Wise Dan scheduled to work Tuesday for Woodbine Mile

Wise Dan brings an eight-race winning streak into his title defense (NYRA/Adam Coglianese Photography) Reigning U.S. Horse of the Year Wise Dan will arrive at Woodbine on Friday morning to defend his title in Sunday’s Grade 1, C$1 million Woodbine Mile. “He’ll leave on Thursday evening from Kentucky to be there Friday morning by 11 a.m.,” trainer Charlie LoPresti said from his Keeneland base. Wise Dan, who zipped five furlongs in :59 over the Keeneland Polytrack on September 4, will put in his final Woodbine Mile prep on Tuesday morning at the Lexington venue. “It’s not going to be a real serious one, he had a good one last week in :58 and change, out (six furlongs) in :11. We’ll let him do a little half-mile or three-furlong breeze just to keep him ticking over. He’s really fit and ready to go,” LoPresti said. Wise Dan, an impressive 3 1/4-length winner of last year’s Woodbine Mile, will have an easy schedule upon arrival at the Toronto oval. “Maybe we’ll take him over to the paddock and school him and he will have a gallop day, probably on Saturday like he did last year,” LoPresti said. Wise Dan won five of six starts in 2012, all graded events, taking the Shadwell Mile and Ben Ali at Keeneland; the Fourstardave at Saratoga; and the Breeders’ Cup Mile at Santa Anita in addition to his Woodbine Mile coup. The now six-year-old gelding’s lone defeat came in a narrow head decision to Ron the Greek in the Stephen Foster Handicap, raced at 1 1/8 miles over the Churchill Downs dirt.

LoPresti’s charge, perfect through four starts in 2013, is already well on
his way to defending his Horse of the Year title with wins in the Maker’s 46
Mile at Keeneland; the Woodford Reserve Turf Classic and Firecracker Handicap at
Churchill Downs and the Fourstardave at Saratoga, all on the grass.

While some observers are calling for Wise Dan to stray from his comfort zone
of the turf mile, LoPresti is keen to remind potential detractors of the
gelding’s impressive resume.

“People forget this horse won a Grade 1 on the dirt (Clark Handicap); was
second beaten a head in a Grade 1 on the dirt (Stephen Foster Handicap); and he
broke a track record on synthetic (Ben Ali),” offered LoPresti. “They also
forget he won a Grade 3 sprinting on the synthetic (2010 edition of the Phoenix
at Keeneland).

“He’s done all that before but they want him to do it again. At this point in
time, I don’t feel like I have to prove anything to anybody. I want to do what’s
right for my horse and what the owner (Morton Fink) wants to do. He pays the
bills and we’ll do what’s right for him and the horse.”

So, Wise Dan will set out to impress once again this weekend as he looks for
his ninth consecutive graded score.

“It’s not like he’s a stallion and we’re trying to prove anything as far as
breeding or standing him at stud,” LoPresti explained. “We just want to put him
in places where we can keep him undefeated and we can enjoy him.”

In other Woodbine Mile news:

Dimension is one of only five expected to take on the Horse of the Year at Woodbine (WEG/Michael Burns Photography) According to Woodbine, only five horses are listed as probable to try Wise Dan on Sunday — English shipper Trade Storm, a Group 2 winner at the Dubai Carnival who exits a third in the August 24 Celebration Mile at Goodwood; Appleton and Red Bank victor Za Approval, last seen finishing second to Obviously in the June 29 Shoemaker Mile; and the respective top three from Woodbine’s Play the King Stakes on August 25, Dimension, Excaper and Riding the River. Riverside Bloodstock’s Dimension will try to become the first horse since Soaring Free in 2004 to turn the Play the King/Woodbine Mile double. Trained and co-owned by 29-year-old Irishman Conor Murphy, Dimension, a five-year-old British-bred son of Medicean, has shipped to Woodbine twice already from his home base in Kentucky, finishing second, just a neck behind champion sprinter Essence Hit Man in the Bold Venture over the Polytrack on July 17, before his blazing, front-running score in the Play the King, when coming within three-fifths of a second of the seven-furlong turf course record. “(Jockey) David (Moran) said after the race (Play the King) that he’s a very uncomplicated horse,” Murphy said. “He doesn’t need to make the running. He can be happy to sit in behind horses. It’s good to have that versatility.”

Dimension, who was overlooked at 10-1 in the Play the King, gave Murphy his
first stakes win as a trainer since he arrived from his homeland last fall,
fresh on the heels of a monstrous winning wager of
£1 million which allowed him to form Riverside Bloodstock and set up shop
at the Skylight Training Center in Goshen, Kentucky, where he breaks and trains
horses for various clients.

Murphy only owns two horses, including Dimension, whom he purchased privately
last year after his windfall from the owner-breeder Cheveley Park Stud.

“It’s unbelievable to have a horse like Dimension,” Murphy continued. “He’s a
thorough professional. You can do anything with him. I bought him to be a
miler. I’m not worried about the distance. He wasn’t stopping in the Play the
King. The ground doesn’t have to be firm, but he needs at least good ground.

“There’s no doubt about it. Wise Dan is a great horse. You have to admire
him. But you can’t be afraid of one horse. There’s also the horse from Europe
(Trade Storm) and (locals) Excaper and Riding the River are very good. You could
make a case for any of them,” Murphy added.

Devon White, three-time World Series champion, including two with the Toronto
Blue Jays, will draw post positions for the 17th Woodbine Mile at a noon (EDT)
press conference Thursday at Woodbine’s east-end VIP tent.

White is best known for his excellent speed and outstanding defense which
resulted in seven Gold Gloves as the Blue Jays’ centerfielder.

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