Opening Day Entries
Hastings has attracted 55 entries, spread among eight competitive-looking races. And, while two $22,000 maiden optional claimer events will attract plenty of interest, it is race seven, a six-furlong allowance, that draws the eye. The talented line-up features seasonal reappearances for the likes of Smart Lad, Slew’s Da Boss and, of course, the wonderful Coulterberry.
We’ll have a closer look at the races on Friday but, for now, here are the entries.
The Equibase link to opening day entries is here: Hastings Entries
Horse of the Year Profiles
Our second Horse of the Year nominee profile is the unbeaten three-year-old gelding, BE QUICK
BE QUICK, bay colt 2018 by BODEMEISTER – PRONTO PRONTO (FUSAICHI PEGASUS)
Owner: White Hall Farms
Breeder: Allied Racing Stable LLC
Trainer: Keith Pedersen
Purchased at the 2019 CTHS Horses of Racing Age Sale in 2020, after being pinhooked at Fasig-Tipton in Kentucky the previous year, BE QUICK took his name to heart last season.
The son of Kentucky Derby and Preakness runner-up Bodemeister took the winning habit to extremes, landing each of the four races he contested to add to his ‘one-and-done’ two-year-old maiden victory the previous year.
Be Quick maintained a high level of performance throughout the summer for his handler Keith Pedersen, making his seasonal debut in May and leading from the get-go to see off the talented duo Cascade Billy and Porter Gent over six furlongs.
Before the end of the month, Be Quick was back in action, landing a second allowance event (over six-and-a-half furlongs) with another bold run close to the head of affairs. This time, he had Blueprint, Pay My Way and Prince Cairo behind him and it was clear that Pedersen had a genuine talent on his hands.
Those same four names lined up again just three weeks later to contest another allowance contest, the Troy Taylor Hall of Fame Purse, over the same distance. If connections of Be Quick’s rivals had fleetingly wondered if the previous result was in anyway fortunate, they were soon forced to reappraise as, again making every yard of the running, Be Quick ran his rivals ragged, winning emphatically in a quicker time than the previous month.
Be Quick stepped up to a mile-and-a-sixteenth on his final start of the season and, if there was any doubt that he might blunt his talent going further, we were again soon forced to reappraise. Happy to follow pace-setter Smart Lad to the far turn under regular partner Antonio Reyes, the colt was driven to the lead at the top of the lane and inched clear to beat subsequent dual Derby (Manitoba and Canadian) winner Uncharacteristic by a length-and-a-quarter. The win rounded off the perfect season and marked Be Quick as one of the smartest three-year-olds at Hastings.
Hooray for Hollywood!
Finally today, very best of luck to members of the Hastings Racing Club, who will no doubt make themselves heard on Saturday when cheering for Club debutante, HOLLYWOOD MISTRESS.
