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2010 Woodbine Oaks Entries

Honourary drawmaster Joannie Rochette the 2010 Olympic bronze medalist for ladies' figure skating.

Now that the American Triple Crown has drawn to a close, we now shift our focus north of the border as the Canadian classics begin. The Woodbine Oaks Presented by Budweiser offers a purse of $500,000 and features some of Canada's finest 3-year-old fillies. Some nice fillies have won the race in the past such as Wonder Where, Laurie's Dancer, Blondeinamotel, Dance Smartly, and Dance Smartly's daughter Dancethruthedawn. At 1 1/8 miles on Polytrack, it is the first leg of the Canadian Triple Tiara which also includes the Bison City Stakes and the Wonder Where Stakes, also at Woodbine. A $350,000 bonus is offered for any horse who can sweep the series, and Sealy Hill became the first and only filly to win the Canadian Triple Tiara in 2007.

Drawing the posts with Racing Secretary Steve Lym, track announcer Dan Loiselle, and honourary drawmaster Joannie Rochette.

On Thursday at a special noon-hour event, final entries were taken and post positions were drawn for the 55th renewal of the Oaks. 2010 Olympic bronze medalist Joannie Rochette was the honorary drawmaster, on hand to randomly draw the entry forms out of the box while racing secretary Steve Lym drew the numbers in the traditional "double blind" format. Before the draw, Rochette was interviewed by track announcer Dan Loiselle and talked about her Olympic experience, skating her short program just days after her mother died suddenly of a heart attack. She said, "There were some moments where I told myself, What am I doing here? I just want to go back home. At the same time 'home' felt right in Vancouver because my mother's body was there, my family was there to cheer me up. So I also wanted to do this for my father who was there to support me. I wanted to prove to him that I could do it, all those years he's been behind me. In the end, I felt such a good feeling of completion to just having done that." Asked how her life has changed since the Olympics, she added, "I don't have so much time for my boyfriend anymore. He's coming with me to some events. Other than that, it's different to be recognized on the streets of Montreal openly. It's great. Just for example, I was walking in the street the other day, I started to pet a cat. The owner of the cat came out and says, This is Joannie Rochette, let's take a picture."

Retired NHL goaltender Curtis Joseph, who is one of the owners of Oaks entrant Moment of Majesty, poses with honourary drawmaster Joannie Rochette and Budweiser girls Claudia and Alexandra.

A field of 8 three-year-old fillies made final entry for the 55th renewal of the Oaks, with undefeated Embur's Song the 9-5 morning line favorite out of post 6. She will be making her stakes debut in her third career start for trainer Todd Pletcher and will have Garrett Gomez in the irons. Fury and Ontario Lassie Stakes winner Resentless drew the 2 hole for trainer Ian Howard as the 3-1 second choice, and regular rider Chantal Sutherland gets the call again on Sunday.

Retired NHL goaltender Curtis Joseph, who was part of Canada's gold medal winning hockey team at the 2002 Olympics, co-owns 10-1 shot Moment of Majesty along with his agent Don Meehan and trainer Sue Leslie. She will break from post 7 with Robert Landry in the irons. Leslie said of the daughter of Saint Liam, "There is no concern at all when it comes to the distance. She’s still learning the game. The biggest improvement would be in her mental attitude. Early on, she was somewhat nervous, a cautious filly. Now, she’s very confident and relaxed. I think Rob (Landry) has done a great job with her. He’s been able to get her to settle in the mornings. I'd love to see her get a nice stalking trip. That’s what she likes to do. She prefers to run at horses, not have them run at her. She hits the ground very light and has a beautiful stride."

The Budweiser Woodbine Oaks is scheduled as the ninth race on an eleven-race card on Sunday at Woodbine, going to post at 5:16 PM EDT. The whole card will be televised on CBC in Canada from 4:30-5:30pm. Free past performances are available from BRISnet.com (Look for Embur's Song for the link). On the undercard of the Oaks is the $150,000 Plate Trial Stakes for 3-year-old colts and geldings, carded as race 8 at 4:41pm, and the $100,000 Alywow Stakes for 3-year-old fillies on the turf, carded as race 3 at 2:08pm.

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