Saturday's Previews
Three year olds take centre stage at Hastings on Saturday, with marvellous MOUNT DOOM favourite to land the Chris Loseth Stakes, while the extremely rapid CHI CHI TIME goes in the Supernaturel
Circumstances conspired to undo MOUNT DOOM last time in a muddling affair that resulted in stablemate RONDELITO holding on for a surprise win. The extra distance today should suit MOUNT DOOM and he can get back to winning ways. KYALAM won his maiden at today’s distance with something to spare and, while this is a fierce next step, he’s clearly progressing. ACCIDENTAL GENIUS wasn’t beaten far in either of his Hastings starts and should be a different proposition with the extra distance today.
COUNTER CAT is beginning to make a habit of finishing second. He bumped into a useful sort last time and went down by just a half-length to make it four runner-up finishes in a row. He’s too consistent in good company to be a maiden much longer, although he may have to hope unraced stablemate READY FOR ANYTHING needs the experience, as he’s been firing bullets in the mornings and might just be above average. Also making his career debut is BOONSBAKKENTOWN, a half-brother to five-time winner, Indyetta.
There was much to like about JUSTCALLMEJAMES’ debut. He couldn’t land a blow on the more experienced Bobby Rock, but stayed-on well and showed great tenacity to hold off MAX BOOSTER by a nose. He should come on for the experience and looks the one to beat. Inexperienced stablemates EXIT TUNNEL and JUST SCARLETT should both know a lot more about the game today. EXIT TUNNEL fluffed his start last time and his race was over before it began, while JUST SCARLETT showed up well before weakening on her career debut and may be a different proposition here. MAX BOOSTER did break his maiden before losing it again in the stewards’ room earlier in the year. He’s been consistent all season and hard to see him missing the frame today.
Twice a winner at today’s distance, LUCKY FORCE had stablemate MASEN just behind when finishing second to the rapid Run Rudolf on his season debut last month. A repeat of that effort might just get the job done here. MASEN is not easy to weigh up but, while he’s clearly not the force he was when running in Grade 1 events back east, he looked the likely winner until weakening late last time and should be suited by the extra distance. WHAT’S SHAKIN has been showing up well in the mornings and has previous form at a mile-and-sixteenth that would put him at the heart of affairs, while HORATIO has won his last three starts and will be a big danger if able to perform as well over the long course.
OVERLY FAST won first time off the claim for connections and did it in some style, sitting in behind and then finding an extra gear when rousted turning for home. The further they went, the more dominant he looked and he should be a handful for his rivals again today. The last time EXTRA INNINGS ran over this distance, he sauntered to a 12-length win. That was last year on a sloppy track, however, and his most recent win, on his season debut in May, also came on a wet surface. The distance isn’t a problem. A fast track may be. BRIAN’ S DE LEIGHT, who is nothing if not gutsy, lines-up on the back of a narrow win last time and he should be doing his best work late as usual.
CHI CHI TIME caused a bit of a stir on her near-track-record-breaking debut and then followed it up with a River Rock Casino Stakes victory that saw her win a shade cleverly after surviving a scare leaving the gate. Today’s distance remains unknown territory, but she seemed to have plenty in the tank last time and might just be a bit special. The mile-and-sixteenth hold no fears for SOMEDAY LADY, who finished last season as the leading juvenile filly at Hastings following a Fantasy Stakes win on a sloppy track. However, she’s had a disappointing winter campaign down in Arizona and, more recently, at Santa Anita on the turf and lines-up here just three weeks since running in California. BREEZIN BRIANNE runs as though the distance won’t be a hindrance and plugged on well enough once her chance had gone on her reappearance to suggest she can be factor now she’s got a run under her girth.
It might be worth taking a chance on NEIGHEIGH in a head-scratcher of a finale where several appear to have chances on paper. She was dropped onto the bottom rung for the first time by connections three weeks ago and was run out of it by Pineapple Tidbits and today’s rival ICE BREAKER. She’s not one to mortgage the house on but, at this level and this distance, can get the job done. A surprise to see ICE BREAKER back at 6½ furlongs so soon, although she has won at the distance, while there doesn’t look to be much between the Keith Pedersen-trained duo, FOOTHILLS BLLVD. and LICORICE, and both should be thereabouts.
Lisa & Mike’s Saturday Selections
Backstretch Mornings
From the Province:
Far from a relic, Hastings Racecourse can thrive with proper support
Rumours of horse racing’s demise are off. Backstretch chief David Milburn says it’s time to choose local jobs over financial fat cats
There have been horses racing since two people each owned a horse and decided to see which one was the fastest. That human need to know will continue until there are no more horses, or humans.
At Hastings Park, racing goes back 133 years, but the sport faces an uncertain future in its current location with — depending on who you’re asking — plenty of opinions on what it might become if the racetrack wasn’t there.
It has been a frustrating few months for Hastings’ backstretch community, with talk of the track being replaced by a new soccer stadium, or the casino rights, which currently help fund racing, being sold off without the need for racing to continue.
But ask any of the bumper crowd in attendance to celebrate Canada Day — and let’s remember the contribution of the horse in the creation of our great nation — this week, and they might be amused to learn the sport was supposedly in peril in Vancouver.
“Hastings is not a relic, it’s a thriving, historic venue that generated over $21.5 million in wagers last season and supports hundreds of working-class jobs tied to racing, training, and backstretch operations,” David Milburn, president of the Horsemen’s Benevolent and Protective Association of B.C., explained this week. “Displacing it would dismantle an entire economic and cultural ecosystem that has existed for more than a century.”
The racing community feels its future is in danger of being decided by parties who either don’t understand what is at stake or simply don’t care that a sport and industry employing hundreds locally, and province-wide, is being left to wither on the vine.
A breeder, owner and trainer for many years, Milburn is adamant that the casino, which currently funds about 45 per cent of racing, is inextricably linked to the sport, and was organized that way intentionally at a time when the government-backed expansion of the gambling sector threatened to leave racing penniless.
“Hastings was never intended to be a standalone casino,” Milburn said. “It was meant to be a revenue stream that sustains an entire rural and urban industry. The City of Vancouver’s bylaw explicitly ties the operation of slots at Hastings to the presence of live horse racing, and the original provincial authorizations were granted on that same basis.”
Those ancillary jobs and industries Milburn talks about include veterinary care, blacksmiths, commercial horse breeding, hay, feed, horse transport, to name just a few, all of which would be in jeopardy should racing end.
Given the current shenanigans south of the border, Milburn also questions the logic of structuring a gaming industry that benefits foreign equity groups over the needs of British Columbians.
“That original decision has shifted economic value and decision-making power out of our province and across the border. Meanwhile, B.C.’s horse racing industry has been sidelined and neglected. We need to rethink our priorities. Supporting local industries like horse racing means investing in B.C. jobs, B.C. agriculture, and B.C. heritage — not exporting opportunity to Wall Street.”
Statistics
Bloodhorse Daily Headlines — Saturday, July 5
