TORONTO, October 17, 2024 – My Boy Bruce, a last-time out winner, steps up to the stakes ranks in Sunday’s $100,000 Frost King, a 6 ½-furlong main track event for Ontario-sired 2-year-olds, at Woodbine.
Trained by Bill Tharrenos for owners Beclawat Stable and Zona Pereira, the son of Seattle Serenade out of the Flatter mare My Christini broke his maiden in a 5 ½-furlong main track race at the Toronto oval on Sept. 8.
Sent off as the 1-5 choice, My Boy Bruce was given his cue with seven sixteenths to go and went on to notch a one-length score in a time of 1:05.75.
The dark bay colt, bred by Joey Gee Thoroughbreds, debuted on Aug. 18, a runner-up effort in a six-furlong race on the Toronto oval main track.
“He has had two nice races,” said Tharrenos. “He’s shown a lot of speed, so we’d like him to harness that a bit and have something left in the tank down the lane.”
What has Tharrenos learned about his rookie from those two starts?
“Just that he is a horse who shows up and brings his top effort. We like him a lot. We are excited about him and hopefully, he can build off those two starts and make his first stakes race a memorable one.”
My Boy Bruce, who was RNA at the 2022 CTHS (Ontario Division) Winter Mixed Sale, and the 2023 CTHS Ontario Premier Yearling Sale, had a pair of five-furlong works this month, including a 1:00.20 breeze on Oct. 12.
“Very happy with the breeze. He came out of his last race very well and he’s showing all the signs of a good horse. We’re looking for good things.”
Antonio MacDonald is the groom.
Tharrenos, who had a career-best 2023 and is enjoying another outstanding campaign, was tempted to run the unraced Go Jimmy Go in the Frost King but opted instead for a six-furlong maiden optional claiming race, also on Sunday.
“We really like him a lot,” he said of the chestnut son of Society’s Chairman out of the Perigee Moon mare Night Fever. “We won the [2018] Frost King with a maiden, My Silencer, but we decided to take a different route with this guy.
“We have some nice ones in the barn, so hopefully, the best is yet to come.”
Frost King won stakes races in Ontario, Manitoba and Alberta and competed at many of the leading tracks in the U.S., winning stakes at Keeneland and Chicago’s Sportsman’s Park and placing in major events in Massachusetts, Illinois, and Michigan. In 1981, at age 3, Frost King represented Canada in the inaugural running of the Japan Cup, finishing second. He was Canada’s champion 3-year-old in 1981, and the following year was named Horse of the Year, champion grass horse and older horse. During a 55-start career, he was never worse than third on 40 occasions. Of his 27 victories, 21 came in stakes races.
Brengungirl sails into South Ocean in winning form
TORONTO, October 17, 2024 – Brengungirl, trained by Kevin Attard for Canuck Racing Club, looks to build off a strong debut in Sunday’s $100,000 South Ocean, for Ontario-sired 2-year-old fillies, at Woodbine.
Sired by Point of Entry out of the Silent Name (JPN) mare Silent Sister, the filly made her career bow on Sept. 28, in a 5 ½-furlong main track race.
Brengungirl, with Rafael Hernandez in the irons, broke outward from the outside post nine at the start but regrouped to reel in rivals at the seven-sixteenths pole before drawing off for a 4 ¼-length score in a time of 1:05.27 as the 2-1 choice.
“When you draw the outside post with a young horse, they tend to break to the outside,” said Attard, who is three wins shy of 800 entering Thursday’s Woodbine card. “She showed a lot of maturity in quickly getting back into the thick of it. Rafael did a great job, didn’t panic, and they went on from there.
“I thought it was a very nice performance, especially down the lane.”
Acquired at the 2023 Keeneland September Yearling Sale for $52,000 (U.S.), Brengungirl was bred by Adena Springs.
Attard was immediately impressed by the bay.
“She has a presence about her. I think the one thing that comes to mind is her eagerness and ability to learn whatever comes her way. She’s all business, in the mornings and afternoons, which is what any trainer loves to see. We think she has a bright future.”
Mark Walcott is the groom.
As noted on the Canuck Racing Club website, the filly was named after Canada’s first genuine tabloid celebrity, who would become one of the country’s most unique and intriguing cultural icons.
Veronica Foster, popularly known as “Ronnie, the Bren Gun Girl,” represented nearly one million Canadian women who stepped up to work in the manufacturing plants when Canada’s men left to fight in WWII.
In 2000, Canada Post commemorated her influence with the creation of a stamp line featuring Foster.
South Ocean, who went on to become a top broodmare, was a dual stakes winner, capturing the 1969 Yearling Sales Stakes and winning the premier race for fillies in 1970, the Canadian Oaks, defeating future Horse of the Year and Hall of Famer Fanfreluche. Her two-year career race record consisted of 22 starts with 17 in the money finishes and purse earnings of $70,147.
First post time is set for 1:10 p.m. Fans can watch and wager on all the action through HPIbet.com and bet365.
$100,000 Frost King (Race 8)
Post – Horse – Jockey – Trainer
1 – Shadow Realm (S) – Eswan Flores – Sid Attard
2 – Awesome Rainbow – Leo Salles – Norm McKnight
3 – Heard a Ghost – Sofia Vives – Laura Krasauskaite
4 – Dark Screen – Juan Crawford – Bev Chubb
5 – Kekoa – Rafael Hernandez – Catherine Day Phillips
6 – My Boy Bruce – Sahin Civaci – Bill Tharrenos
7 – Ride for the Purse – Patrick Husbands – Mike Mattine
8 – Unbridled Weather (S) – Fraser Aebly – Angus Buntain
9 – Magic Power (S) – Kazushi Kimura – John Mattine
$100,000 South Ocean (Race 3)
Post – Horse – Jockey – Trainer
1 – I Love to Win – Emma-Jayne Wilson – Bill Tharrenos
2 – Silent Strike (S) – Kazushi Kimura – Roger Attfield
3 – Brengungirl – Rafael Hernandez – Kevin Attard
4 – Ella It Is – Sofia Vives – Mark Casse
5 – Onejabtoomany – Jose Campos – Dale Desruisseaux
Chris Lomon, Woodbine