It's busy at Greener Pastures
Greener Pastures -- the B.C.
Standardbred Horse Adoption Society (BCSHAS) -- has received
notification that it has been granted charitable status
effective Sept. 16. This means that tax receipts can be
issued for donations to the program.
It is the policy of the society not to
pay for horses. In order for them to be accepted into the
program they must be donated and, with charitable status in
place, receipts can now be issued for the value of the
horse. Horses placed through the program will be transferred
into the name of the society and will not be raced or used
to produce registered horses.
Julie McMillan of Greener Pastures will
retrain and adopt horses through the program. She will still
be running her J&M Acres operation and may purchase horses
that are not being donated.
As well as donated horses, the society
needs other help. Volunteers are always needed to run the
50/50s on Friday nights. The society will also be going to
events to let the public know about the program. Donations
of feed and medications are also welcome and Julie can
always use help of all kinds at her Maple Ridge farm as
well.
The farrier school at Kwantlen College
is helping out by shoeing horses donated to Greener
Pastures. Horses from the track are now trading their racing
plates for riding horseshoes for the cost of materials
thanks to Kwantlen.
As reported earlier, the Greener
Pastures program has taken in its first donated horses.
Mattsolut was donated by Bill Boden and
was quickly placed with Mary Larsen in Langley. A fixture at
Fraser Downs for years, the handsome grey will also be used
at various public events to promote the Greener Pastures
program.
Ken and Deborra Harris have donated
Package Tour N who is currently at McMillan’s acreage.
Program information is available at the
BCSA/SBS office and McMillan can be reached at 604-466-9179.
DAVIS WIDENS LEADS: Bill Davis’s
lead as top driver and trainer at Fraser Downs just gets
bigger and bigger.
Davis was sharp last weekend, picking
up 11 victories as a driver, eight coming with horses he
trains. His closest pursuer in the driver ranks was Grant
Hollingsworth with three while Tim Brown, Jim Burke, Rick
White, Jim Wiggins and Glenn White had two each.
Wiggins and Wayne Isbister both had two
triumphs as a trainer.
Davis now has 37 driving wins at the
meet, 21 more than Brown and 28 as a trainer, 19 ahead of
Isbister and Larry Micallef.
SIZZLE NOT FIZZLE: Haras Colta
Cola, a 10-1 shot, used a strong start and grinding finish
to win the winners-over event last Friday. Cola, trained by
Paul Harrison and driven by Rick White, covered the mile in
a lifetime best 1:56 and won by a neck over Ricardo Hall
with Pee Tee O third.
Bre X, who had lowered the track record
on consecutive weeks in the winners-over event, had the week
off. Nazko Promise, one of Bre X’s top challengers over the
last year or so, qualified last Saturday after a long
layoff, and is expected to enter the fray soon.
BIG BUCKS: A couple of big
payoffs were among the highlights of Saturday’s card.
Innate, a six-year-old gelding by As
Promised out of Socialize, captured the ninth race and paid
a whopping $156.50 for a $2 win ticket. He combined with
Rio Pizzazz (9-2) and Twistmyrubberarm (7-2) for a
$10,261.20 triactor.
In the sixth race, Lunar Princess, a
four-year-old daughter of Atomic Force out of Willow
Duchess, raced to victory (despite last racing on April 26)
in a new lifetime mark of 1:59. She paid $122.40 for a $2
win ticket.
DIALING DIFFICULTIES: Fraser
Downs is aware that patrons have been having problems
getting Friday race results on the Talking Super line.
“We are aware of the problem and we are
concerned,” Chuck Keeling, general manager of the Downs,
said. “We think it is because of the Super 7 draw (which was
$30 million last Friday) and that is tying up the lines.
“We are following the problem with TSP
to see if there is a way to rectify the situation,” Keeling
added. “If it persists we may have to go to another source.”
ALL FOR FOUR: Chuck Keeling,
general manager of Fraser Downs, is anxious to explain to
those patrons the rationale behind the move to a 4 p.m.
Sunday post time in November.
“It is a way of distinguishing when we
run from when Hastings (Park) runs,” Keeling said.
“When we went head-to-head (the last
couple of years) the wagering totals were not good. Also,
the satellite service which we share is OK when we run
separately but we would have to find another service when we
go head-to-head and then it gets expensive.”
So Keeling explained it was decided to
stagger the post times but added the Downs was not prepared
to go later than 4 p.m. so patrons would not be getting home
late on Sunday night.
Hastings will push its first post time
to 11:50 and run eight races that will conclude about 3:45.
“We will have 10 races and they should
be done by 7,” Keeling said. “We won’t do better (in
wagering totals),” he said, “but it also probably won’t be
worse.”
Beginning the first Sunday in December
the post time will be 1:15 p.m.
DID YOU KNOW: On Oct. 10, 1980,
Fan Hanover, driven by Glen Garnsey, set the world record
for two-year-olds pacing on a five-eighths of a mile track
by winning in 1:56.4 at Liberty Bell in Philadelphia, Penn.
MAINMAN’S MOONSHOT: Last week
Motoringwithhughie, a 31-1 shot, raced well and just missed
the board at fourth. This time we will try Mark My Wits, a
10-1 morning line selection, in the second race Friday.
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