3-year-olds get distance test in pair of $50,000 stakes

VANCOUVER, British Columbia – There are four $50,000 stakes races on Wednesday at Hastings, and the two races for 3-year-olds, the Chris Loseth Handicap for both sexes and the Supernaturel Handicap for 3-year-old fillies, are the most compelling races on the nine-race card, which begins at 1:50 p.m. Pacific.

The 1 1/16-mile races are the first middle-distance stakes for their respective divisions and should help identify which horses could be serious contenders in the Grade 3, $250,000 British Columbia Derby and the $100,000 British Columbia Oaks. Both races will be held on Sept. 13.

Bluegrass Angus and Catz On Fire look like the main players in the Loseth, which drew 12 horses.

Bluegrass Angus is clearly the fastest horse in the field, but he will be navigating three turns for the first time.

Trained by Craig MacPherson, Bluegrass Angus earned an 87 Beyer Speed Figure when he blew away his opponents going 6 1/2 furlongs in the $50,000 River Rock Casino on June 6. If he can come close to posting a similar number Wednesday, he’s the winner.

That could be difficult because he drew the outside post, where it won’t be easy for jockey Richard Hamel to avoid getting hung out on the first turn.

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Catz On Fire is the only horse in the field that has gone a middle distance, and he was a convincing winner in both such races. Racing for trainer Tim McCanna, he romped by 7 1/2 lengths in his first route attempt, which came in a one-mile $25,000 maiden-claiming race on Oct. 12 at Fresno. In his second start this year, he was an easy 3 1/4-length winner going 1 1/16 miles in a $40,000 starter race on March 26 at Golden Gate Fields.

His next two starts were at Hastings, where he finished third in the Jim Coleman Province on May 3 and second in a first-level allowance sprint on May 24.

Trainer Barbara Heads is looking forward to stretching out Catz On Fire on Monday.

“He’s training great right now, and he really wants to go long,” she said. “He ran well in both of his races here, but he just needed a bit more distance.”

Another possibility is Crius. Trained by Mike Anderson, he is undefeated in two starts and is a full brother to route stakes winner Arabella’s Muse, who will be favored to win the $50,000 Monashee Handicap, which goes as race 8. Both of Crius’s starts came going 6 1/2 furlongs.

DRF FORMULATOR FACT: Over the past five years Anderson has a 42 percent strike rate with horses going a mile or longer for the first time.

Majestic Presence the one to beat

Majestic Presence was good enough to finish within three lengths of eventual champion 2-year-old filly Take Charge Brandi in the Grade 1 Starlet at Los Alamitos and is obviously the horse to beat in the Supernaturel.

She could be vulnerable, however. She hasn’t raced since she finished second in an $80,000 optional-claiming race on April 17 at Santa Anita, and she has had only two works since. The first was April 25 at Santa Anita, and the latest was a slow five-furlong move in 1:03.80 on June 24 at Hastings. She will also be packing high weight of 123 pounds.

Majestic Presence was trained in California by Jerry Hollendorfer and will be making her first start for trainer Troy Taylor.

“I don’t know much about her, but she seems fit enough,” said Taylor.

David Lopez rides Majestic Presence.