Academic, Square Dancer stars of the meet

VANCOUVER, British Columbia – Looking back at the 2015 Hastings meet, which ends Sunday, there were two events that stood out – the formation of the Hastings Racing Club was a huge success, and Academic becoming the first filly to win the Grade 3 British Columbia Derby since 1959.

The Hastings Racing Club, which was formed to encourage horse ownership, cost $250 to join. Managed by Richard Yates, the 200-member club bought two horses, Urban Achiever and Square Dancer. Both were trained by Steve Henson.

A 2-year-old, Urban Achiever didn’t work out, running just once and finishing sixth. On the other hand, Square Dancer will be named the local champion older handicap horse at the annual awards dinner that will be held Dec. 3 at the Newlands Golf and Country Club.

Square Dancer won three races from four starts, including the $100,000 Redekop Classic and the $50,000 S.W. Randall Plate. Square Dancer made it nerve wracking for the 200 members of the club, winning both stakes by a nose. He closed his year with a runner-up finish in the Grade 3, $100,000 Premiers.

“It was better than anyone could have imagined,” Yates said. “Every time Square Dancer ran, the place was packed and the excitement was off the charts. It was a huge success.”

The club will be dissolved Oct. 31 and will be reformed Nov. 1 with 300 members.

Square Dancer also has a good chance of being voted the local horse of the year. But perhaps more deserving is Academic.

Trained by Tim Rycroft, she won the B.C. Derby, despite being pinned down on the rail most of the way. She looked hopelessly beat on the stretch turn, but finished with a rush to nail Bluegrass Angus in the final jump. Bluegrass Angus is no slouch, having won three stakes in a row before his narrow loss in the derby.

The significance of being the first filly in more than 55 years to win the most prestigious race in Western Canada should be enough to give Academic the nod over Square Dancer. She also won the $500,000 Woodbine Oaks and the Grade 3 Canadian Derby at Northlands Park and is in the running to win the Sovereign Award for Horse of the Year in Canada.

Bluegrass Angus, trained by Craig MacPherson, is a cinch to be voted the champion local 3-year-old. He will make his next start in the $100,000 Perryville at Keeneland. The six-furlong Perryville is part of the Breeders’ Cup undercard on Oct. 31.

“He’s settled in well,” MacPherson said from Keeneland. “I plan on giving him a good work [Saturday] morning. We gave him an easy breeze before he left, but it’s time to get serous now. “

Looking toward next season

The dates for next year have been announced, and the meet will begin April 17 and will conclude Oct.16. There are 53 days scheduled.

Going into the final two days of this year’s meet, the all-sources mutuel handle of $28,421,079 has surpassed last year’s total of $25,935,416. The daily average is up by 13.9 percent.

“It has been a good year,” said Glen Todd who is a member of the B.C. Horse Racing Industry Management Committee. “The handle is up, the average horse per race is up, and we gave out an average of $148,257 in purses a day. We are working at having a 10 percent purse increase across the board next year.”

The biggest problem at Hastings is the lack of horses, and one of the measures to help increase the horse population is a an incentive program to run 2- and 3-year-olds.

Buyers who purchase a 2- or 3-year-old at auction in 2015 or 2016 outside of British Columbia and meet the conditions of the incentive program will receive 50 percent of the purchase price up to a maximum of $5,000.

There also are incentive programs for purchasing yearlings, broodmares, and weanlings.

“I think with the incentive programs there is something for everyone,” Todd said. “We also reinstituted the wintering program where horses that made their final start this year at Hastings for $6,250 or less and come back for the same price or less in their first start of 2016 at Hastings will receive $2,000. Horses that run somewhere else between the two meets aren’t eligible.”