2009 Woodbine Oaks Post Position: 2
* Owner Gus Schickedanz has won some of Canadian thoroughbred racing’s most prolific events, including two Queen’s Plates (1999 with Woodcarver and 2003 with Triple Crown champion Wando). But one race has eluded him to date, that being the Woodbine Oaks, presented by Budweiser. Could Politelyprecocious give him a victory in the 54th running of the country’s preeminent three-year-old filly stake?
* Her name suggests a well-mannered miss, who has a penchant for exceptionally early development or maturity. According to trainer Mike Keogh, the latter is bang-on, but the former, well, not so much. “Her nickname around the barn is ‘Politelyferocious.’ She’s a lot like Mobil (Keogh’s tough-as-nails retired champion, who finished second to stablemate Wando in the 2003 Queen’s Plate). You have to keep your head up when you walk by her stall.”
* Politelyprecocious started her career last September in a 6 ½-furlong race over a “good” E.P. Taylor Turf Course. Although Keogh figured the daughter of champion Langfuhr would run well, the toteboard suggested otherwise. After a slow start, the bay filly hit her best stride late, at 41-1. The bad news? She finished seventh. The good news? She was less than two lengths behind the winner.
* “If you watch the replay, she should have probably finished in the top three,” said Keogh. “She had a chance to make a move, but she ducked back in behind horses. I thought she ran greenly that day.”
* In her next start, Politelyprecocious took up residence near the back of the pack in a 12-horse field contesting a one mile and 70-yard Polytrack race. The Ontario-bred rallied late in between rivals and finished third, 3 ¼-lengths back at the wire.
* “She never really kicked in until the eighth-pole,” offered Keogh. “She dug in, but she needs to be around horses during a race. When she sees other horses, she digs in and wants to go.”
* Her first added-money test, the 1 1/16-mile Princess Elizabeth Stakes, resulted in a fourth-place finish. Politelyprecocious then hooked her stablemate, Woodsmoke, in her next race, finishing third, while the latter made a trip to the winner’s circle. But ‘Politely’ wouldn’t have to wait much longer to say ‘please and thank you’ for a win.
* On May 2, in a seven-furlong race, Politelyprecocious, second at the stretch call, drove by her rivals and went on to a 2 ½-length score, earning a career-best 82 Beyer figure (Daily Racing Form speed rating) in the process. “She didn’t do much over the winter in South Carolina, so I figured she’d need a race or two. I wasn’t quite sure how she would fare in her first start of 2009, but she ran well. She ran well in her maiden-breaking win, too.”
* Keogh’s six-time starter heads into the Oaks off a seventh-place finish in the La Lorgnette Stakes on May 17, 6 ¾-lengths behind Hooh Why. It was Woodsmoke who smoked the field through the initial stages, before fading. “She (Politelyprecocious) kind of got isolated again out there. She wants to be in the battle and she likes to be engaged by other horses.”
* As for Keogh’s assessment of his filly heading into the Oaks…“She’s coming into the race dead sharp. She’s been working well and I schooled her in the paddock on May 29. “I’d like to see her a little closer to the pace than she has been in the past. She’s determined and she’s feisty. Hopefully, she runs a big race.”
Owner - Gustav Schickedanz
Born in Memel, Germany, Gustav Schickedanz came to Canada in 1950, a move that was followed shortly thereafter by his brothers Kurt, Gerhardt and Danny. All four brothers are involved in the family business, Schickedanz Brothers Ltd., a construction company that primarily builds and develops residential properties in Canada and the United States.
The Schickedanz family has been involved with thoroughbreds for almost 25 years. Their farm is in Schomberg, where they raise horses for both private racing stock and the commercial breeding market.
Prior to Woodcarver winning the 1999 Queen’s Plate, Schickedanz’s best result was a third-place finish with Kinkennie in the 1998 edition. Schickedanz finished fifth in Woodbine’s owners standings with $652,860 in earnings in 1998. He also campaigned Sovereign Award winners Glanmire (1997) and Langfuhr (1996).
In 2002, Schickedanz cracked the top 20 (17th overall) in the owner standings, his starters earning $718,325 in purse cheques.
In 2003, he finished third in the standings, winning 15 races and $2,857,572 in purse earnings.
A crowning moment was the Triple Crown sweep by Wando in 2003. He won the Queen's Plate by nine lengths, the Prince of Wales by four lengths and the Breeders' Stakes by 1 1/2-lengths. Wando became the seventh three-year-old to achieve the feat.
His other outstanding star was multiple stakes winner and champion Mobil, another son of Langfuhr, who captured the 2004 Sovereign Award as Canada's Top Older Male.
In 2007, the red, black and white silks found their way to the Woodbine winner’s circle three times from 45 starts, for $391,308 in purse earnings. Last Answer, now retired, won the Nijinsky Stakes, with Emile Ramsammy in the irons.
