2007 Woodbine Mile Entries

September 13, 2007

Results here

The $1 million Woodbine Mile Presented by Bell (G1) has quickly become an important race on the North American calendar in the highly competitive Breeders' Cup Mile division. A field of fourteen older horses were entered in this, the eleventh renewal of the 1 mile turf event around one turn of the E.P. Taylor Turf Course. Hall of Fame jockey Jerry Bailey, who retired in January 2006, is Woodbine's special guest for Mile weekend and assisted at the draw. Asked which race was the highlight of his career, he said, "I'd like to say the Kentucky Derby (winning aboard Sea Hero in 1993 and Grindstone in 1996) since it's our special race in the United States, but to be honest with you it would have to be the (1996) Dubai World Cup, because I won it for America. It's the closest I'll ever be to an Olympian, and I was wearing the Paulson silks which are red, white, and blue. I felt like an Olympian that day."

2005 Joe Hirsch Turf Classic (G1) winner Shakespeare is the 3-1 morning line favorite who drew the 3 post. He recently won an allowance race at Saratoga after being off 21 months. Trainer Kiaran McLaughlin, who took over training duties from original trainer Bill Mott, said, "That's why he went back to the farm, they caught it early enough and gave him some time. It was the left front. He's come back great. He does things effortlessly, he's a big, beautiful horse. You hate to just go on and on about him, but he's just a wonderful horse to be around. He's a very, very talented horse, and he has a lot of ability. He's a pretty special horse." Incidentally, Shakespeare's regular rider in 2005 was Jerry Bailey, who retired from riding 3 months after the Breeders' Cup.

Last year, Becrux stalked the pace, took over inside the 1/8 pole and held off Rebel Rebel to win by a neck. On Sunday he will break from post 2 attempting to be the first repeat winner of the Woodbine Mile and is the 5-1 third choice. He comes into the Mile off a close second place finish in the Del Mar Mile (G2) after winning the Wickerr also at Del Mar. Trainer Neil Drysdale said of the Wickerr win, "He did that well. That was a nice performance because he had to do it quite wide. In the previous two races this year, (David) Flores has been boxed in and couldn't get out. He decided to hell with being boxed in, he'd just go wide." Drysdale is attempting to become the only 4-time Woodbine Mile winner, having won in 1998 with Labeeb, 2003 with Touch of the Blues, and last year with Becrux.

Among the longshots, last year's Sovereign winner as Canada's Horse of the Year, Arravale, drew post 12 and is a 15-1 outsider in the field. She has not won since the E.P. Taylor Stakes(G1) last October, and her connections originally intended to enter her in the Canadian Stakes (G2) which is on the Woodbine Mile undercard and in which she finished second last year. Asked why she will take on males for the first time instead, trainer Mac Benson said, "She gives weight in the Canadian and gets weight from most of the horses in the Mile. She popped a splint in early May, so we had to take care of that before we could go any further." She enters the Woodbine Mile off a third place finish in an allowance on August 24, but came back with a bullet 57 3/5 workout on September 3. Benson said, "She was short in that race and the work (:57 3/5, handily, over the Woodbine Polytrack) sets her up for the Mile. She's definitely improving."

There are two other stakes races on the undercard, both also around 1 turn of the turf course. The $300,000 Canadian Stakes (G2) features a field of nine older fillies and mares going 1 1/8 miles, while the $250,000 Summer Stakes (G3) is a one-mile event for 2-year-olds, also with nine drawn. The Woodbine Mile, carded as the ninth race of an eleven-race card and going off at 5:06 PM ET, will be broadcast in Canada on The Score network on a special telecast from 4:00 - 5:30 PM ET, and is also available via simulcast across North America.