues to show Flashes of greatness with his come back from injury.

 Today July 12, 2023,  Rocco Bowen had one single mount for the day and he made it a winning one with Flash of Cherokee at Thistledown in a maiden special weight with a purse of $26, 400 on the line.  Bowen positioned Flash Of Cherokee perfectly from the break and stayed just off the pace-setter Team Feisty.  At the top of the stretch Flash Of Cherokee was still full of run and then Bowen got busy by wearing down the front runner and finishing first with an E-figure of 62.

Rocco Bowen Flashes a smile in the winner's circle

This was Flash Of Cherokee's 7th career start and she finally broke her maiden, giving trainer Kim Puhl his 22nd win for the year and Rocco Bowen his 13th for the year.  Bowen who had a string of bad luck in recent times with injuries was very grateful for the opportunity to ride again. 

After coming back from his injury Bowen has ridden at three different tracks and has won at least one race at each of them.  While nursing his injury of a broken pelvis, Rocco Bowen remained positive and always had riding as his goal.

His next two mounts are at Thistledown on July 13th where he will ride just two races for the day and then he is back to the north west.  He has had quite a busy few weeks with his trips across the USA but this is what keeps him smiling.

derek.barntrack@gmail.com

Buttered Toast Gets Better with every stride

 The last time Buttered Toast won she came from deep at the back of the field to win an allowance optional claimer on September 30, 2022.

On July 08 at Woodbine racetrack Buttered Toast pulled off an amazing run ridden by Skye Chernetz.  This race was contested on the inner track at one and one-sixteenth miles with Buttered Toast going off at 30-1 and hardly getting any notice from the public.

(L) David Cotey poses with (R) Ryan Jones

The six-year-old mare is trained by David Cotey who over the years has had some amazing wins at Woodbine Racetrack.  Some of his races won were the grade 1 Mazarine Breeders' Cup stakes with Lady Shari and the grade 2 Nijinsky stakes with Riding the River.  Really, you can't mention David Cotey without mentioning Mine That Bird and what he eventually went on to do in the USA and winning the Kentucky Derby.  

There was also Dance to my Tune and Stage Classic which won the Sky Classic back in 2001.

In Buttered Toast's last race on July 8, Skye Chernetz sat way at the back with Buttered Toast and it looked like there wasn't a chance of winning this race at first glance.  You would probably have to peel your PPs way back to see that Buttered Toast had done this before and if you had backed her on this day you probably were sitting in a very good position.

Skye Chernetz poses with her number one fan.

If anything you would have to give credit to the jockey for being so patient and trusting the horse.  It wasn't the Sky Classic on this day and it doesn't seem to be any limit to what jockey Skye Chernetz can do, in races.

derek.barntrack@gmail.com

 

Slade Callaghan gets back to a winning Familiar spot at Woodbine racetrack.

 On Sunday, July 09, Slade Callaghan rode Tazman to victory in the first race of the day.  Tazman broke alertly and sharply and quickly took the lead for the first quarter.  Astapovo ridden by Ryan Munger challenged Tazman and the pair battled all the way to the finish line with Tazman eventually the winner. 

 

Jockey Slade Callaghan doesn't ride too many mounts these days, but the win gave fans enough to remember the days when Callaghan rode Rahy's Attorney who won over one million dollars in purse earnings.

Tazman previously had two starts in maiden special weights at Woodbine and didn't hit the board in both races.  His E speed figure was elevated to an 82 after this win last Sunday.

derek.barntrack@gmail.com

Amazingly, what a whip can do to get you to the finish line first.

 On July 3rd at Fort Erie racetrack, I'm No Sleepy Joe was piloted by apprentice jockey Alexis Sanchez in the 2nd race of the day.  It was announced that the apprentice will ride I'm No Sleepy Joe without a whip and even though the race was one of the best of the day I'm No Sleepy Joe finished 4th in a finish that required the photo-finish to decide the outcome.

Photo by Fort Erie Racetrack

It was announced in the very next race that the apprentice Alexis Sanchez will carry a whip while riding Thy Kingdom, trained and owned by veteran trainer Luthia Shirley who trains mostly at Fort Erie racetrack.

That was the change needed to give Alexis Sanchez his first career win and also Luthia Shirley's first win since 2019 when she sent out Miss Tea Blonde in a maiden claiming at Fort Erie racetrack.

The trainer did a great job of spotting this horse in the right race and even though Thy Kingdom went off at 22-1, he romped to victory in a well-ridden race by the jockey Alexis Sanchez.

Alexis now has one career win which should give him a whip start for the rest of the year.

derek.barntrack@gmail.com

Kazushi Kimura leads all jockeys at Woodbine racetrack with his consistent form.

 By now you would know who Kazushi Kimura is if you are a racehorse fan in Canada.  

Kazushi Kimura popped on the scene as an apprentice jockey back in 2018 at Woodbine Racetrack and has been showing a trail of progress ever since then.  In 2022 he racked up his best career year statistically with winning purse earnings of $7,717,654. with the horses, he rode in North America.

At Woodbine Racetrack on July 1st, Kimura managed to win three races on the day, suddenly the colony took form as the statistics in the Woodbine standings showed.

July 1st, 2023

Kazushi Kimura - 3 firsts

Rafael Hernandez - 2 firsts

Patrick Husbands - 2 firsts

Sahin Civaci - 2 firsts

Top Jockey Earners at Woodbine in 2023

• Kazushi Kimura. $1,997,753.00.

• Rafael Manuel Hernandez. $1,299,590.00.

• Patrick Husbands. $1,215,921.00.

• Sahin Civaci. $1,089,366.00.

Kimura, who spent his winter in California came back to Woodbine in great riding form for the season and hasn't let down his backers.  One of the anticipated races of the day on July 1st was the Nassau stakes which Kimura rode Moira horse of the year for 2022.  Moira ended up finishing 2nd to the Irish-bred Fev Rover which was ridden by Patrick Husbands to a commanding 1st place finish.  In the Marine stakes which featured the Queenston Stakes winner Kaukokaipuu trained by Tedston Holder, Kazushi Kimura and the Irish Bred Turf King out-dueled Kaukokaipuu and jockey Rico Walcott in an exciting stretch battle won by Turf King trained by Chad Brown.

Kazushi Kimura awaits his mount on Moira

Kazushi Kimura currently holds 27th place in the North American jockey standings with Jaime Rodriguez just above him.  No other current Canadian-based jockey sits in the top 100 in these standings.  

derek.barntrack@gmail.com.