Those of who have become fans of Chantal Sutherland by watching the show Jockeys no doubt will be pulling for her to improve her place in the jockey standings at her home track of Woodbine in Canada.
The most recent episode featured Sutherland pulling out all the stops to get Smith to propose, and therefore give her a reason to stay in SoCal. Smith didn’t take the bait and advised her to do whatever it is that she needed to do (i.e., go back to Woodbine where she can get better mounts and make more money). After toiling on claimers to be with her beloved she decided to back to whence she came in search of the big bucks. But how has it worked out?
Compare this to how Sutherland did at Santa Anita where she ended up 11th (not 10th!). She made just 155 starts, won 18 times, placed 21 times and showed 19 times. Her win percentage was 12% compared to her current 14% but no earnings were available.
Obviously it’s not an apples to apples comparison if you look at the number of starts the top riders at Woodbine have compared to the number of starts for the top riders at Santa Anita but I think it’s safe to say that things have worked out for her!
Sabastion Morales after being thrown by Kim Karakorum at Belmont (raymond)
If you’re interested in more than just pictures of Chantal Sutherland (something Google can’t tell me), you should check out Alex Brown’s interview of her. While I suspect that ALL that Google traffic isn’t about determining if she’s currently the leading rider at Woodbine, this is the sort of thing you can find out in the interview and frankly, we’re hoping you’re interested in that too.
Admittedly you’d be hard pressed to find out such information at her new web site and that splash screen is NSFW! Fans of more than how hot she is would love to see up to date news prominently placed on her homepage, perhaps with the ability of subscribe to an RSS feed so we could find out things like her upcoming big races, when she hits a milestone, has an appearance or even some new product coming out (as apparently she’s now also a brand… who can blame her?). Here’s hoping her team can steer her more towards a usable interactive experience vs. the equivalent of a magazine spread.
New York rider Maylan Studart seems to be on the mend after her recent accident in the shedrow, sending the following notes to her Facebook Followers:
Hello, my friends!!!! I got a hold of my laptop now, but am still in the hospital. I had an accident during morning workouts where a horse “liked me too much” and knocked me down!!!! LOL!!! I don’t like him that much after this, but he was just showing his love!!! LOL!!!! I broke my left femur Thursday morning and was taken to North Shore Hospital and was operated in the evening. I was walking the next day.
Thanks again for the support guys!!!!! I have great news!!!! I’m leaving the hospital today and going to Glenn Cove Rehab Center at 2p.m.!!!! I will be there from 1-2 weeks but will know exactly after I get there and talk to the physical therapists. I walked a lot today again!!! Much more!!! I went down out the room to the end of the hall to a window and came back to my room!!! It was about 150ft. my Phys.Ther. said
Best of luck for a speedy recovery!
On the riderless front, the previously mentionedPhone Jazz’s triumphant run at Belmont on Saturday did not go unnoticed. ESPN picked up on it, here’s the segment.
The chart doesn’t indicate that she continued on gamely after dumping Jean Luc-Samyn, but we’ll always know she was the best that day!
Over the weekend Val pointed out a disturbing trend in breakdown reportage, or lack of it. The good news is that All Smiles, the filly that was pulled up at the wire and dumped her rider in the Obeah, has come out of surgery at the New Bolton Center and is likely to go home soon! Thanks racing fans and twitter for supplying pertinent information!
Last, but not least and not at all related to the rider theme, I have to give a huge shout out to Woodbine for their exceptional parade camera work! Of the tracks I watch or play regularly I think NYRA has the best parade camera work. But what was so impressive about Woodbine’s was that not only did they label each horse as they followed them during the warm up, they followed them in numerical order! A super extra “well done” to the camera team at Woodbine and if you missed Queen’s Plate day, Keith has a great photo essay.
The HANA Pool Party is back at Monmouth today! It’s the 7th race that goes off around 3:30pm ET, so you still have time to grab the free PP and get in on the action! Update, I had the winner at 11-1!
A few other notes of interest… there goes my Google traffic.
It was bona fide dance party at Belmont last night with Disco Diva in the 5th and Danceyoursocksoff in the 7th. In fact, Disco Diva over Gin Tango is quite possibly the best Friday night exacta ever!
Riderless horse Phone Jazz just crushed the field in the 5th at Belmont, good thing I had Hold the Cruiser, the official winner ($19.40) who finished about 3-4 lengths behind the riderless winner. Hopefully the game Phone Jazz was collected without incidence and the rider is ok.
And finally, it was nice to see Ocean Colors, the last foal out of 1988’s Santa Anita & Kentucky Derby winning Winning Colorsput it together on turf at Churchill. For those of us who have been following her since Saratoga, it was great to see her show a little front running dazzle that her mother was so famous for.
Chantal Sutherland and Mine That Bird in the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile (Hen Bros)
Mike Smith is going to honor his commitment to the Shirreffs and the Mosses (cough *Zenyatta* cough) and stick with Madeo in the Whittingham at Hollywood Park on Belmont weekend. This could leave Mine That Bird without a mount (again!) if Rachel Alexandra is entered.
I’m sure I’m not the only one who’d like to see Chantal Sutherland reunited with Mine That Bird! If you were buying “Blinkers Off’s” Animal Planet conspiracy theory, you’ve gotta think that there’s at least 7-2 shot at a reunion if Rachel Alexandra. Stranger things have happened!
And speaking of Zenyatta, who makes her debut in the Milady this coming weekend, now that Rachel Alexandra has beaten the colts and a gelding in a classic race, she’s probably gonna have to beat BOTH Rachel Alexandra and some males (BC Classic, no?) if she wants HOY this year. Jerry Moss, do you read GbG? I hope so!
Kayla Stra & Jennie C. Green in the winner’s circle with Lucius Antonius (yausser)
I was making my usual rounds this morning when I happened upon this excellent photo set over at flickr of Kayla Stra scoring a win, over Chantal Sutherland no less, Friday at Santa Anita. It was the 4th race, a $25k maiden claimer at 1 mile on the fake stuff.
Lucius Antonius, trained by the also lovely Jennie C. Green (in the white shirt) and owned by Gary Broad (no comment), “stepped to a slim advantage and set pace outside rival, roused and shook free in upper stretch, came in some later and just lasted under urging”, according to the chart.