SANDOWN PLAN APPROVED
North Saanich council voted Nov. 15 to
approve Orangeville Raceways Ltd's redevelopment plan for
Sandown Park racetrack. The council nod quickly followed the
Nov. 6 referendum in which 47 per cent of eligible voters
turned out to vote with 56 per cent supporting the proposal,
which includes up to 200 slot machines.
Future racing at Sandown was in doubt.
A development schedule for the project has not yet been
finalized but the result will bring changes to the Vancouver
Island track probably as soon as next year.
Orangeville Raceway, the operator of
Sandown Park, is proposing to completely redevelop Sandown
Park while maintaining the rural atmosphere. Highlights of
the proposal include investment of $2 to $4 million dollars.
The addition of electronic gaming machines at Sandown could
generate an estimated $1 million annually for the District
of North Saanich.
Chuck Keeling, general manager of
Sandown, said that he is particularly pleased the sport will
now have the chance to flourish at Sandown again and that
the rural/agricultural nature of the community will be
preserved.
EGILSON TO VEGAS: Jim Egilson of
Surrey has won the 2004 Autumn Handicapping Classic at
Fraser Downs.
Egilson amassed $257.50 to capture the
highly-coveted top prize. He will be going to
Las Vegas where he will represent the
Downs at the World Series of Handicapping, Jan. 27-29. In
addition, he will be bolstered by a $2,500 cash prize.
Egilson was the top survivor of two
days, a grueling 30 races, of handicapping.
One hundred contestants started Nov. 6
and returned last Saturday. On each contest day, there were
eight designated races and seven open races. The only
stipulations for the open races were that the race chosen
must be from a thoroughbred track selected for the contest
(and not a mandatory race) and the start of the race must be
before the 5 p.m. deadline. On each horse chosen, a mythical
$2 win/place wager was placed using Canadian odds.
Overall runner-up was Louis Neering of
Nanaimo with $242, which won him $2,000.
Third overall was John Drennan of
Coquitlam with $242 for $1,500 cash , fourth Jerome Lee of
Port Coquitlam with $212.10 and $1,000 cash and fifth Mark
Patzer of Coquitlam at $179.20 and $500 cash.
There were also daily prizes of $1,000
(won the first week by Drennan), $500 and $250. Second-week
winners were Egilson with $179.60, Patzer $179.20 and Norman
Forbes $105.80.
COLA SHARP FROM OFF PACE: Haras
Colta Cola, always considered one of the best in B.C. in
getting to the front, showed his versatility and his best
last Thursday in the special Invite on B.C. Breeders Classic
Day.
Owned by Off Track Stable of Aldergrove,
and trained and driven by Paul Harrison, the five-year-old
gelded son of Armbro Operative, came from well back to win
by a half length in 1:55.2.
Cola, who started from the trailing
nine-hole, was sixth at the quarter (although only 31/2
lengths back). He was fifth at the head of the stretch
although that was deceptive as he had already started a
powerful charge around the last turn.
Under persistent urging from Harrison,
Cola roared passed the four in front in the stretch,
covering the last quarter in 28.2 seconds.
There was a photo for second with
Spider M, who had led from the gate, edging Red Star
Admiral, who was second from the three-quarter pole until
the wire. Admiral was the winner in the previous Invite.
Haras Colta Cola has now won six times
(along with seven seconds and three thirds) in 25 starts in
2004 and has accumulated more than $57,000 in season
earnings.
Meanwhile, this is a recording, Keep
Spinning keeps winning.
The five-year-old gelded son of Western
Hanover made it six wins in a row with a victory Saturday in
a $9,000-10,000 claiming event. He has captured nine of his
last 12 starts (with two seconds and a fifth).
Owned by Laurie Davis and Myrna Green
and trained and driven by Bill Davis, Keep Spinning has
raced from the $8,000 to $20,000 claiming levels in those 12
races.
DAVIS SECTION: Bill Davis may
have been blanked last Sunday but it still did not stop him
from being top Fraser Downs driver and trainer in wins for
the weekend.
Davis had seven victories as a driver
and six as a trainer to top all.
Rick White and Jim Marino shared second
in the driver derby with five wins each. Tim Brown had four
while Clint Warrington, Scott Knight, Larry Micallef and
Dave Hudon tied with three each.
White was next to Davis as top
conditioner with five while Ann Cooper, Paul Harrison, Gary
Durbano, Wayne Isbister and Warrington had two triumphs
apiece.
Driver/trainer Doug Moore has arrived
from Alberta with two horses and is expected to be here for
a while. Fellow Albertans - sister Dawn, a trainer, and
brother Darren, a driver/trainer - were/are also here at the
Downs. Dawn has returned to Edmonton where their winter meet
gets under way Friday while Darren will continue to battle
the locals.
USHER BUSIEST: Usher Hanover,
who stands at John Zahara's Aldergrove farm and Village
Jiffy, at Juan Samper's Veterinary Reproductive Services of
Langley, led B.C. stallions in serving the more mares in the
2004 breeding season.
Usher Hanover covered 31 mares and
Village Jiffy 30.
The complete list of matings for the
Canadian stallions was provided by Standardbred Canada and
lists all stallions that served 20 mares or more in 2004.
Alberta-based pacing stallion As
Promised repeated as the country's busiest stallion in the
year.
The 15-year-old son of Abercrombie is
credited with 267 mares giving him with a healthy margin
over Ontario's Astreos, who bred 244, with first year sire
Cammibest coming in with 207.
Sky West Farms of Calgary stands As
Promised who commands a $2,500 service fee. In 2003 the
horse served 281 mares.
WHAT A SALE!: A sales record and
a sharp rise in the average price paid highlighted the
recent B.C. Breeders Yearling Sale.The record for the top
price was set when Scruffy Hanover filly Dal Reo Desire,
consigned by Fred Zaitsoff, attracted $43,000 from Crimson
Stable. The average price on actual sales rose from $5,750
to $12,521.
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