Last year, Marlang was the star of the show for Schickedanz. The son of Langfuhr took the Breeders’ Stakes and the Charlie Barley at Woodbine, before going wire-to-wire to capture the Saranac Stakes at Saratoga.
It was announced last month that Schickedanz, now 80, will be inducted into Canada’s Horse Racing Hall of Fame later this year.
Trainer - Mike Keogh
Born January 20, 1957, Keogh has had a decorated career in thoroughbred racing, including tallies in Canadian racing’s big event, the Queen’s Plate, with Woodcarver (1999) and Wando (2003).
Born into racing, his father, Norm, is a respected horseman in England. The younger Keogh galloped his first horse at age 11. He arrived in Canada in 1970 and in 1986, became an assistant to Hall of Fame trainer Roger Attfield. He eventually took over the Gus Schickedanz string in 1993, winning with the first horse he ever saddled, Clever Detector.
Keogh has trained Sovereign Award winners Langfuhr and Glanmire (Canada’s top sprinter in 1997), among others, but he is best known for his work with the talented Langfuhr. He trained the bay to three Grade 1 wins in the United States, including the 1996 Vosburgh, Carter Handicap and the influential Met Mile in 1997.
After winning nine races and recording 26 top-three finishes from 84 starts in 2001, the veteran conditioner enjoyed a great 2002 campaign, a year in which Keogh’s aces, Mobil and Wando, combined to win four stakes. Mobil captured the Simcoe and Cup & Saucer, while Wando took the Vandal and Grey Breeders’.
In 2003, Keogh guided Wando to Horse of the Year honours and finished second to Robert Tiller as Canada’s top trainer. He won 15 races at Woodbine for $2,878,756.
The highlight, no doubt, was watching Wando capture the Canadian Triple Crown, punctuated by a thrilling victory in the Breeders' Stakes, final jewel in the series. "Once I saw (jockey Patrick) Husbands switch him (Wando) to the outside, I knew he had a lot of horse. My foot started tapping the ground real hard."
In 2004, the Bolton resident and supporter of soccer club West Ham United, went 6-for-19 in added-money fixtures, an excellent 31.5% win percentage, guiding Mobil to a Sovereign as Canada's Top Older Male.
A major highlight in 2005, one in which he had nine winners from 78 starters, along with nearly $1.1-million in purse earnings, came when Mobil finished second to Leroidesanimaux in the Atto Mile.
In 2007, Keogh saddled seven winners at the Toronto oval, notching one stakes score with Last Answer, in the Nijinsky. He also added allowance scores with Decew Falls and Half Sister. Last year, Keogh recorded allowance scores with Northern Report and Half Sister. Five of his seven victories came on Polytrack and six of the scores were in sprint events.
Keogh saddled Woodsmoke to an upset win in the 2009 Fury Stakes. Woodsmoke set a Fury Stakes record for seven furlongs, completing the event in 1:22.67, 0.21 seconds faster than Gonetofarr's time of 1:22.86 in 2002.
Jockey – Constant Montpellier
Born August 30, 1961 in Dorion, Quebec, Constant Montpellier began his riding career rather late in life for the jockey, at age 30, leaving behind a career as a newspaper and magazine photographer. He rode at Fort Erie in 1991 for trainers Rene Crete and Norm Bowles and scored his first win aboard Briartic Ruler on Oct. 12.
He was Ontario’s leading apprentice in 1992 but finished second to Stanley Bethley in Sovereign Award voting. However, the following year he won 144 races and captured the Sovereign as Canada’s top ‘bug.’
He moved to Woodbine on a regular basis in 1994, winning 38 races that year. In 1995, Montpellier reached the $1-million mark in purse earnings for the first time, increasing that total over the next five years. In 2000, he finished fifth with 91 wins and over $4.3 million in purses.
In 2001, Montpellier rode Ontario-bred Win City to five Woodbine stakes wins (Queenston, Marine, Plate Trial, Col. R.S. McLaughlin, Autumn) and a victory in Fort Erie’s Prince of Wales, en route to Horse of the Year honours, despite a disappointing second-place finish to Dancethruthedawn in the Queen’s Plate.
One year later, he enjoyed his best money-won season ever, ranking sixth with a career-best 98 wins (seven stakes) and more than $5.7 million in purses. One of his main mounts was Sovereign Award winner Lady Shari, winner of the Canadian Derby (Northlands Park in Edmonton) and the Maple Leaf Stakes at Woodbine.
In 2007, he captured three added-money events, including the Display Stakes for the same connections as Initforreal. He won 39 races, ranking him 14th, despite an injury-plagued season. Last year, Montpellier recorded two Woodbine stakes scores, teaming with Koonunga Hill to take the Ice Water and the Mt. Sassafras with Archers Alyancer. He won 45 races in total, 35 sprints and 10 routes.
Montpellier has won several medals in speed skating throughout North America since taking up the sport in 2007.