BC Cup Day · 7.08.08

This past Monday was the BC Day holiday, which meant that at Hastings was the BC Cup, the biggest single day of the local racing season. The card was chock-full with eleven races, eight of which were part of the BC Cup programme.

The highlight of the day for the estimated 10,000-strong crowd was perhaps Spaghetti Mouse’s thrilling victory in the BC Cup Classic. The popular local champion held off the charging Texas Wildcatter by a neck.

The big mare Against the Sky followed up her win in the first race of the Marathon Series in the BC Cup Endurance, catching Lord Vic on the final turn and winning easily. As a starter handicap the Endurance was not officially counted as part of the BC Cup programme, but I will include it as part of my ongoing campaign to highlight stayers and stayers’ races. My one problem with the race is that it was only 1 3/8 miles — surely Hastings could have added another half-lap or so to make it a true distance contest?

Of the other BC Cup races, And All That Jazz scored the biggest surprise of the day by winning the Sprint (3yo &up); El Sinaloense won the Nursery (2yo c/g); P.S. Good N Ready captured the Debutante (2yo f); Alpine Garden won the Distaff (3yo &up f/m), in a mild upset over late-charging Lady Raj; Remarkable Miss scored in the Dogwood (3yo f); and Krazy Koffee won the Stellar’s Jay (3yo c/g).

For me it was a family day, with the Wife, the Daughter, and my nephew and sister-in-law. The latter two had never been to the races before, and my sister-in-law had never even visited a casino — let’s just say she was excited when she picked a couple of winners. The Daughter got a pony ride, a turn in the “bouncy castle”, and chance to feed carrots to the stable ponies. The Wife scored the biggest win of the day in the last race, when she looked at the field of claimers, thought the name Rx Registrar was kinda neat, and convinced me to put two “toonies” on its nose. The 5yo gelding won driving by a neck, paying $36.60 on that $4 bet.

Just like the last time I was at Hastings, there were more young people and families present than I remember in past years. The picnic and family area near the head of the stretch were full of kids and parents. Elsewhere, some young couples looked dressed for a night on the town after the last race. Whatever the Hastings promotions people are doing, it seems to be working — the track may be on its way to becoming the stylish place to be. As it should be — if a day at Hastings isn’t the best sports/entertainment value in town, I don’t know what is.

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What do you think?

  1. Part of the success of that day is the PROMOTION. If race cards were promoted that way day in and day out, the crowds might discover what fun it really is.

    Didn’t I tell you about women’s intuition at the track?????

    — Dr, Timothy Yatcak · Aug 8, 10:12 AM · #

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