BC Racebook Newsletter - June 28, 2023
FLYOVER CANADA JOINS CANADA DAY CELEBRATIONS
WITH INCREDIBLE GIVEAWAYS
AT HASTINGS RACECOURSE
By Greg Douglas – Dr. Sport
Celebrating its 10th anniversary this past week, FlyOver Canada with its sky-high adventure ride is referred to as ‘The Gift of Flight’. And when you think about it, the gift of flight can also be applied to the thoroughbreds at Hastings Racecourse as they propel into dauntless journeys of their own with each and every race.
Fans will get a taste of both on Saturday, July 1 when FlyOver Canada joins the Canada Day Celebrations at Hastings Racecourse featuring two $50,000 Stakes on a stellar seven-race card including a Guaranteed $20,000 Pick 4.
Talk about a party: FlyOver Canada’s flight for two over our country’s most spectacular scenery; BC Racebook’s draw for a group of four-to-six to enjoy a day at the races seated in the new VIP Box, including a $100 voucher; the return of the popular Best Dressed Canada Day competition and the Anderson family’s 2023 Groom Appreciation Day hosted by trainer Barbara Anderson-Heads.
The draws will require fans filling out a ballot at the BC Racebook Tent on the tarmac with the lucky winners being announced following Race 6.
CLOCKER’S CORNER
A solid gathering of early-rising racing fans and hopefully potential investors enjoyed the return of Clocker’s Corner Saturday at Hastings Racecourse. With the combined efforts of trainers, riders and backstretch crews, the on-track morning workouts were the centre of attention with track announcer Dan Jukich and head clocker Lisa Russell keeping onlookers informed of the ongoing activity.
It was a combined effort by Hastings Racecourse, BC Racebook, Hastings Racing Club and the HBPA-BC. Organizer Denise Praill is already in the throes of staging a repeat performance next month.
Ryan McCartney, Director of Operations at Hastings, was mingling in the grandstand area during Clocker’s Corner and related the story about his recent managerial visit to Dawson Creek’s Chances Casino on behalf of Great Canadian Entertainment. McCartney’s audience of owner/trainer David Milburn, Hastings Racing Secretary Scott Henson and BC Racebook COO Matthew Ruhlman listened intently as he shared the emotional story about the voluntary efforts from the casino staff providing more than 250 meals to Dawson Creek fire victims at a nearby townhall.
When someone asked if the local media picked up on the item, McCartney related: “We didn’t do it for that reason. Our only concern was helping out the community.” Kudos to you, Ryan, and the Chances Casino team.
TV TRIBUTE TO RALPH BOWER
The horse racing fraternity was all abuzz over the appearance last week of legendary photographer Ralph Bower on Global TV’s ‘This is BC’ show with host Jay Durant. Bower has been a mainstay at Hastings dating back to when his career began at the Vancouver Sun in 1955.
Celebrating his 89th birthday two weeks ago, Bower still frequents his familiar perch in the Hastings Racecourse press box, where the entire room is filled with photos of historic racing moments from the Bower library.
BAILEY ON THE BACKSTRETCH
by Bailey Williams
Canada Day weekend at Hastings features some of the top horses competing in multiple Stakes action over Saturday and Sunday. Among nine 3-year-old fillies nominated for Sunday’s Supernatural is champion filly Air Force with an impressive record that speaks for itself.
There is a story behind the man who helps educate Air Force on a daily basis and that would be veteran exercise rider, Jock’s Room Custodian & Paddock Judge Donald (Corky) Russell. He is no stranger to galloping top equine athletes. In 1984 at the age of 14, Corky was honing his craft on a farm off 248th Avenue in Langley with the guidance of ex-jockey Garth Carter. “I knew if I saw the bus pulling up and I was still on a horse I was going to be late for school that day,” Corky says with a smirk.
After graduating from high school, he gave it ‘the old college try’ and managed two weeks in an accounting class before the track called him back full time. At just 19, Corky began a long-standing working relationship with trainer Cindy Krasner. From her one-horse stable to years of success, the team has developed many Stakes winners. None of them, though, has stood out quite like Artic Son. “He was quite tough to get out and really didn’t like horses around him,” Russell recalls.
Horse of the Year in 1998, Arctic Son went on to set the track record at Hastings for the distance of a mile and an eighth the following year, a record we likely will not see matched or broken anytime soon.
Between breaking babies throughout the fall season and 39 years of experience around Hastings, it is an understatement to say the number of top horses Corky has ridden is too many to count. With his experience, composure and confidence, he continues to create racing champions.
