BC Racebook Newsletter - August 29, 2023
BAILEY ON THE BACKSTRETCH
By Bailey Williams
B-J Davidson, CTHS-BC Regional General Manager, has been one busy individual this past week.
Her schedule was thrown completely off course with the Monday, August 21 cancellation of racing at Hastings Racecourse due to inadequate air quality. That was the date of this year’s four $50,000 CTHS Stakes. They have been rescheduled for Monday, August 28 as part of a 10-race card that will have a 5:45 p.m. start time during the final dark day of the annual PNE Fair.
The very next day the annual CTHS-BC Yearling & Mixed Sale Preview Parade goes at 3 p.m. with the actual Sale set for Wednesday, August 30 at Thunderbird Show Park in Langley.
There have been many current noteworthy horses that have been graduates of the Yearling Sale that have gone on to be successful not only at Hastings but graded stakes in other jurisdictions. Infinite Patience and Architecture come to mind. Architecture has had six foals with five of them all having broken their maidens, including the three-year-old filly of the year U Did It and two-year-old of the year for 2022 Legacy Square.
These are exciting times for the CTHS-BC, as hectic as things are for the Regional General Manager.
BC DERBY DAY SALUTES HOCKEY LEGENDS FROM HISTORIC ERA OF FATHER DAVID BAUER
By Greg Douglas – Dr. Sport
There is no question the $125,000 BC Derby on Saturday, September 16 will be the premier event of the 2023 Hastings Racecourse season. It’s been that way in local thoroughbred racing circles dating back to the post-WWII years.
This 76th edition of British Columbia’s very own ‘Run for the Roses’ for 3-year-olds going 1 1/8 miles just keeps taking on added glamour.
For the first time in Canadian thoroughbred racing history, the BC Derby will be billed as the third and final jewel of what we now know as the Western Canadian Triple Crown.
The new concept was introduced in early May of this year connecting the $125,000 Manitoba Derby August 7 at Assiniboia Downs, the $200,000 Canadian Derby at Century Mile August 26 in Alberta and the $125,000 BC Derby at Hastings on its traditional mid-September date.
Not that BC Derby Day this year needed more energy sprinkled into the mix when along came Rick Noonan, former owner and groom with Tak Inouye at Hastings Racecourse.
Noonan had been actively involved in Canada’s original national hockey team as trainer from 1967 thru 1970 and manager of the 1980 Olympic team under the legendary Father David Bauer who passed away in November 1988.
Father Bauer was the brainchild of the national team that represented Canada at the 1964 Winter Olympics held in Innsbruck, Austria, the first time in Canadian Olympic hockey history that our nation was represented by amateur players whose mandate was combining education and hockey.
Noonan, inducted into the UBC Sports Hall of Fame in 2012, and Ronnie Paterson, former Team Canada goaltender and member of the BC Hockey Hall of Fame, are organizing what they expect will be the final Father David Bauer Team Reunion Sept. 14-18 in Vancouver.
With BC Derby Day on Saturday, September 16, Noonan was thrilled to be able to include Hastings Racecourse as one of the key attractions of the 2023 Reunion agenda.
Former players from all the years of Father Bauer’s national teams will be arriving from across Canada to be part of the 2023 BC Derby festivities. Original 1964 team members will include Roger Bourbonnais, Marshall Johnston, Terry O’Malley, Paul Conlin and Barry MacKenzie.
Team Canada players from the 1980 Olympics at Lake Placid, NY, will be represented by Doug Buchanan, Tim Watters, Brad Pine, O’Malley, Don Spring and Stelio Zupancich. Others from all the years of the national team program will include brothers Herb and Gerry Pinder, Jim Irving, Grant Moore, Harvey Schmidt, Wayne Freitag, Steve Carlyle, Wally Kozak, Morris Mott and Paterson.
“Age, health and passings have reduced our numbers greatly,” Noonan says. “This will probably be the last time we all gather together. Father Bauer will be represented by one of his nieces, Maureen McGahey and Carl Brewer from the 1967 Centennial Cup champions will be represented by his daughter Annalisa. Everyone is super excited about being part of BC Derby Day. We can’t thank Hastings Racecourse management enough for all they’ve done to make this happen.”
2023 WESTERN CANADIAN
TRIPLE CROWN - BC Derby on Saturday, September 16
Watch HD Live on YouTube
Lupul Joins BC Racebook Staff
With Hastings Racecourse having rounded the turn for its stretch run to the completion of the 2023 thoroughbred campaign, a major addition to the BC racing scene becomes official with the appointment of Dawn Lupul as Manager of Racing and Communications effective Monday, August 28.
"We are thrilled to have Dawn join the team," said Matthew Ruhlman, Chief Operating Officer of BC Racebook. "She is a highly respected professional in the industry, uniquely talented with both breeds and we are excited to bring her fresh perspective to BC as we continue to grow the business."
Lupul will be overseeing numerous key elements of the live racing operations at both Hastings Racecourse and Fraser Downs when the standardbred season opens Sept. 14 with a revamped broadcast in High Definition.
"I am beyond excited for the challenges this new role brings," stated Lupul. "It is an opportunity to use every facet of my career to help promote the long and storied history of horse racing in BC."
Born in Edmonton, her career includes decades of experience as an owner, breeder and trainer in both thoroughbred and standardbred racing that led to becoming a respected analyst and broadcaster. Dawn was the voice of Woodbine's simulcast broadcasting for 10 years and has appeared in many network television specials, including having been invited to call races at Ascot Racecourse in Perth, Australia.
In her role with BC Racebook, Lupul will apply her vast experience in corporate communications and stakeholder relations in promoting and showcasing live racing at Hastings and Fraser Downs to help elevate both brands.
Hastings Racecourse hosts the third leg of the Western Canadian Triple Crown on Sept. 16 with the $125,000 BC Derby. It follows the $125,000 Manitoba Derby at Assiniboia Downs (August 7) and $200,000 Canadian Derby at Century Mile in Edmonton (August 26).
-BloodHorse, August 18, 2023