June 2000

Articles:

• The New Woodbine
• Queen's Plate Bound
• Trainer's Message
• Earning's vs. Expenses
• Horses to Watch
• Jockey Profile
• New Owners Seminar
• Dave Landry
• Owner of the Month
• Money Talks, or Stables Walk
• Facts and Arguments
• Welcome New Owners
• Calendar of Events
• Back to newsletter index page

At 11:00 a.m. on the last Wednesday in March, Woodbine racetrack and thoroughbred racing in Toronto changed forever. On that morning of the 29th, thousands of metro area residents squirmed and jostled their way through the shiney new entrance of the track's slot machine operation and poured tokens into the 1700 machines. Hundreds of slot players, fans and interested horsemen waited for up to two hours just to get inside.
"I'm not just happy, I'm astounded," said David Willmot, president and chief executive officer of the Ontario Jockey Club as he watched some 1500 people being ushered into the slots area during it's opening half hour.
"It is gratifying to see something we've worked so hard for come to fruition." He said. "And for me personally, it's great to see the enthusiasm of the horse people. It has just boosted the morale of the industry."
Woodbine, a grand lady at 45 years of age, doesn't look anything like she did when E.P. Taylor drew up the blueprint in the 1950's. Now, with $100 million worth of improvements having been done in the past two years, the sides of Woodbine's grandstand are plastered with bright posters of racehorses and slot machines, rows of maple trees leading up to the track were replaced by light standards with imitation crown tops and the parking lot is full. It's quite certain Taylor would be proud.
In addition to the immaculate rotunda entrance to the slots area, the track's second floor - the non-smoking racing area - has been dramatically re-vamped and made more spacious. There are 250 new television monitors, a new food court, a race book area, air conditioning and hundreds of impressive photos and other forms of artwork depicting the beauty of horse racing.
And inside the 57,000 square food slots floor, visitors are greeted with wall and ceiling paintings illustrating the birth of horse racing in the Italian renaissance period. An intricate model of the 15th century town Cienne, near Tuscany, and the Palio horse race (in which model horses race around like a carousel when someone wins money on a machine) is at the forefront of the floor.
It took 20 artists, contracted by the Ontario Lottery and Gaming Corporation which operates the Woodbine slots, five months to complete just the interior decorating.
In anticipation of the arrival of the slots, Woodbine's purses were jacked up 20% for opening day of the 166 card meeting, April 1, the seventh purse increase in the last 26 months. A mind boggling record stakes schedule, worth a staggering 17.79 million was also announced.
If slot revenue expectations and pari-mutuel projections are met, another purse hike could come as soon as late summer. (Note: Since this article was first printed, Woodbine purses increased another 20% on May 5th.)
"We're thrilled at the volumes of people coming into Woodbine" said Nick Eaves, the director of marketing and gaming for the OJC. "It's been a challenge for us in that the new Woodbine is very different from the old in the terms of the number of people here. It's a very nice problem to have. But we're adjusting." Jim Cronin, the director of communications for the OLC, said the slots operation at Woodbine, the ninth track in Ontario, averaged 10,230 visitors per day during the first week of operation. "By the end of Operations tonight (April 6th) we'll have reached the 100,000 mark in customers at Woodbine slots," said Cronin. "On March 31 alone we had almost 15,000 come in. We're certainly impressed with the numbers."
The opening of the slots led to a crowd of about 25,000 on opening day of the thoroughbred meet (combining the slots attendance and the estimates racing patrons). Wagering on Woodbine races from all sources jumped up from 4.02 to 4.18 million for the first two days of the meet, which last year included Good Friday.
The track receives 20 percent of the slot machine revenue to be split evenly between the track and it's horse people. If the first week of slots action at Woodbine is any indication, horse racing will enjoy a long and happy life in Ontario.
"This is a great day for Woodbine," said Willmot. "Horse racing at Woodbine has entered a whole new era and experienced a significant turnaround. It has now become a premiere entertainment destination in North America." Article written by Jennifer Morrison-Learn, was originally printed in the Canadian Thoroughbred Horse Magazine.

