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Randy Goulding: Hastings Racecourse has some high stakes races on the last Friday night card of the season.
Published Sep 06, 2024 • Last updated 2 days ago • 4 minute read
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Infinite Patience with rider Antonio Reyes winning their 13th consecutive Stakes, on Oct. 12, 2023. Photo by Michael Bye /prv
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Following a brief break due to the racetrack being used as a parking lot for PNE attendees, live racing returns with a bang to Hastings Racecourse on Friday.
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The first live race won’t be thoroughbreds, however. The first of three qualifying Corgi races begins the festivities at 6:40 pm. The championship Corgi race goes between the third and fourth races at 8:09 pm.
Management is expecting a large crowd as Corgi’s are very popular and it is the last Friday evening card of the year.
Supercars share the spotlight at Hastings on Saturday.
“It’s called Horsepower 4 Horsepower with 50 to 70 Ferraris, McLarens, Lamborghinis, etc.” said Hastings general manager Ryan McCartney. “The event is in support of The Virtue Foundation.
“The Virtue Foundation was established in 2000 by Danny Virtue and is recognized for its wide-ranging approach to specific needs for young people. Our charity for the day is the Ronald McDonald House and we will be issuing a cheque to them for $5,000.”
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For serious horse players, Saturday has one of the better cards of the year highlighted by the $50,000 Delta Colleen Handicap and the $50,000 S.W. Randall Plate.
Infinite Patience will be a heavy favourite to win the Delta Colleen. The Randall Plate is wide open, and a case could be made for just about any of the seven horses entered.
Trainer Craig MacPherson is hoping for a big effort from Lucky Force who is going for his fifth win of the year. With nine wins from 14 starts, the four-year-old son of Counterforces knows where the finish line is. He won the Ross McLeod last year and is coming off a victory over Shock the House in the CTHS Sales Stakes on Aug. 26.
Lucky Force was purchased as a yearling by Ed Claggett for $4,000 out of the B.C. CTHS Sale in 2021. Not counting B.C.-bred bonus money, he goes into the Randall with $111,721 in earnings.
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“He’s done well for us,” said MacPherson. “He likes to run, and he likes to win. I think he’s a better sprinter, but he won his last two routes and is doing very well right now.”
MacPherson grew up with horse racing in his blood. His grandfather Angus MacPherson was a prominent trainer at Hastings and was inducted into the B.C. Horse Racing Hall of Fame in 1990. MacPherson’s father went in a different direction when he became an engineer.
“I went to BCIT, but I always liked horse racing and after working for trainer John Morrison, I found I really loved working with horses,” said Craig MacPherson, who, according to statistics from the Daily Racing Form, won his first race as a trainer in 1981 with Crafty Madam.
MacPherson, 66, said the best horse he trained was Reporting Star who finished second for him in the Canadian Derby and third in the B.C. Derby. Reporting Star went on to become one of the top turf horses in Canada for trainer Pat Parente.
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MacPherson did win the B.C. Derby with Second City in 2012.
“That was quite a race,” he recalled. “He was favoured and was expected to go to the front. However, he got off to a horrible start and trailed the field early. I thought he had no chance, but Richard Hamel got him to settle, and he finished full of run to win.”
There doesn’t appear to be a lot of speed in the Randall.
“Lucky Force is versatile so he can either be on the lead or come from out of it,” said MacPherson.
Ridge Balgobin picks up the mount from Amadeo Perez who opts to ride Apprehend. It should be a great race.
FRIDAY SELECTIONS: FIRST RACE 7 P.M.
RACE 4: Considering how strong ALOBRAH looked in her workout for trainer Frank Barroby on Tuesday she looks live at what should be a decent price. The five-year-old Kentucky-bred is eligible for a non-winners of two but she held her own while facing open $12,500 claimers last time and doesn’t seem out of line in this $8,000 non-winners of three.
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SATURDAY SELECTIONS: FIRST RACE 2:30 P.M.
RACE 6: APPREHEND isn’t as good as he was in 2022 when he finished second to C Z Rocket, who is a multiple graded winner with over $2 million in earnings. Nonetheless, trainer Barbara Heads has him going in the right direction with back-to-back wins and he could be sitting on a peak performance in his third start back following a short layoff.
Randy Goulding has been handicapping horses and writing for The Racing Form at Hastings Park for more than 30 years. His column will run every Friday throughout the racing season.
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Courtesy : https://theprovince.com/sports/live-racing-returns-to-hastings-racecourse-friday