Hastings' Weekly Winter Round-Up
There have been signs of life at Hastings this week, with work being carried out on the backstretch, as well as the track itself. Horses are due back next week!
The work of preparing Hastings for the new season has begun in earnest, with good progress being made on HBPA-initiated improvements in several areas of the facility. The fitting of new L.E.D. floodlighting is close to completion, while the ongoing piecemeal replacement of tarmac lanes between barns has also continued during the off-season. As you can see from the photos kindly supplied by HBPA director Gary Johnson, workmen were also busy this week replacing part of the perimeter fencing along the far side of the track.
A reminder to all: Hastings reopens to horsemen next week with set-up scheduled for Monday ahead of a Wednesday move in. The track itself will be open to horses on Friday from 8am to 11am and will continue that way until the end of the month. Clockers will resume the first Friday in March, with the starting gate available three weeks later.
Government Talks Ongoing
The HBPA, and in particular Vice President Denise Praill and Director Gary Johnson, continues to work tirelessly on explaining racing’s case to all the relevant Government departments in BC, with Denise confirming just prior to publication that “multiple meetings are planned in the coming weeks with both elected officials and ministry staff.”
While there remains nothing specific to announce at this time, there is plenty going on behind the scenes and we will ensure that, as soon as there is anything concrete to report, it will be disseminated immediately.
Canadian Trainer Jewell Saddles First Oaklawn Winner
Former assistant to Glen Todd has half a dozen horses stabled at Oaklawn for top BC owners WYN Racing Stable.
Courtesy Robert Yates / Canadian Thoroughbred
No. 32 was the “one” for Canadian trainer Ian Jewell.
Jewell saddled his first career Oaklawn winner in Friday’s fourth race when Chick Command broke his maiden by 1 ¼ front-running lengths under apprentice jockey Joseph Romero.
Chick Command ($15.80) represented the 32nd career Oaklawn starter for Jewell, who wintered for the first time in Hot Springs during the 2023-2024 meeting. Jewell was 0 for 24 last season at Oaklawn and 0 for seven in 2024-2025 before his breakthrough victory.
“I just felt like last year I left with some unfinished business because I got shut out last year,” Jewell said Saturday morning. “It was just nice to get that win.”
Chick Command is one of six horses Jewell has at Oaklawn. All are owned by WYN Racing Stables Corp. of Christopher and Tasha Ceraldi, who reside in Vancouver, British Columbia, a major Canadian city approximately 140 miles north of Seattle.
Chick Command, who was bred in British Columbia, made his first four career starts in stakes races for 2-year-olds last year at Hastings Racecourse in Vancouver. Hastings is Jewell’s home track.
In Chick Command’s American debut, and first start at Oaklawn, he finished sixth against $30,000 maiden claimers Dec. 29. Chick Command was also racing for a $30,000 claiming tag Friday.
Jewell said he was confident Chick Command would be competitive in his second Oaklawn sprint race.
“Training really well,” Jewell said. “I think he came up a little short last time. Hadn’t run in 2 ½ months, so really need the race. Yeah, very happy with the way he’s performed. I thought he was going to be pretty tough yesterday.”
Jewell’s 2023-2024 Oaklawn resume included three seconds and two thirds, all coming in the final two months of the meeting. Jewell said he has a better feel for Oaklawn this season.
“I navigated pretty good at the end of the meet last year and I came down this year with a different set of horses and horses I thought would compete a lot better here,” Jewell said.
Jewell has 11 career training victories, according to Equibase, racing’s official data gathering organization, the first coming Nov. 8, 1992, at Sandown Park in British Columbia.
Canadian Racing News and Notes for January 27
Woodbine's leading trainer Mark Casse won a pile of races in the last two weeks, but it was Sandman's second-place finish that was exciting
Courtesy Jennifer Morrison / Canadian Thoroughbred
Woodbine’s perennial leading trainer MARK CASSE had quite the last five racing days around the U.S. His stable won eight of 29 starts and five of those wins came yesterday, Sunday, Jan. 26. Four of those wins came at Gulfstream Park.
It was a loss at Oaklawn Park on Saturday, however, that was surely the most exciting for Casse, despite being a trouble-filled race for one of his pupils.