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June 25th is the date for this year's running of the Queen's Plate. The field is wide open, and with a record purse of $1 million dollars, it is sure to attract a full field. We started the year 2000 with seven horses eligible for the plate. As the time went on, only one candidate Fartherthanuthink remains. Bred by Reade Baker, this 3 yr old colt by Distant View made his racing debut on December 23rd 1999, and won at first asking. He was sent out at Aqueduct at 24 to 1 odds, and won by 5 lengths. Fartherthanuthink is by Distant View out of Closerthanyouthink by Ascot Knight and will be ridden by Emile Ramsammy. He is out of a half sister to the 1995 Plate winner, Regal Discovery. In January 2000, Fartherthanuthink was sold to Earle I. Mack and will carry his colours on Plate day.
Plate Contender Fartherthanuthink, by Distant View out of Closerthanuthink.
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There is so much excitement around Woodbine now that the renovations are complete and the 1700 slots are in full operation. Purses are up by 40% over December 1999, and double the purse structure of 1997.
I was happy overall with winter racing at Aqueduct, which resulted in three winners. It is always rewarding to race at a different major venue as it exposes one to other methods. The inner oval track at Aqueduct is used during the winter and some horses just did not like it. We stabled at Belmont and maintained conditioning on the horses over the winter and came home with horses ready to win. Amongst the horses that went on to win who winter trained with me include Amature Night, Mactaquac, Charles Notcharlie, D'Bungee, Perfectlydelicious, Whiteroom, Fartherthanuthink, and Master Stuart. The Woodbine racing season opened on April 1st with racing on Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays, for the first month. This late opening date is a trend we can expect to continue in 2001. With later starts to the Woodbine opening each year, it is more important than ever to take horses away for winter racing and or conditioning. New York was a very lucrative option in prior years but now that NYRA is asking big stables to maintain a presence in New York over the winter the competition is tougher for allowance horses. As an example, Master Stuart who just broke his maiden at 1 1/16 at Woodbine on June 3rd ran against Red Bullet in his maiden race. Red Bullet won that race and went on to capture the Preakness.
When the season ends here I'll be heading back to Florida. The exact area will depend on the mix of horses we have. In the meantime, there is also immense competition for good staff. With a major shortage of skilled horse workers, we are being forced to revisit the issue of remuneration for grooms and riders, both vital to the safety of our horses. We are reviewing the day rate. The CTHS held it's annual sale of two-year-olds in training on June 6th. The 2 yr olds averaged $28,214. In 1999, the average was $20,110. With the purses being so good, this is an example of things to come. It will be harder to purchase horses for the price levels of the pre-slot era. The yearlings at the CB sale in September will likely be up as well.
As always, I appreciate your support in 1999 and your referrals for new clients. Good luck for the 2000 Racing Season to All! - Reade
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The Racing Network has a clever ad campaign running right now where they compare the daily cost of owning a racehorse with the cost of having racing available on TV in the home. Their claim is that it costs $68.00 per day to own a racehorse, and only 0.68 cents per day to view all the live racing you want in your own home. This prompted us to do a little survey of our own. We thought it would be interesting to look at the purse earnings vs. the costs of training horses for our clients. The following chart shows actual earnings and expenses for 13 clients (represented on the chart as letters A-M) who had horses with Reade in 1999. Four clients had earnings of more than double their expenses, eight clients all had earnings that exceeded their costs, and only one owner did not have earnings to cover the costs. With a 40% increase in purses so far this year over 1999, the picture is sure to look even better for 2000. Expenses were taken from the actual client invoices by the trainer, including trainer and stable commissions, licenses, nomination fees, travel expenses for out of town races. The expenses do not include blacksmith, veterinarian or jockey fees.
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Horses to Watch

