STAKES ACTION BEGINS
Stakes action will begin this weekend
at Fraser Downs as the countdown (and eliminations) leading
to the Breeders Stakes get under way.
Elims for two-year-olds will take place
tonight and for three-year-olds Saturday with a second leg
of eliminations on Nov. 4 and 5.
The final nine of each gender surviving
the eliminations will battle for big bucks on Breeders
Classic Day Nov. 11. The finals for the rookies will be for
a purse of $60,000 each and the three-year-olds will scrap
for $100,000 purses.
Although there will be some big-time
favorites, it is expected that many owners and trainers
cannot resist a shot at some lucrative paydays.
The list could be shortest in the
two-year-old filly division where Red Star Biggirl should
scare away some. Rightly so. Biggirl, the daughter of
Grinfromeartoear, and trained by Clint Warrington, can
already lay claim to a stakes win at Sandown and the Fraser
Downs track record for her age and division. She toured the
five-eighths oval in 1:56.1.
Sweetypea won the other division at
Sandown in early September and will challenge. Some others
who may take a shot are Silvery Belle, GG S Madi, Twentyten,
Furious Five and Whisper What Then.
Red Star Islander and Superfecta Kid,
who each won a division on the Island, will again be tough
to beat on the rookie colt side. Some recent new challengers
lurking could be Spartacus Dee J, Joe Millionaire, Limbos
Doublecross along with Regal Intention, Solar Wind, Red Star
Urge and Double Stutz.
J J J Stable and Alan Anderson have
stakes winners Active Pass and Wild Rumour set for the
three-year-old colt showdowns but that could be the place
where a host of challengers awaits.
Lunar TKO, Nazko Dancer, Red Star Yogi,
Luckys Lildude, We Winnie Winston, CC Maxim and
Mattswhereitsat are just a few.
Red Star Ginny, star of the show at
Sandown with a pair of impressive stakes victories, will be
the one to beat in the three-year-old filly class. But
again, there will be challengers after the winner’s share
($50,000) in the final.
Just a few include Betterfrombehind,
Jimmy Jams Jubilee, Red Star Fantasia, Shannons Scoobydoo
and Classic Socks.
The Downs held non-wagering schooling
races for two-year-olds the past two weekends and who knows
how many trainers are a little braver now.
MASSE TAKES LEAD: Bolstered by
strong results in the special schooling races for
two-year-olds, Serge Masse led all drivers last week at
Fraser Downs.
With Standardbred Canada, the governing
body of racing in Canada recognizing the results of the
drivers and trainers in the races, Masse piled up seven
victories as a driver. He was two-for-two in the baby
races.
Jim Marino grabbed a handful of wins to
be closest challenger while Bill Davis, Tim Brown, Gord
Abbott and Dave Hudon each had four wins. Grant
Hollingsworth had two.
Masse also dominated the trainer stars,
again with seven triumphs.
Davis, Brown and Hudon had four wins
apiece while Bill Young and Ray Gemmill displayed continuing
strong performances from the Geritol set with two wins
each.
SUPER LITTLE SUPER: Fraser Downs
has introduced the 20 cent superfecta wager.
Downs patrons can still bet a $1 or $2
super, which is selecting the first four finishers in a
race, but now have the third alternative. The thinking is
that patrons can find the cost of a superfecta wager high.
Already it is shown that even at 20
cents, there can be plenty of reason to smile. On opening
weekend, a patron bet a 20-cent superfecta box (picking four
horses which can finish in any order among the top four).
The wager was $4.80 and the winning ticket paid more than
$400.
SALE BOOKS READY: The online and
printed catalogues are available for the B.C. Standardbred
Breeders Society annual yearling sale.
The sale, which drew a record
consignment of 129 horses, will start at 2 p.m. Wednesday,
Nov. 23 in the Cloverdale Agriplex.
In addition to the 129, 30 owners paid
the $1,000 fee to make their yearlings eligible to the Sale
Stake without going through the sale.
There is strong representation of B.C.
and out-of-province sires in the catalogue.
The Society will have some mares in
foal for the sale with the pedigrees of these horses posted
at a later date.
REVENUE SPLIT SET:
Representatives of all horse racing groups in B.C. have
reached a new agreement governing slot revenue sharing.
