Woodbine Diaries: Fabulous Friday

With the Ricoh Woodbine Mile on Sunday, Woodbine Racetrack in Toronto, Ontario is the destination for some of the world’s top Thoroughbreds bent on winning glory this weekend as well as berth to the Breeders’ Cup World Championships this October.
I, of course, cannot resist chasing the ponies, so I was up bright and early this morning to get to the track to get as many photos of as many of the Woodbine Mile contenders as possible. Fortunately, Woodbine’s Keith McCalmont offered to take me around the barn area to help me in my quest.
When I arrived at Woodbine this morning, it was fantastically beautiful. Since getting a sunrise photo was on my list of things to do, the first thing I did was plant myself on the rail of the racetrack to try to get a good shot.

Fortunately, it was such a clear, bright morning that capturing the sunrise was a simple exercise in shutter depression!
After firing off a few frames, it was time to catch up with some of the stakes horses running this weekend. I started off the morning by seeing Mr. Owen. This horse is interesting – he was bred in Pennsylvania, he’s been running in France and now he’s here in Canada. This guy has more stamps on his passport than most humans I know!

He walked a few times around the quarantine barn (horses who ship in from overseas are kept in a stable area separated from Woodbine’s regular residents) and then headed out to the track to gallop a few laps. Mr. Owen took his first lap to look around a little bit, but on his second circuit he was all business and looked strong.

After his exercise, Mr. Owen cooled out and briefly returned to his stall before his bath. I guess he must have taken the opportunity to roll in the fresh bedding, because when he emerged for his shower he looked like he was sporting the latest in some sort of festival hair craze. I seriously would not be surprised to see a person copying this look at Coachella next year:

Another Woodbine Mile runner I spied this morning was Mondialiste. He’s an Irish horse, and he is certainly a looker; he also interests me as a betting option, and after seeing him this morning he may get a few of my wagering dollars on Sunday.

Mondialiste took the opportunity to gallop on the grass course this morning, and he looked eager as he set out under rider Fearghal Davis as to try out the turf at Woodbine.

As he galloped back toward the barn, Mondialiste seemed like he loved the turf here – in fact, he didn’t much want to stop. Once he did pull up, though, Fearghal gave him a big pat and the pair returned to the stable.

The next Woodbine Mile contender we visited was Tower of Texas, who’s trained by Canadian and U.S. Hall of Fame trainer Roger Attfield. Attfield’s barn is an interesting place because each horse has a stuffed animal in the stall to keep them company. Tower of Texas was no exception, and he’s clearly very attached to his bear; in fact, he gave it a ride around the stall for a little while!

I was also delighted to see Obviously, who’s the one of betting favorites for the Mile. While I wasn’t able to see him gallop, he looks right at home at Woodbine and I’ll keep an eye peeled for him on the track tomorrow morning.

I think I had the most fun visiting Lea this morning. He’s an intriguing horse in this race – Lea’s been running longer distances on the dirt of late, and so shortening up to a mile on the grass makes me very curious as to how he’ll run on Sunday. But the thing that I loved most about seeing him today was his relationship with his groom and best friend, Erma. She clearly loves Lea with all of her heart, and the two have a fantastic relationship. Erma has been working with Lea’s trainer Bill Mott for years, and she clearly has a wonderful way with the horses in her care.

Erma’s also a quick draw with the carrots, which Lea clearly appreciates!

My last stop on the Woodbine backstretch this morning was to go visit internationally acclaimed Twitter sensation Gatorkitten, who is the reigning monarch of the barn area.
Gartorkitten is used to being greeted with treats by any and all visitors, so this is the look I got when I arrived empty handed.

Yikes! Despite my breach in etiquette, however, Gatorkitten did thankfully deign to take a selfie with me:

Photo courtesy of Woodbine Racetrack
This is the result of said selfie, which is gold in my book.

I briefly attempted an interview with Gatorkitten, but he refused to participate and elected to eat treats his owner provided instead.

After his snack time, I snapped a few more photos of horse racing Twitter’s favorite feline before heading back to the press box to get some work done.

I’ll be back again tomorrow with lots more photos of Woodbine Mile contenders as well as coverage of the stakes races run in the afternoon. Thank you for joining me, and let me know in the comments if there’s anything you’d like me to get pictures of while I’m here at beautiful Woodbine.