New to this year over years past is the number of older horses in the barn to start the year. The 2 year olds remained for the most part, on the farm. The exception being the two year olds that were continuously conditioned all winter. We have a good group of horses in the barn, some old, some new to us. Of the new horses we a three year old filly by Distant View named Casual Glance and a three year old colt by Matter of Honor named Steel on Target. Both are unraced and will make their debut very soon. Also new to us and unraced, is a three year old colt looking to make his debut this year, by Mt. Livermore named Acumen, and a colt by Affirmed named Evict. Rounding out the three year old group, are the two year olds of 99. Included are Tactical Star, Bold Chris, and Missy in Action. Fartherthanuthink, Master Stuart, and Decoratedwithonour have all won in 2000. Huntington Romance, I Love this Game, and Cool n Collective have been close in 2nd place. The four year old Sir Lloyd, winner of the 1999 Acheivement Stakes is in training and should make a strong come back to the races. In the older fillies category we have the feisty Katherine of Ascot, Donnybrook Lass, and Bay Lake Bound who are sure to perform well. The Silver Deputy colt owned by Cinnamont Stable named Senor Sterling ran once on the turf this year, and should improve off that race for his next start. Older colts to watch include Victoriously, Lenny the Lender, Personally Speaking, and Flying Colours.
The horses in our stable are mostly allowance level and some stakes level. When you have horses competing at these levels they do not race as often as claiming horses. Be patient if you are watching for theses horses to run. The usual time between races for these horses will be between 3 and 4 weeks.
Finally we have a promising group of two year olds by outstanding stallions. Our two year olds include unnamed colts by Ascot Knight, Boone's Mill, Gold Fever, and Ghazi. Of the named two year olds, we have a filly by Highland Ruckus; Ruby Shoes, a Regal Classic colt; Thank you Sir, a Tour d'Or colt; Vince on Tour (named after the exciting Toronto Raptor - Vince Carter), a Wavering Monarch filly; Time to Decide, an Ascot Knight filly; Parkavenueprincess, a Pembroke filly; Tina Tango, a Regal Classic colt; Jonah B Quick, a Regal Classic filly; Classy Daniela, a Fly So Free colt; Don Francesco, and a War Deputy colt; Runaweera.

DECORATEDWITHONOUR
This 3yr old filly by Matter of Honor earned $56,000 as a 2 yr old in 1999 and was still a maiden by the year-end. So much has changed in 2000 as on May 3rd, Decoratedwithonour won her maiden allowance race at Woodbine going 6 furlongs, and won her nw2 allowance at 1 1/16 miles on June 15. She won for Dr. Phillip McCarthy of Kentucky, who purchased her May 1st. Look for her in the bison City Stake at Fort Erie, a race won by Reade in 1999 with Synchronized.

MASTER STUART
Master Stuart is a 3yr old colt by Ascot Knight out of Windkist by Secreto. He is owned in partnership with Dom Romeo's Terra Racing Stable and Reade Baker. Master Stuart won his maiden allowance at 1 1/16 miles on the turf at Woodbine on June 3rd. Look for him in the Breeders Stakes.
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Upon meeting Emile Ramsammy one can understand why he was destined to become a jockey. Emile stands 5'4" and weighs in at 109lbs. Born December 11th, 1962 in Trinidad & Tobago, Emile was just 16 when it was first suggested that he go to jockey school in 1979. When the taxi dropped him off at the riding school in Trinidad, Emile knew what a jockey was, but had never seen a horse ridden live. Exactly one year later, Emile rode his first race. Emile remembers his career start very well, "We were trained in the English style, we were taught to do everything, grooming riding, everything." His first mount was on a horse named Sealed Orders... he finished third. "We raced the first 10 races against apprentices before we could race with the other jockeys. At the end of my first year I was named most promising apprentice. The following year I was leading apprentice rider."
Emile made his way to Canada in 1984 where he first rode a few for Jerome Meyers. "It was in 1990 when I brought my tack to Woodbine for good. In 1996, Emile rode in his first Queen's Plate. He won the race with Victory Cooley. The year continued strong as Emile led the jockey standings at Woodbine, having ridden 1082 horses and winning 175 races. This earned him a Sovereign Award for outstanding rider at Woodbine. In 1997, Emile led the standings for a second year in a row, this time winning 170 races from 1005 mounts, and a second Sovereign Award. Emile had always admired and respected jockey Laffit Pincay Jr. You could say that he was Emile's mentor. In 1998, when Emile decided to race in California, who was in the station next to him but Laffit Pincay Jr. After a few spills which cost racing time off, it was hard to get established in California with the same success Emile was used to at Woodbine. The purse structure made Woodbine an attraction once again for Emile. Another influencing factor is that both Emile and his wife are Canadian citizens. He sold his home in California and moved back to his Brampton home. " I'm more established here," says Emile. The main goal is to recapture the riding title. It should not be hard for Emile who has earned the respect of trainers and owners at Woodbine. "I've been riding for 20 years and I still enjoy it." A quiet, soft-spoken gentleman who doesn't say much unless asked, Emile is very different when on a horse. He rides aggressively and prefers the route races. "Some people think of me as a speed rider, but really I prefer the longer races."
Emile will pilot Fartherthanuthink in this year's Queen's Plate and is confident about his horse's chances saying "He has really come along nicely." When not riding, Emile spends much of his time at home with wife Lisa, and their three young sons ages 9, 3 and 2. His favourite music is anything soothing such as calypso, and Kenny G. His favourite colour is blue.

