Cheering section and Horses to watch

Cheering Section

KYLE SHARMAN celebrated his first victory as a trainer on June 15 when his homebred Sprung Loose won a maiden $40,000 optional claiming race at seven furlongs at Woodbine. Sprung Loose and jockey Jason Hoyte closed ground in the late stages of the race to win by half a length over Just Jacobo and Pin Boy.

“It was a long time coming,”said Kyle, whose father Jay trained horses at Woodbine in the early 2000s.

Sprung Loose was making his first start as a 4-year-old after five races at longer distances in 2024. The dark bay gelding is a son of Kyle's mare Sprung at Last, whom Kyle purchased for $5,000 from the CTHS Ontario yearling sale in 2016. Sprung at Last was trained by William Armata when she won for Kyle for $8,000 claiming in 2019.

Sprung Loose was born on a “dude” ranch in Nobleton that had ducks, geese, rabbits and a couple of other horses. His dam still lives there.

Kyle, who has owned and/or trained since 2021 and is a  father of three, also works for Maple Leaf Sports and Entertainment as a bartender and also works for Instacart, Uber and Lyft.

“You have to stay busy if you own horses and have children,” he said.

Sprung Loose's victory was worth some $30,000 to Kyle, who lives in Etobicoke. JM.

Weekend Preview – Horse to Watch

The Alywow overnight stakes headlines Woodbine's Saturday card of racing while the Ontario Sire Heritage Series gets underway Sunday with two five-furlong turf dashes, the Lake Huron and Georgian Bay Stakes.

Out of town, Ontario bred MONTERREY, a son of Kentucky Derby winner Nyquist, makes his 3-year-old debut in a maiden special weight race at Churchill Downs on June 21.

Monterrey is trained by Brad Cox for owners Qatar Racing LLC and Marc Detampel who bought the colt for $325,000 from the Ocala Breeders' Sales March 2-year-old in Training sale in 2024. Monterrey is meeting seven rivals in race 2 and he will race one mile on the dirt.