SANDMAN, a pretty grey colt by Tapit who cost $1.2 million as a two-year-old in training at the 2024 March Ocala sale, had a remarkable second-place finish in the $1 million Southwest Stakes after a botched beginning.
Owned by D.J. Stables, St. Elias Stable, West Point Thoroughbreds and CJ Stables (Chuck Sonson), Sandman bobbed, stumbled and propped out of the gate and lost several lengths at the start of the 1/16 mile race. The colt, ridden by Cristian Torres, was last into the backstretch while the front-runner, Speed King, went 47 4/5 for half a mile. Sandman put in a heroic run to be second by a length to Speed King.
A winner twice in six races as a juvenile, Sandman earned a career best 92 Beyer Speed Figure for his Southwest run. The Southwest in a prep for Oaklawn’s Arkansas Derby (G1), a major Kentucky Derby prep.
Omaha Omaha looks to add KY Derby points in Withers
NYRA Communications • Jan 31 2025
Omaha Omaha adds distance, looks to add Kentucky Derby points in Listed Withers
Bucchero represented by Global Steve in Listed Withers
Coastal Mission back in action in Listed Toboggan
Castle Chaos returns in Listed Toboggan; Nilo’s Rose possible for Listed Busher
On Your Left Racing’s Virginia homebred Omaha Omaha closed from last-to-second in the local one turn-mile Jerome in January and will look to do one better as he stretches out for Saturday’s Listed $250,000 Withers, a nine-furlong test for sophomores, at Aqueduct Racetrack.
The Withers, a prep race on the Road to the Kentucky Derby, will award the top-five finishers 20-10-6-4-2 qualifying points, respectively, towards the prestigious Grade 1 test on May 3 at Churchill Downs.
Trained by Michael Gorham, the Audible bay picked up five Derby qualifying points for his deep-rallying Jerome performance where he was bumped at the start and 11 lengths back in last-of-7, ultimately surging to a 3 1/2-length second behind the pacesetting Cyclone State.
“I think the distance should definitely help him,” said Gorham. “Last time was just the one-turn mile. I think even that day, if he had a little more distance, he would’ve been a little more effective.”
He’s Not Joking Serious Holy Bull (G3) Contender
Courtesy Gulfstream Park — His lone try on dirt inconclusive, Di Scola Boys Stable’s Grade 3 winner He’s Not Joking will get another chance to prove himself over the main track in the $265,000 Holy Bull (G3) at Gulfstream Park.
The 1 1/16-mile Holy Bull is the fourth of five stakes for newly turned 3-year-olds, two graded, worth $925,000 in purses on Saturday’s 12-race program that begins at noon. Following the Jan. 3 Mucho Macho Man, it is the next step for sophomores on Gulfstream’s road to the $1 million Florida Derby (G1) March 29.
In addition, the Holy Bull offers Kentucky Derby (G1) qualifying points to the first five finishers on a 20-10-6-4-2 basis.
He’s Not Joking will be racing for the first time in two months since breaking slowly and enduring traffic trouble in the 1 1/16-mile Kentucky Jockey Club (G2) Nov. 30. It was the Practical Joke colt’s first try on dirt but second straight at two turns after earning graded credentials in the Nov. 3 Grey (G3) on Woodbine’s all-weather course.
“He’s doing really well,” trainer Josie Carroll said. “The race in Kentucky knocked him out a little bit. He got bumped leaving the gate and had a little bit of a rough trip around there and was pretty tired after that. By the time he shipped down here, as well, he was a little bit knocked out, but he’s been training back great. I think we didn’t get a true reading on him on the dirt in that last race, so we feel like he’s a horse that’s earned a shot in this spot.”
He’s Not Joking has had four works this month at Palm Meadows, Gulfstream satellite training facility in Palm Beach County, including a bullet five-furlong move in 1:00.45 Jan. 16. He will be making his sixth start in the Holy Bull, most among his rivals.
“He’s a horse that we’ve always liked, it just took him a while to develop,” Carroll said. “The [Grey], when we finally got to run him a route of ground, it’s just what he’d been looking for. He relaxed beautifully and made a huge run and galloped out strongly.”
New Stride News
Bloodhorse Daily Headlines — Saturday February 1