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Usually seen behind the lens of his camera, Dave Landry poses for my camera. Dave is a husband, a father of two, and a leading Canadian photographer. His photos have been published in thoroughbred horse magazines, and corporate brochures alike. He has traveled across America on corporate shoots. Although his roots are in corporate photography, with a love of horses and an eye for excellence, Dave has been drawn over the past 10 years to develop a portfolio of horse shots. Dave's signature photos are tight close shots that capture the essence of the horse. A Sovereign Award winner himself in 1999, Dave's photos of Stakes winning thoroughbreds are presented to award winning breeders at the annual awards dinner, hosted by the Ontario Division of the Canadian Thoroughbred Horse Society. By the way, if the name sounds familiar, it's because Dave is brother to a leading Woodbine jockey, his brother is Robert Landry.
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What started out as a joke, quietly became a competition amongst owners at the barn as we referred to the client whose payment arrived first as Owner of the Month. So in the spirit of the game, here is a list of owners of the month. Congratulations but most of all, thank you!

MONTH	WINNER	RUNNER-UP
January	C.E.C. Farm	Farr, George
February	Anderson, R.R.	C.E.C. Farm
March	C.E.C. Farm	Anderson, R.R.
April	Curraghmore Farm Inc.	Farr, George
May	Mack, Earle I.	Barkin, Arthur
June	Barkin, Arthur	Feigman, Leonard

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Purses for Florida and it's chief rivals:

Track	Clm $5,000	Clm $10,000	Clm $25,000	AlwNX1	AlwNX3
Arlington	$10,000	$15,000	$25,000	$29,000	$33,000
Calder	$7,000	$9,000	*$16,000	*$20,000	*$22,000
Churchill	$10,000	$13,000	$28,000	+$33,000	+$37,000
Delaware	$10,000	$15,000	$26,000	$32,000	$36,000
Fair Grounds	$8,500	$12,500	$21,500	$32,000	$36,000
Gulfstream	$9,500	$13,000	$20,000	$37,000	$42,000
Keeneland	$9,000	$12,000	$25,000	+$46,000	+$56,000
Lone Star	$7,500	$13,500	$26,000	$29,000	$33,000
Pimlico	$7,500	$13,500	$19,000	$28,000	$33,000
Sportsman's	$10,000	$14,000	$25,000	$28,000	$32,000
Woodbine	-	$12,500	$29,000	$40,600	$46,000

*Plus Florida-bred supplement of $1,500 to $3,000.
+Plus Kentucky-bred supplement of $8,000 to $11,400.
**Woodbine purses in U.S. dollars. Woodbine claiming purses in Canadian dollars ($1 Canadian = .66 cents US.)
Source: Daily Racing Form Charts or most recent condition book.