Under the agreement the horsemen’s
share of slot revenue will benefit the breed at the track in
question.
Once slot machines are operating at
Hastings Racecourse, all of the horsemen’s share there will
benefit the thoroughbred sector and all of the horsemen’s
share at Fraser Downs will benefit the standardbred sector.
Also, once the slots are in at Sandown Park, all of the
horsemen’s slot share will go towards the standardbreds.
The machines at Hastings are expected
to be in place next spring with Sandown hopefully to follow
not long after.
The thoroughbred horsemen have been
receiving 50 per cent of the revenue from the slots at
Fraser Downs but the agreement has provisions for payback of
this money to the standardbred sector. All of the funds
thoroughbred horsemen receive after April 1 of this year
will be repaid as will $1 million of the $2.1 they received
in the 2004/05 fiscal year.
The implication of the agreement is
considered good news for the standardbred industry. It means
standardbred horsemen can now count on a stable purse
structure and the SISAP program for this fiscal year and a
substantial increase in purses and programs in the next.
GCGC BUSY: Great Canadian Gaming
Corporation has completed the acquisition of all of the
outstanding shares of Flamboro Downs Holdings Limited, a
wholly owned subsidiary of Magna Entertainment Corp.
The Company paid MEC aggregate
consideration of $50 million Cdn and $23.6 million U.S. in
cash and by the assumption of existing debt.
The closing of the transaction follows
the approval of the Alcohol and Gaming Commission of Ontario
and the Ontario Racing Commission. The Ontario Lottery and
Gaming Corporation has also consented to the change in
control of Flamboro Downs as required under their siteholder
agreement.
Flamboro Downs harness racetrack is
located near Hamilton and its acquisition gives GGGC control
of Flamboro and Georgian Downs in Ontario as well as
Hastings Racecourse (thoroughbreds), Sandown Park and Fraser
Downs in B.C.
Meanwhile, GCGC has placed its four
standardbred racing facilities into the Harness Tracks Of
America fold.
Chuck Keeling, the company’s vice
president of racing and former general manager of Fraser
Downs, will represent the tracks on HTA’s Board of
Directors.
Great Canadian Gaming will officially
enter the HTA family during a board meeting on Feb. 7 in Las
Vegas.
NORTHLANDS EXPANSION: On Oct.
25 the Northlands Park board of directors approved a motion
to proceed with plans to expand the Edmonton five-eighths to
a seven-eighths of a mile track.
It means the thoroughbred and harness
industry has cleared another major hurdle in the quest for a
new surface - but two barriers still remain: financing needs
to be finalized and approval must come from city council,
the Edmonton Sun reports.
"I'd say in the next couple of weeks
we'll start the process of negotiating (financial)
agreements that are satisfactory to both Northlands and
Horse Racing Alberta (governing body)," said Jerry Bouma,
the Northlands Park board member overseeing horse racing.
The price tag for the major expansion
project is pegged at $21 million.
If negotiations are successful, city
council will then decide whether to give the racetrack a
stamp of approval. If the project does get a passing grade,
the existing racing surface would be ripped apart and a new
oval would be constructed.
Construction would push a bolt of
excitement through the entire sport, as horsemen have been
waiting for years for a larger oval.
“It would change the style of racing”
said harness horse trainer Liz Hennessy. “Drivers would race
more balls to the wall. With not as many tight turns, you'll
go faster miles.”
A new $80-million racing facility near
the Calgary airport is reportedly still on schedule to be
open in spring 2007. (Courtesy of the Edmonton Sun)
CLARK GETS 5,000: Veteran driver
Keith Clark achieved a career milestone Oct. 26 at Stampede
Park, notching win 5,000 of his illustrious career.
The 52-year-old, who has raced at
Fraser Downs, got the win aboard four-year-old pacer Best Of
The Lot in the program’s sixth race in 1:59.4. Clark posted
win number 4,999 in the night’s first race aboard Hillbilly
Highway.
Clark, who has been a dominant force in
Western Canada for many years, won the O’Brien Award Of
Horsemanship last season.
In addition to his driving prowess, he
also has 2,821 career training wins to his credit. Lifetime,
he has driven the winners of $22,712,692 in purses.
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