Horse Racing in Woodbine Racetrack, Canada - Part II
The second featured race that took place at the Woodbine Racetrack in Canada on the 19th of September was the Canadian Stakes - a Grade II race, run on a dirt track over a distance of 1 metre and 1 furlong.
Miss Keller finished at the first spot which has been bred in Canada, and was previously trained by trainer John Oxx who won the race at Gowran and Down Royal in 2009. Latin Love from Ireland finished at the second spot. At this year’s Canadian Stakes however was a difficult preposition with the Irish trained race horse competing against it. Latin Love was trained by world renowned trainer David Wachman. It was Latin Love’s second race after its victory at Curragh Listed race which took place in the beginning of July this year. The Canadian Stakes carried a purse of 300,000 Canadian dollars and the victorious filly was rated at 8-5.
Miss Keller is the four year old daughter of the popular race horse Montjeu. In the beginning of the race, Latin Love was running ahead of Miss Keller with a couple of furlongs ahead. The race took an intense turn half way through the distance, and the race saw the main contenders of the race, running almost parallel to each other. Miss Keller readily held off all the other horses that were running in the race at the last turn. The filly defeated her archrival within no time, while the rest of the participants were not that hard to hold back. Miss Keller finished the race in 1 minute and 45.84 seconds. The filly was a length and three quarters ahead of Latin Love and the rest of the horses were way behind.
Canadian Stakes is run in the middle of September on an annual basis and is a Grade II thoroughbred horse race. The race takes place in the Canadian city of Toronto. Both mares and fillies of age three and above are eligible to contend this race. The race was renamed as Canadian Stakes in 2006, before it was known as the Canadian Handicap. The race was moved to the Woodbine Race Track in the year 1964. Classic Stamp has won this race on most occasions in its history. While the jockey who has made the record of winning the most races on the Woodbine Race Track is Robin Platts.
Northern Dancer Turf Stakes is again a Canadian thoroughbred horse race which also takes place at the Woodbine Race Track in Toronto every year. The race was initially known as the Niagara Handicap but the name was later changed and the race was moved to the Woodbine race track in 1957. The race is run on grass and is a left-handed track. Three year old horses of either s*x can qualify for this particular race. Before 1986, the race was run on a dirt track since 1953.
It forms part of the Breeder’s Cup and thus its name was changed to Niagara Breeder’s Cup Handicap. Later in 2006, the name of the race was amended once again and this time round, the event was renamed to honour the most talented and celebrated race horses in the country called Northern Dancer. This is one of the rare races which have run at various distances over time. The distances have however stayed within the range of 1 and a half miles. The speed recorded at this race was set by Full of Wonder in 2002 while the most wins at this race are accredited to Marshall Ney II and Strut the Stage.
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