HorseRacing Central September 12, 2008

BC DERBY NOMINATIONS

A total of 22 nominated entries will be trimmed to a field of 12 for the 63rd running of the $250,000 BC Derby on Sept. 21 at Hastings Racecourse.

“You can feel the excitement growing,” says Race Secretary Lorne Mitchell. “It’s the biggest single race of the year at Hastings and with so much on the line, it attracts top talent from across Canada and the United States.”

A prime example of Mitchell’s comment is the fact owner K.K. Sangara will have Woodbine invader Dancingall Theway in the lineup as Sangara goes for back-to-back BC Derby victories after having won with Celtic Dreamin last year. Dancingall Theway has raced exclusively at Woodbine in his career and heads west with three wins this year in the allowance and maiden ranks. Also nominated was Sangara’s Wink At The Girls from the tough Santa Anita circuit trained by Rafael Becerra, last year’s Derby winning trainer.

Jungle Wave, owned by Peter Redekop, will be making his first start outside of Southern California after having raced on the turf in his last four starts. Jungle Wave does own a win on the Santa Anita poly track.

A couple of notable Seattle imports are speedy Fear No Evil and Emerald Derby winner Gallon.

There won’t be any shortage of B.C. talent ready to challenge the out-out-town hopefuls with $50,000 Derby Trial winner Krazy Koffee boasting five wins in six starts this year and Texas Wildcatter, runner-up in the $300,000 Canadian Derby in Edmonton and second to Spaghetti Mouse in the BC Cup Classic.

FILLIES READY FOR BC OAKS

The 2008 BC Derby culminates an outstanding weekend of racing at Hastings. As always, the Derby Day undercard features the $50,000 Winston Churchill while the day before – Saturday, Sept. 20 – the spotlight falls on the $125,000 B.C. Breeders’ Cup Oaks and the $50,000 Delta Colleen.

Nominations closed for the BC Oaks with 13 fillies headed by Stephen McDonald’s Lecturing Lynn, recent winner of the $50,000 Hong Kong Jockey Club Stakes. One definite threat in the Oaks will be Christmas Ship, who’s in the hands of Hall of Fame trainer Jerry Hollendorfer. Christmas Ship finished second in the Washington Oaks last month.

OUT OF TOWN SCOREBOARD WATCHING

The much anticipated return of Big Brown happens this Saturday with the running of the $500,000 Monmouth Handicap in Oceanport, New Jersey. His connections have opted to run him on the turf for his final prep before the Breeders’ Cup Classic at Santa Anita where the race goes on polytrack. Big Brown struggled to win the $1 million Haskell against 3-year-olds on the conventional dirt. He will face older horses for the first time in the Monmouth Handicap that we can watch on our west coast simulcast network at 1:52 p.m. Saturday.

Always one of the key prep races for the 2-year-old colts before the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile is the $200,000 Arlington-Washington Futurity with post at 3:25 PST.

Multiple stakes winner Star Prospector, owned by Peter Redekop and trained by Terry Jordan, will be running in the opener at Woodbine Sunday. Our simulcast coverage goes at 10:10 a.m.

GO HEAD TO HEAD

Head to Head Handicapping Contest

Players at Hastings, Fraser Downs and the Racebooks at Boulevard and River Rock will have a chance to Handicap their way to $500.00 in the Head to Head Handicapping Contest plus a bonus $500.00 if the winner is an HPI Member. Players will be asked to pick the winning horse in races 3 through 8 from Hastings and Fraser Downs. Dollars will be awarded on the official outcome of those races. The dollar calculation will be based on a mythical $2 Win Place bet on each entrant’s selections.

TOMMY WOLSKI’S SPORT OF KINGS

Colourful Butch Geortzen, owner of Krazy Koffee, is interviewed on this week’s Sport of Kings on Citytv beginning at 11 a.m. Saturday. Geortzen is the Chilliwack farmer who raises buffalo and pigs and breeds one horse per year. He struck gold with Krazy Koffee.



RACING RESUMES AT FRASER DOWNS

The first of 106 race days is ready to go on Friday, Sept. 19 at Fraser Downs Racetrack & Casino. The 2008-09 standardbred season begins with back-to-back Friday/Saturday dates Sept 19-20 and Sept. 26-27 with 7:30 p.m. starts before clicking into high gear in October with Thursday nights added to the racing schedule.