Kentucky Derby Day!
One of the most open 'Run for the Roses' in a while should add plenty of extra spice to opening day at Hastings
Your Silks for the 148th Kentucky Derby
Kentucky Oaks replay
In case you missed it yesterday, here’s a replay of SECRET OATH’s magnificent Kentucky Oaks victory.
“I thought the race unfolded like we expected. Being in the one hole we didn’t have much choice on what to do. I told Luis (Saez) that down the backside to get into position. When I saw him moving around the turn and I turned and hugged my wife and said ‘here we go.’ It feels great. I’ve said all week, as trainers we think it’s us. After you win one, the real satisfaction is for the (owners) who raised her and let them have the opportunity to enjoy this and get the thrill.” - D Wayne Lucas
You can see all of today’s entries at Hastings by clicking on this button…
Horse of the Year Profiles
Our third Hastings Horse of the Year nominee profile is the former
British Columbia Derby winner, FIVE STAR GENERAL
FIVE STAR GENERAL, bay horse, 2016
by DISTORTED HUMOR - PARTY OF INTEREST (BERNARDINI)
Owner: North American Thoroughbred Horse Company
Breeder: WinStar Farm LLC
Trainer: Glen Todd
They say that good things come in small packages and that certainly applies to the classy FIVE STAR GENERAL.
Plucked out of the Fasig-Tipton Select Horses of Racing Age Sale in 2019 by Glen Todd’s North American Thoroughbred Horse Company, ‘The General’ is a compact but beautifully balanced athlete who has held his high class ability admirably.
Five Star General took no time at all in justifying his $180,000 purchase price. He won the British Columbia Cup Sir Winston Churchill Derby Trial Handicap within weeks of his arrival at Hastings, before going on to land the G3 British Columbia Derby by a nose, in what was arguably the year’s most exciting race.
In the two seasons since his Derby heroics, Five Star General has been a model of high-class consistency, winning three valuable allowance contests and finishing second, and then third, in consecutive editions of the G3 Longacres Mile at Emerald Downs.
While last season’s pandemic-curtailed Stakes Race schedule at Hastings brought its own difficulties, Five Star General could have done little more than he was asked, winning two of three valuable allowance events and again running superbly in the Longacres Mile, a race very close to the heart of his late trainer.
Sadly, Five Star General was sold recently as part of the dispersal that followed Todd’s passing. Like his owner, though, he made an impact at Hastings that will not soon be forgotten.
Absent friends
There will be plenty of mixed emotions among the backstretch community on Saturday, when we celebrate opeing day but continue to feel the absence of Glen Todd.
The driving force behind so much of the sport here in British Columbia and beyond, Glen’s presence was everywhere and, while his legacy will be felt for some time to come, the place will feel very different without him.
He’s in all our thoughts today.
