Tag Archive for: Woodbine

Swift Delivery looking all too well ahead of Ontario Derby test

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Swift Delivery is backed to cement the love story between NFL star Travis Kelce and racing when he goes for Ontario Derby glory at Woodbine in Canada this weekend.

The Kansas City Chiefs tight end – also known for being the partner of superstar singer-songwriter Taylor Swift – helped fill a blank space on the horse’s ownership ticket after attending the Kentucky Derby earlier in the year.

Having caught the racing bug at Churchill Downs and being unable to shake it off, the three-time Super Bowl winner joined regular collaborators Gary Barber and Team Valor International, as well as friends Bruce Zoldan and Steven Rocco, as a part-owner of the three-year-old.

Kansas City Chiefs’ Travis Kelce is involved with Swift Delivery
Kansas City Chiefs’ Travis Kelce is involved with Swift Delivery (PA Wire)

The Mark Casse-trained gelding suffered something of a cruel summer in his first stakes appearance, when narrowly denied in the Toronto Cup in late August, but now returns to Tapeta for this shot at Grade Three glory, the surface on which he dazzled when breaking his maiden in June.

It will be Toronto Cup third Dresden Row who is the most likely candidate to play the role of anti-hero at Woodbine, having since tasted success in the track’s Durham Cup, but connections are confident of a bold bid as they seek to get the Kelce era off the mark in style.

“Swift Delivery has got one horse to beat on paper and that’s a horse named Dresden Row,” said Barry Irwin, CEO of Team Valor.

“In our last start, Swift Delivery was second and Dresden Row was third, but that horse ran back in a graded race against older horses and won. He’s going to be tough to beat and if we beat him, we will probably win the race.

“We’re looking forward to getting him back on the Tapeta and he definitely likes that surface – he broke his maiden on Tapeta by around 16 lengths.

“We think the further he runs, the better he will like it – and this race is a mile and an eighth, whereas his last race was a mile. We’re very confident he will run a big race.”

On the link-up with Kelce, Irwin added: “It’s been a whirlwind type of situation with Travis Kelce, but it has been fun and I think he is enjoying it. We’re looking forward to enjoying some more good races.”



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Power-ful Woodbine raiding party for Appleby and Buick

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Naval Power spearheads a strong Charlie Appleby contingent in Canada this weekend, where he will be running in the Woodbine Mile.

Both his partner William Buick and Oisin Murphy, who is heading out to ride New Century at the meeting for Andrew Balding and his Qatar Racing bosses, are missing Doncaster and Leopardstown on Saturday.

The pair will be back to ride at the Curragh on Sunday, however.

Naval Power finished runner-up in two American Grade Ones in the spring and he leads the Godolphin team this weekend.

“The Woodbine Mile is a competitive race but Naval Power is a horse who has had a bit of a break now and had a good run in Churchill Downs, where he just got beat by Program Trading and that was a very good run. Everything will suit him at Woodbine,” said Buick.

Also in the same race is last year’s impressive Queen Elizabeth II Stakes winner Big Rock for trainer Maurizio Guarnieri.

Big Rock was an easy winner at Ascot on Champions Day
Big Rock was an easy winner at Ascot on Champions Day (John Walton/PA)

“Big Rock is improving. He had a hard season last year and at two but a lighter year this year has helped. Any rain would be a positive,” said the handler.

In the E.P. Taylor Stakes, Appleby and Buick run Cinderella’s Dream, a filly who has only lost once, in the 1000 Guineas at Newmarket, in seven starts.

With two victories already on the board stateside, Buick said: “She’s done very well in America and arrives there in good form.”

In the Grade One Summer Stakes for two-year-olds, Appleby runs Al Qudra, who will be taking on Balding’s recent Stonehenge Stakes winner New Century once more after the pair met at Ascot in July.

“New Century has arrived in Canada. It’s a long journey but he’s travelled extremely well,” said Balding.

“He’s one of those horses with exactly the right type of attitude and constitution to do some traveling, so hopefully he’ll bring his ‘A’ game to Woodbine on Saturday.

“I think the turning mile should suit him well. Al Qudra was very impressive at Ascot but we have got an extra furlong on Saturday. It was a smallish field and a slightly falsely run race, so we’re hoping that a truly run mile will be to our advantage.

“He has learned and improved with every run. My feeling is that the Stonehenge was a particularly good performance because he had to make the running in a small field, which wasn’t ideal. The form has been franked by Luther.”



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