In front of 200 and his closest friends and family plus thousands of fans in the grandstand and infield, Eugene Melnyk celebrated his second win in the Sandy Lane Gold Cup in his homeland of Barbados.
Stakes-winners Bribon and Sterwins headline a strong field in the Barbados Gold Cup, which also includes top Barbadian runner Areutalkintome and last year's Gold Cup winner, Daylight Express.
Court Vision, scratched from the Oct. 3 Kelso Handicap (gr. III) after it was taken off turf, reappears at Keeneland for the $600,000 Shadwell Turf Mile (gr. IT) Oct. 10. The 4-year-old colt will look to use the race as a springboard for next month's Breeders' Cup.
Ventura became the first female to win the Woodbine Mile (Can-IT) in 13 years when she swept past the field on the outside to post a one-length victory Sept. 20.
Canadian turf champion Rahy's Attorney returns to defend his Woodbine Mile (Can-IT) crown against a strong group of turf specialists in the $1 million event Sept. 20, which includes the sharp mare Ventura and New York invader Bribon.
Front-running Rahy's Attorney turned the tables on rival Sterwins in the $283,475 King Edward Stakes (Can-IIT) June 27 at Woodbine, refusing to give way when challenged in the long homestretch to post a one-length victory.
Sterwins turned in probably the race of his life when he came from behind to defeat Rahy's Attorney by a head for the Connaught Cup (Can-IIIT) while setting a course record at Woodbine last month. The question in the upcoming $300,000 King Edward Stakes (Can-IIT) is whether the Eugene Melnyk homebred can do it again.
With a surge in the final strides, Sterwins defeated favored Rahy's Attorney by a head while breaking the Woodbine turf track record for 1 1/16 miles in the $154,688 Connaught Cup (Can-IIIT) May 24.
Rahy's Attorney, upset winner of the $1 million Woodbine Mile (Can-IT) last year, returns to his favorite track for the first start of his 2009 campaign in the $150,000 Connaught Cup (Can-IIIT) May 24.
A star-studded cast of older horses that includes three former Kentucky Derby (gr. I) starters tops a field of seven in the $150,000 Ben Ali (gr. III), the feature race on Keeneland's April 19 program.
True Metropolitan and Sterwins were the class of the field in the $150,000 Eclipse Stakes (gr. III), and those two proved it by finishing one-two in the 1 1/16-mile event at Woodbine June 7.
Eugene Melnyk's homebred Sterwins, longshot winner of the April 20 Ben Ali Stakes (gr. III) at Keeneland last time out, seeks the second graded score of his career when he faces Bahadur Cheema's True Metropolitan and four other runners in the $150,000 Eclipse Stakes (gr. III) at Woodbine June 7.
Ignored at the betting windows, Melnyk Racing Stables' homebred Sterwins rallied from last, shot through the stretch, and pulled away for a commanding 3 1/4-length victory in the $150,000 Ben Ali Stakes (gr. III) April 20 on the Keeneland Polytrack.
The 5-year-old gelding won for the first time in nearly 18 months Jan. 12 at Fair Grounds.
The turf event at Fair Grounds will test 10 older horses, five of which met each other last month.
Twice this summer, Cloudy's Knight just missed winning a pair of graded stakes. Those experiences must have helped the 7-year-old, as he was not to be denied a third time, taking the $300,000 Sky Classic Stakes (Can-IIT) Sept. 23 at Woodbine by a length.
Queen's Plate winner Edenwold is the 5-2 morning line favorite entered for the $500,000 Prince of Wales Stakes, the second leg of the Canadian Triple Crown at Fort Erie Sunday.
Just when you thought you had a pretty good line on the 3-year-old division, here comes a late tidal wave of talent ready to burst onto the scene.
Overlooked Edenwold, Canada's champion 2-year-old in 2005, proved his critics wrong by springing a 16-1 upset in the $1 million Queen's Plate Sunday at Woodbine.
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