Hastings loose ends · 11.12.08
A few bits’n‘pieces of info from the end of the 2008 racing season at “Epsom by the Inlet”:
Party time
My friend Tim sent me these pictures from the Thoroughbred Industry Awards Gala last month:
Nick Felicella, together with his wife Pauline, were inducted into the B.C. Thoroughbred Racing Hall of Fame in the “Owners” category. Owners of top older horse Spaghetti Mouse, they are also the proprietors of popular East Van eatery Nick’s Spaghetti House. “Spaghetti House” / “Spaghetti Mouse” — get it?
Here’s Stephanie Fedora, accepting her award as top apprentice at Hastings for 2008. She finished the season with 40 wins from 347 mounts, seventh in the overall riders’ standings. Considering the media exposure that she’s had this year, Stephanie has the potential to be the new “face” of racing in Vancouver.
Hall of Fame
Retired jockey Chris Loseth and long-time Vancouver Sun racing writer Archie McDonald were both selected for inclusion in the B.C. Sports Hall of Fame earlier this month.
In almost 30 years, Chris Loseth won 3,668 out of over 26,000 races, earned in excess of $32 million in purses, and was the season’s leading jockey at Exhibition/Hastings Park eight times. In addition, he earned a place in the Guinness Book of World Records in 1984 when he won eight of 10 races on a single race card.
Archie McDonald spent 40 years writing about horse racing (and other sports) at the Sun. He was previously recognized with a National Newspaper Award in 1980, as well as two Sovereign Awards for horse racing articles, and in 1990 was inducted into the B.C. Thoroughbred Racing Hall of Fame in the “Builders” category.
Loseth’s and McDonald’s formal induction will take place at the Hall of Fame’s annual Banquet of Champions in May 2009. A great tribute, indeed, but it would be nice to see B.C.-bred equine champions such as Travelling Victor and George Royal included at some point, as well.
Sport of Kings in line for a crown
Tommy Wolski’s Sport of Kings is a finalist for a Sovereign Award in the “Outstanding Film/Video Broadcast” category. It was nominated for the feature on horseman Jim Morgan’s amazing comeback after suffering a heart attack at Hastings last year. For good reason, Morgan calls himself the luckiest man in the world.
Rumour has it…
… that this year’s leading trainer Troy Taylor has moved his operations to Golden Gate Fields in San Francisco for the winter. His is apparently the only major stable from here to make the move. Taylor is responsible for those racers owned by Glen Todd and Patrick Kinsella, including prominent locals Holy Nova and Texas Wildcatter — if either of them are entered in races down there, hopefully we’ll hear about it.
… that in response to purse increases this year and the promise of further improvements to the facilities at Hastings, horsemen from Washington have begun applying for stall space for next season.
Update (1): Spaghetti Mouse (older male) and Against the Sky (older female) lost out to eastern competitors in Sovereign Awards voting — the awards were handed out last night. Sport of Kings also fell short, losing out to the entry from Alberta.
Update (2): The Todd/Kinsella/Taylor operations are currently divided between Oregon and California. Chianti Dancer and Deputy Allstar are based at Portland Meadows. Meanwhile, Hastings regulars Texas Wildcatter, Winter Warning, Summer Song and Shintaro will be at Santa Anita when racing resumes there on Dec. 26.
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Next season the name to watch out for, as all the gate assistant starters were a buzz about :Natalie SIHOTA.
— Dr. TImothy Yatcak · Dec 14, 09:51 PM · #
It was nice to see the BC horses get to the finals but without a cross country win, the larger audience in the East assured their loss. I was happy to see Fatal Bullet get horse of the year: that was my vote as well.
— Dr. TImothy Yatcak · Dec 15, 09:56 AM · #
I will show you the DVD of the Alberta show the Ky Alta stakes (which now has won two years running) and there is just no comparison. The edits are crisp, the exposures perfect and the supporting information is great.
— Dr. Timothy Yatcak · Dec 17, 02:25 PM · #