Whoop It Up comes up short at Century Mile
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A horse named "Whoop It Up" is groomed by Emmanuelle Hoyau at the Century Mile Racetrack stables on Wednesday August 14, 2019. The cheap claimer, bought by one hundred members of the Century Racing Club, has won his last four races and got nominated for the $100,000 Oaks race. Larry Wong / Postmedia
It didn't rain. Whoopy didn't win.
But whoa did she give it a go.
There weren't 100 owners in the winner's circle to celebrate the feel good story of the year at the new Century Mile track on Canadian Derby weekend.
The horse claimed by veteran trainer Rod Cone for the 100-member Century Horse Racing Club they paid $300 each for the pleasure of "owning" a thoroughbred racehorse, complete with barn visitation rights, finished second.
Im Even Im Leaven, the Greg Tracy-trained dark bay filly in the $100,000 Century Casino Oaks, won the race but 'Whoopy' won the day.
Whoop It Up had won four consecutive races — all on muddy tracks — to shockingly qualify for Saturday's Oaks stakes race, second highest purse to the Canadian Derby $250,000. And the Edmonton fans bet the 11-to-1 morning line horse down to 7-to-1.
She soundly defeated overwhelming favorite Summerland from Hastings Park in Vancouver who came to the track with eight wins the last nine and career winnings of $188,019.
Im Even Im Leaven paid $8.60, $5.20 and $3.20 while Whoop It Up returned $5.20 and $3.20.
Meanwhile, in the other stakes race on 'Ladies Day', the $75,000 Distaff, the filly Edmonton Oilers centre Ryan Nugent-Hopkins shipped in from Hastings Park in Vancouver, Yukon Bell, 12-to-1 on the morning line was bet down to 6-to-1 and finished fifth to long shot Smart Fix that paid $31.80, $11.80 and $5.80.
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