Ricoh Woodbine Mile attracts 27 nominees
TORONTO, September 2, 2022 – Twenty-seven horses have been nominated to the 26th running of the Grade 1 $1 million Ricoh Woodbine Mile, a Breeders' Cup ‘Win and You're In’ race, to be contested on Saturday, September 17 over the world-renowned E.P. Taylor Turf Course.
The impressive list of contenders from across North America and Europe includes Breeders’ Cup winner Modern Games (IRE), and a quartet of accomplished Mark Casse pupils, namely, Fev Rover (IRE), Filo Di Arianna (BRZ), Get Smokin, and veteran turfer March to the Arch.
Trained by Charles Appleby, Modern Games (IRE), winner of last year’s Grade 1 Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Turf, has assembled a 5-2-1 mark from 10 starts for owner-breeder Godolphin. The 3-year-old son of Dubawi (IRE)-Modern Ideals (GB) won four straight starts, three of them graded, including two Grade 1 victories, from September 8, 2021, to May 15, 2022.
Owned by Tracy Farmer, Fev Rover (IRE), a 4-year-old daughter of Gutaifan (IRE)-Laurelita (IRE), was at the top of her game in the Canadian Stakes Presented by the Japan Racing Association, taking the Grade 2 event for her first North American graded score.
Sporting a record of 7-0-0 from nine lifetime starts, Filo Di Arianna (BRZ) has been a force since coming to Woodbine earlier in the summer. After a sharp allowance win, the 6-year-old son of Drosselmeyer-Principessa Capri (BRZ) has rhymed off back-to-back victories in Grade 2 events, starting with the Connaught Cup on July 23 and in his most recent triumph, the King Edward Stakes on August 21.
Multiple graded stakes winner Get Smokin, a 5-year-old son of Get Stormy-Hookah Lady, who will be testing out the E.P. Taylor Turf Course for the first time in his career. The chestnut gelding, bred in Kentucky, won the 2020 edition of the Grade 2 Hill Prince Stakes at Belmont, and the Grade 3 Tampa Bay Stakes last February.
Casse, who won the 2016 and 2017 edition of the Mile with Tepin and World Approval, respectively, is also represented by March to the Arch. The 7-year-old son of Arch-Daveron (GER) is no stranger to the Mile, having finished second in 2020 and fourth in last year’s running. The multiple graded stakes victor is a Live Oak homebred and has fashioned a record of 8-5-4 from 33 career races.
Other notable nominees include Mighty Heart, Canada’s Horse of the Year in 2020 and 2021, multiple graded stakes winner Shirl’s Speight, last year’s Mile hero Town Cruise, and Bill Mott trainee Wakanaka (IRE), recent winner of the Grade 2 Dance Smartly Stakes at Woodbine. Mott won the 1997 race with Geri.
Recognized as one of the top turf races in the world, the Ricoh Woodbine Mile is a part of the Breeders' Cup Challenge Series. The winner earns an automatic fees-paid entry into the Breeders' Cup World Championships on November 4 and 5 at Keeneland.
The lucrative Ricoh Woodbine Mile undercard will showcase the Grade 1 $500,000 Johnnie Walker Natalma Stakes, and the Grade 1 $500,000 Pattison Summer Stakes, both of which are also Breeders' Cup Challenge ‘Win and You’re In’ events. The Grade 3 $150,000 Seaway completes the Saturday stakes superfecta.
Woodbine stakes nomination lists can be found on Woodbine.com under the "Horsepeople" tab or by clicking here: https://woodbine.com/horsepeople/
NOMINATIONS FOR THE $1 MILLION RICOH WOODBINE MILE (GRADE 1)
Horse – Trainer – Owner
Clayton – Kevin Attard – Lanni Bloodstock LLC and Daniel Plouffe
Emaraaty (GB) – Chad Brown – Michael Dubb, Madaket Stables LLC and Michael Caruso
Fev Rover (IRE) – Mark Casse – Tracy Farmer
Filo Di Arianna (BRZ) – Mark Casse – Gary Barber, Wachtel Stable and Peter Deutsch
Finest Sound (IRE) – Simon Crisford – Sheikh Mohammed Obaid Al Maktoum
Get Smokin – Ironhorse Racing Stable LLC, BlackRidge Stables LLC, T-IN-T Equine Holdings, LLC and Saratoga Seven Racing Partners, LLC – Mark Casse
Good Governance (GB) – Chad Brown – Klaravich Stables, Inc.
Haddassah – Kevin Attard – Al and Bill Ulwelling
Harlan Estate – Kevin Attard – ERJ Racing, LLC, Exline-Border Racing LLC, Madaket Stables LLC and Clay Scherer
Homer Screen (BRZ) – Neil Drysdale – Team Valor International, LLC
In Italian (GB) – Chad Brown – Peter Brant
Ivar (BRZ) – Paulo Lobo – Bonne Chance Farm, LLC and Stud R D I, LLC
Jadoomi (FR) – Simon Crisford – Sheikh Ahmed al Maktoum
March to the Arch – Mark Casse – Live Oak Plantation
Masen (GB – Chad Brown – Juddmonte Farms
Microphone (IRE) – Chad Brown – Peter Brant
Mighty Heart – Josie Carroll – Lawrence Cordes
Modern Games – Charles Appleby – Godolphin
Ms Vancougar – Nick Nosowenko – Nick Nosowenko
Public Sector (GB) – Chad Brown – Klaravich Stables, Inc.
Riptide Rock – Sid Attard – Stronach Stables
Shirl’s Speight – Roger Attfield – Charles Fipke
Silent Poet – Nicholas Gonzalez – Stronach Stables
Town Cruise – Brandon Greer – Brandon Greer
Tribhuvan (FR) – Chad Brown – Dubb, Michael, Madaket Stables LLC, Wonder Stables and Michael Caruso
Wakanaka (IRE) – William Mott – Team Valor International and Gary Barber
War Bomber (IRE) – Norm McKnight – Bruno Schickedanz
Chris Lomon, Woodbine Communications / @WoodbineComms
Grace Martin