BC Racebook Newsletter - September 6, 2022
IT’S FRASER DOWNS FALL SEASON OPENING WEEK !
BUSY TIMES IN THE RACING INDUSTRY
WITH KEY EVENTS ON ALL FRONTS
By Greg Douglas – Dr. Sport
Labour Day Monday was aptly named for various folks behind the scenes in the horse racing industry. It was, indeed, a day of labour.
Be it thoroughbreds or standardbreds, it was prep time for this week’s return of the pacers to Fraser Downs in Surrey, the annual CTHS-BC Yearling & Mixed Sale in Langley and the resumption of BC Derby Day at Hastings Racecourse in Vancouver.
Let’s begin with Fraser Downs at Elements Casino: the 72-date schedule of the 2022 standardbred season was broken into two segments: 44 race days between January and June, a two-month break during July and August and now a restart that runs September thru mid-December.
The official opening for what is being labelled ‘Fall Season 2022’ is upon us as part of a major kick-off this week on Wednesday and Thursday with post times set for 7 p.m. (Details are included in this edition of the BC Racebook Newsletter).
Interestingly, those are the exact same dates of this year’s thoroughbred Yearling & Mixed Sale at Thunderbird Show Park in Langley: the traditional Parade of BC-breds catalogued for auction is set for Wednesday, with the actual Sale getting underway the next day.
Dan Jukich: Voice of the Races
“With the two-day event of the CTHS Yearling Sale scheduled to start at 3 p.m. and the return of the standardbreds with 7 o’clock first races, serious horse racing fans can get a taste of both,” says Hall of Fame track announcer Dan Jukich.
Inducted into the BC Sports Hall of Fame Class of 2019, Jukich knows all about bouncing from post to post, if you’ll pardon the pun. His calling of the standardbred races began at Cloverdale Raceway (now Fraser Downs) in 1978 and in 1990 he took on the same full-time duties with the thoroughbreds at Hastings, working the two broadcast booths year-round.
Nothing has changed. The man affectionately referred to as simply ‘Juke’ at both tracks for all those years will be performing his double-duty trick again this week calling the races at Fraser Downs Wednesday and Thursday, then moving to his waiting headset and microphone at Hastings Racecourse Saturday and Sunday.
It’s a routine that will continue through the months of September and October where the schedules at both tracks have masterfully managed to avoid conflicting race dates.
Typically, Jukich will be at the top of his game when the 75th running of the Grade 3 British Columbia Derby for three-year-olds is the highlight of BC Derby & Oaks Day at Hastings Racecourse on Saturday, September 10.
It is unquestionably the richest and most celebrated event of the thoroughbred season and has been that way for owners, breeders, trainers and jockeys dating back to the mid- 1940’s at Lansdowne Park in Richmond.
While the $125,000 BC Derby will be the feature attraction Saturday, three other traditional major Stakes are on the card: the $75,000 BC Oaks for 3-year-old fillies as well as the $50,000 S.W. Randall Plate for 3-year-olds & up and the $50,000 Delta Colleen for 3-year-old & up fillies and mares.
All of these events – the CTHS-BC Yearling & Mixed Sale, the re-start of the standardbred season at Fraser Downs and BC Derby & Oaks Day at Hastings – involve intense planning and long hours of preparation by the hale and hearty group behind the curtain in the racing industry.
They deserve a winner’s circle of their own.
BC Derby Is Back This Weekend!
Susan & Robbie Anderson’s Regal Riot owned by Kim Peacock and Lance Giesbrecht
BAILEY ON THE BACKSTRETCH
By Bailey Williams
The fascinators, fedoras and fashion, the crowd and cheers … it’s the return of BC Derby Day set for Saturday, September 10, 2022 at Hastings Racecourse.
After an absence the previous two racing seasons due to COVID-19, this year’s $125,000 BC Derby is back on track promising an assured competitive field with strong local ties among the 14 current nominees.
The father and son team of trainer Steve Henson and assistant trainer Robbie have three Willow Creek Farms’ nominations and remain optimistic about the positive improvement of Century Mile ship-in Countrified.
Then there is the husband & wife combo of Dave and Sylvea Gregory, local owners and breeders of Soaringforthesun. He was victorious in his last outing at Hastings capturing the Sir Winston Churchill prior to his most recent effort in the Grade 3 Canadian Derby, a sixth-place finish in a field of 12.
Expected to be one of the top morning line choices is Regal Riot, bred by Susan Anderson and trained by husband Robbie Anderson, a veteran campaigner. Looking for his second BC Derby victory (Travelling Victor, 1982), Robbie knows the bloodlines of Regal Riot, son of Jersey Town. Not only did he have multiple stakes victories with the dam, Regal Red, but the same rang true with grand-dam Sophie J. Both had their best racing years as 3-year-olds and the pattern continues with Regal Riot.
Being able to take part in such a historic and incredible race like the BC Derby is a victory in itself. Winning as a homebred is like winning with home field advantage.