• GET READY! GET SET! GO!
  Often I'm asked how long it takes to get a horse ready to race. First of all I'd like to emphasize that I think it is extremely important for horses to get a good foundation after he takes to the saddle in the yearling year. This means continuous riding without stopping for the winter. It is common practice in northern climates, to break yearlings and then not resume training until March, April, or May of their two year-old-year. But horses that continue their exercise regime have a distinct advantage in the two year-old-year, and beyond. The bones of young horses need the foundation that regular exercise provides to remodel and strengthen. It is better to keep the yearlings going into their two-year-old year in training and then if the horse needs a break during or at the end of their two-year-old year, give it to them then. To get horses ready to race, keep in mind that each horse has minor differences and we cannot predict illnesses such as colds, mucus, or weather factors that may restrict training time. Generally, horses over the age of 2 years that have raced within the last 6 months will need a minimum of 60 days before he can compete at 5 furlongs, 90 days for 6 furlongs, and 120 days for 1 1/16 miles. This is the minimum amount of time required to get a horse to the races without jeopardizing his future. As most of us want to win first time out, it will take longer for a horse to reach a "winning" fitness level unless he is running against an inferior field to begin with. For 2yr olds and unraced 3yr olds, it may take a lot longer because they have never reached any serious fitness levels and their bones may not yet be remodeled. Finally, check your horse's pedigree. Chances are that if the dam, and siblings of your horse did not win early, the odds are against your horse being an early winner. - Reade
  
• HOW DO ULCERS AFFECT THE RACEHORSE?
  We took 16 horses to New York this past winter and during the time there I had all of the horses scoped for ulcers every 30 days. Dr. William Reed performed the procedure. His clinic, adjacent to Belmont Park racecourse, is state of the art. Dr. Reed had seen the inside of stomachs of most of the horses in the big stables in New York. Dr. Reed takes a small camera attached to the end of a long tube and feeds it into the horse's stomach and views the image on a television monitor. The images were spectacular and yet disturbing at the same time. Most of the horses we had scoped, had ulcers, and some were pretty nasty and bleeding. The horses that were under the least amount of stress, that is, they were unraced, showed the least amount of ulcer damage. Immediately the horses were placed on a program of ulcer drugs. There are a few products that claim to clear up the ulcers. The costs vary from one product to the next, and the top of the line product is very expensive. This led me to study the effect of the leading product on half of the horses and the more cost effective product on the other half. Unfortunately, to be quite honest I had the best results after 30 days of use, with only one product, the most expensive one. If your horse is a good eater and looks good, even if he has ulcers they may not be affecting his performance. If on the other hand your horse does not eat up, and doesn't look good, he should be on the ulcer medication. In conclusion, I found that the horses gained weight on the medication and that alone was very helpful for the horses with ulcers. In the long run, the cost of the treatments ($1200.US for the first month, and $600.US for the following months) can be returned at the track. - Reade
  
• A GAME OF NUMBERS
  In 1997, the number of registered Canadian-bred foals born in all of Canada was 2,273. Out of this crop, 868 of the foals were born in Ontario. These foals are the three year-olds of 2000, and the potential Queen's Plate contenders. This foal crop was at its lowest in years. That should change for 2000, as more breeders are likely to foal in Canada. Frank Stronach alone foaled 45 mares in Ontario this year. In the USA by comparison, there were more than 35,000 foals born in 1997. The Kentucky Derby eligibles of 2000 are from that crop. You can see that the odds are better for an owner in Canada to get a horse to the Queen's Plate ($1 million dollar purse) than for an owner of a horse born in the US to get to the Kentucky Derby.
  
• BOYS JUST WANT TO HAVE FUN
  Robert Sangster was recently interviewed by Bronwyn Farr and it was printed in the TDN International. I found his outlook on racing to be both humourous and positive. Sangster said "It is about having fun. It is not about being miserable or long-faced. If you lose you come back and win next week. We have always had a lot of fun."

We welcome inquiries from new people interested in getting into the sport/business as well as established owners who may be looking for a change. There is a definite increase in US owners racing at Woodbine for all of the obvious reasons. Please ask us about our all inclusive pricing package for US$ accounts. We wish to welcome the following new owners to the stable. Jai Narine, Ontario, Dewey White, Georgia, Beatrice Fisher, Michigan, Henry Jayawardena, Ontario, Dr. Phillip McCarthy, Kentucky, Brooks Taylor, Kentucky.

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