BC Derby Day · 25.09.08
All of last week and into the weekend, The Wife and I were keeping a close watch on the weather reports. We were looking forward to a family day at Hastings on Sunday, BC Derby Day, the last day of summer — but we didn’t want to go in a downpour.
Through the week the forecasts ranged from “clouds, sun, 10% chance of showers” to “cloudy, 90% chance of showers”. Sunday morning was overcast, but still dry — patches of blue sky could be seen here and there — and the Weather Network forecast for the afternoon had improved to “sun, cloudy periods, 10% chance of showers”. So we quickly packed a lunch, grabbed our jackets, bundled The Daughter into her car seat, and headed out.
By the time we arrived at Hastings the sun had come out, but it stayed cool through the afternoon. By the picnic area near the head of the stretch was a bouncy castle, and there was face-painting for the kids, which our daughter took full advantage of.
I took a walk through the newly-renovated main entrance, racebook, and casino — everything looked bright and shiny-new, and most slot-machines were occupied. The grounds weren’t as crowded as they were on BC Cup Day — the uncertain weather likely kept a lot of potential spectators and bettors at home — but there were enough people present to produce a buzz of excitement.
From the grandstand I looked across the track to the infield, where the gardens had been cleaned up and a wooden walkway constructed around the pond and marsh. From that distance at least, it looked consistent with the Hastings Conservancy’s original vision of restoring as much of Hastings Park as possible to a natural state.
Oh yes, the racing. Overall the quality of the races was first-rate — better than last year’s Derby Day, anyway, which if memory serves offered a lot of maiden claimers on the undercard. In addition to the Derby there were three other stakes races: the Sir Winston Churchill Handicap, the Derby Bar and Grill Express Stakes, and the Derby Consolation Stakes, all worth $50,000-added.
In the 1 1/8-mile Churchill the two favourites, Fuhrever Dancing and Winter Warning, stalked pacesetter Seminole Brave for almost a mile before taking over on the far turn. In the end Fuhrever Dancing prevailed in a drive by 3/4 of a length over Winter Warning.
The 6-furlong Express featured B R Remark, and considering the early speed in the race — in the form of And All That Jazz, Flamethrowintexan, and Bank Emblem — it looked possible that he might break his recently-established track record for the distance. I was able to snap some pictures at the starting gate:
Former B.C. juvenile champion Ookashada, with leading rider Mario Gutierrez up, approaches the gate.
Bank Emblem (6), ridden by Francisco Fuentes, and B R Remark (3), Keveh Nicholls up, prepare to load.
“There they go!” A fair start for all the horses. I’m glad to report that there were no gate issues in any of the races — the crew did a great job to ensure that all had a fair shot coming out of the gate.
As expected, And All That Jazz set a torrid early pace (21.46 for 1/4 mile, 44.22 for 1/2 mile), but he had nothing left for the finish and finished third. Bank Emblem took over in the stretch after stalking the pace, but was himself caught at the wire by B R Remark, whose winning time of 1:10.39 was almost a second off his record.
The Derby Consolation saw a substantial upset. Kwik made like Silky Sullivan, trailing through the first half-mile before rallying, running five-wide on the final turn and going on to win handily by almost four lengths over pre-race favourite Saratoga Avenue. Long-shot winner Kwik paid $42.60 to his perceptive backers.
The highlight of the afternoon was, of course, the 63rd running of the British Columbia Derby. Krazy Koffee, winner of the Derby Trial as well as the BC Cup Stellar’s Jay in August, was the lone BC-bred in the field, and was the second choice in the betting as well as among most of the local handicappers.
Krazy Koffee’s main rival was Texas Wildcatter. A chronic under-achiever, he was nevertheless installed as the morning-line favourite and retained that status through the afternoon. He and Krazy Koffee figured to come from off the pace.
The early speed belonged to Wink at the Girls, Ontario invader Dancingall Theway, and Fear No Evil, and it was the latter who set the pace over the first 6 furlongs, with Wink at the Girls pressing. As I expected, Fear No Evil burned himself out and stopped badly, eventually finishing last. But Wink at the Girls kept going, and even gained the lead at the head of the stretch. Texas Wildcatter had steadily made up ground through the race, but Krazy Koffee closed with a rush around the far turn.
We had debated how to bet prior to the race. We all liked “Koffee”, but I suspected Texas Wildcatter might be due, and my analysis of prior pace figures indicated that 12-1 shot Papa Time also had a legitimate chance. In the end, we got a bit cute, betting Papa Time to win and putting the other two in an exacta box. In the end, Papa Time could only manage a mild rally to finish fifth; Krazy Koffee got up to win by a length; and Wink at the Girls lasted just long enough to finish ahead of Texas Wildcatter and spoil our exacta.
The winnah! Photo courtesy of Dr. Tim Yatcak.
By the end of the Derby the rain clouds were gathering again, and we booted it out of Hastings just as the first drops started falling. We collected on three winners — Commodore Craig in the second race, Fuhrever Dancing, and B R Remark — but lost money overall. But no worries — winning or losing, a day at the track beats just about anything else on the last day of summer.
Update: The Province’s Kent Gilchrist wrote up Krazy Koffee’s Derby win on Monday (he had also previewed the race, focussing on Wink at the Girls, on Friday). Meanwhile, The Sun, after allowing Lyndon Little to preview the Derby on Saturday, stuck the results under “In Brief”. The “Seriously Westcoast” newspaper still doesn’t take Hastings seriously.
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At the gate, all loaded well and THAT aspect of the day was fair to all participants. As usual, the gate crew (the under-appreciated aspect of the race track) did a great job in making all have an equal shot.
— Dr. Timothy Yatcak · Sep 25, 09:16 AM · #