2009 Woodbine Oaks Post Position: 6
* First Circle might be light on race experience, but she’s shown some lick in her two starts to date. So, can the colourful daughter of Langfuhr make her added-money debut at the Toronto oval a winning one? ‘Circle’ your calendar for June 7 and you’ll get your answer.
* Trainer Mike Keogh has had a plethora of different personality types in his barn over the years. From the good-natured 2003 Triple Crown champion Wando, to the rough and tumble hero Mobil, to the once feisty, but then placid Last Answer, to one (Politelyprecocious is the other) of his 2009 Oaks starters, First Circle.
* “She’s a complete ‘kook,’” laughed Keogh, of the bay filly, who gives owner Gus Schickedanz a solid one-two punch for the 54th running of the Woodbine Oaks, presented by Budweiser. “When she first came up from South Carolina, you needed a butterfly net to catch her. We had to do plenty of things with her. She’s a very nervous filly.”
* And a fussy one, too. “You can’t mess with her. She likes a routine. Once you change something on her, she gets out of sorts. She’ll lose it.”
* While she might be a wild child of sorts, First Circle knows how to get the job done on the racetrack. Take her first start for example. Under Jono Jones, the Ontario-bred, well supported at 2-1 on the toteboard, lengthened her head advantage at the stretch call, to go on to a three-quarter length score over seven furlongs on the Woodbine Polytrack, on May 8.
* Was Keogh expecting that type of effort? “Not really. Actually, I wasn’t quite sure what to expect. I wish we had her racing last year, but she just didn’t develop the way we hoped. So there wasn’t anything that suggested she’d be ready to win first time out. But she did. She ran well and she was solid down the lane.”
* Her next start, another seven-furlong Polytrack race, resulted in a second-place finish to Gigolette. The runner-up performance earned her a 72 Beyer figure (Daily Racing Form speed rating), just one tick below the 73 Beyer she recorded in her career bow.
* Keogh doesn’t believe the Oaks distance will be a factor for First Circle. But he does believe the three-year-old will relish the chance to run on the turf someday soon. After all, her full brother, Marlang, has shown she has an affinity for the green scene. Last year, Marlang won the Charlie Barley Stakes, the Breeders’ Stakes, third jewel in the Canadian Triple Crown, before he went wire-to-wire in the Grade 3 Saranac Stakes, at Saratoga, on August 31.
* But for now, the focus is on the Oaks. “Her training over the winter didn’t really give much of an indication of what we could expect. But she’s run well in her two races. We’ve done a lot of training work with her and I really do need to say a heartfelt thanks to the starting gate crew here at Woodbine. They’ve done a fabulous job with her.”
* Keogh, in search of his first Oaks win, had his best finish with Kathie’s Colleen, dam of Wando, who finished second to highly regarded Gal In A Ruckus, in the 1995 running of the 1 1/8-mile event. Sent off at 14-1, Kathie’s Colleen, who found herself in tight on the turn for home, battled throughout the stretch, and was 3 ½-lengths behind at the wire in the 14-horse field.
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 - Jono Jones
Born April 30, 1976 in Bridgetown, Barbados, Jono Jones received his apprentice riding licence in 1990. At 15, he won the United Derby on Overdraft, trained by his father. It was the first of four Derbies he would win before age 21.
He also rode in England for Sir Michael Stoute and galloped horses in France for Nicholas Clement. He won the Stallion Stakes twice. He was also the leading rider in Martinique in 1994 and 1995.
Jones arrived in Toronto from Barbados in May of 2001, after being leading rider there in 2000, a title he defended in 2001 while still competing at Woodbine. He made an immediate splash in his first full season here, with 56 wins and did just as well in 2002, winning 54 races.
The 2004 season proved a remarkable one for Jones. He and wife Sara celebrated the birth of their first child, Indy, (they also have twins, Slade and Tosh). Eleven days after they were born, he rode favored A Bit O’Gold to a second-place finish in the Queen’s Plate. That disappointment was somewhat erased by wins in the Prince of Wales and Breeders’ aboard the Plate runner-up and Sovereign winner as top male three-year-old.
The 2005 campaign was another fine one for Jones, as he partnered 2005 Horse of the Year A Bit O’Gold to win the Dominion Day, Chinese Cultural Centre and Sky Classic Stakes. He also teamed with Jambalaya to win the Breeders’ Stakes and the Grade 3 Saranac at Saratoga.
In 2006, he led Leonnatus Anteas to three stakes wins - Vandal, Cup & Saucer, Coronation Futurity - and Sovereign honours as Canada’s champion two-year-old colt. Jones won eight stakes in total, four on turf, one on the main track and three on the Polytrack.
In 2007, Jones recorded 11 Woodbine stakes scores, including two with Essential Edge (Canadian, Belle Geste). He ranked ninth, to notch his seventh consecutive top 10 finish.
Last year, Jones won his first Queen’s Plate, teaming with Not Bourbon to take the 149th running of the ‘Gallop for the Guineas. He also partnered the Roger Attfield trainee to wins in the Overskate, Plate Trial and Queenston Stakes, en route to champion three-year-old male Sovereign honours. He recorded 15 Woodbine stakes wins, tops among all riders, with other added-money wins coming in the Colin and Victoria with Southern Exchange and the Carotene and Ontario Colleen with Sugar Bay.