Be Quick puts perfect record on line in three-turn debut

VANCOUVER, British Columbia – Be Quick will try to remain undefeated when he tries a middle distance for the first time in a $30,000 open allowance race for 3-year-olds on Monday at Hastings. The 1 1/16-mile race drew six horses and goes as the second race.

Adding interest to the seven-race card that begins at 5 p.m. Pacific is a $95,428 carryover on the pick five. The Jackpot wager begins on the third race.

Be Quick won his 2-year-old debut in 2020 and has come back with three dominating wins this year.

Trainer Keith Pedersen likes the way Be Quick has been training while leading up to his first try going three turns. In all of his wins, Be Quick was in the mix right from the start. He seemed very relaxed when he breezed five furlongs in 1:04.20 on July 4. Antonio Reyes, his rider in his three starts this year, was aboard for the work.

“It was a perfect Antonio move,” Pedersen said. “He can put a horse to sleep, and I loved the way he [Be Quick] galloped out in 12 seconds flat. He is by Bodemeister out of a Fusaichi Pegasus mare, so he I don’t think he’ll have any trouble stretching out. Corky said he has been a lot more relaxed when he’s galloping, too.”

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Pedersen was referring to exercise rider Corky Russell.

With no British Columbia Derby at Hastings this year, the main goal for the Kentucky-bred colt is the Grade 3, $150,000 Canadian Derby on Sept. 11 at Century Mile.

“If all goes well, we’ll bring him back in the Sales Stakes here [Aug. 2 or 3] and then head to Century,” Pedersen said. “The timing works out well because I would like him to be fresh for the derby.”

Monday he will break from post 2 under Reyes.

If there is going to be an upset it could come from Smart Lad. The Kentucky-bred son of Kitten’s Joy is a maiden, but with just one start, he has plenty of upside and the pedigree to handle a middle distance.

Adding to his appeal is the 19 percent strike rate and $2.51 ROI his trainer, Mark Cloutier, has with horses going a mile or longer the first time.

◗ Tuesday features a couple of open allowance races for older horses going 1 1/16 miles.

Trainer Glen Todd is hoping Five Star General will take a positive step toward the Grade 3 Longacres Mile, which will be held Aug. 15 at Emerald Downs. Five Star General finished second in the Mile last year.

Trainer Barbara Heads has a good chance of winning the fillies and mares race with Infinite Patience and Solarity.

Todd trains the other two horses in the field, Miss Prospector and Princess of Cairo.

◗ Heads’s mother, June Anderson, passed away in her sleep last week. Anderson was the matriarch of the Anderson family that included husband Robert G. “Cy” Anderson, who was a Hall of Fame trainer in British Columbia.

Son Robbie Anderson is a successful trainer at Hastings, with notable wins in the Longacres Mile and British Columbia Derby with Travelling Victor. The youngest son, Mike Anderson, was the leading trainer at Hastings in 2015 and 2016. Heads is a member of the British Columbia Horse Racing Hall of Fame.

“Everyone loved her and in retirement June was a fixture at the track, telling endless stories, and she had plenty of them from over 60 years of racing,” said Mike Heads, Barbara’s husband. “It was nice that she went to sleep and died peacefully.”