Calgary Caper, Absolutely Stylish give Hall one-two punch in B.C. Cup Classic

VANCOUVER, British Columbia – Leading trainer Phil Hall is well situated to have a huge B.C. Cup Day on Monday at Hastings. He has at least one horse entered in each of the six $50,000 stakes that make up the bulk of the nine-race card, which begins at 1:50 p.m. Pacific.

The Hall-trained Calgary Caper figures to be favored in the $50,000 British Columbia Cup Classic Handicap, which drew 10 horses and goes as race 8. He also has the likely favorite in the Sir Winston Churchill Derby Trial, Apalachee Bay, and he sends out Billie as clearly the one to beat in the Debutante.

“I always look forward to B. C. Cup Day,” said Hall from Del Mar Thursday morning after he had just finished entering Summerland in the Grade 2, $200,000 Sorrento. “It’s one of the biggest days of the year and it is nice to have so many live horses entered.”

Calgary Caper seems to back to the form that saw him win the 1 1/8-mile Classic in 2016. In his last start, he rallied from well back to win the $50,000 Lieutenant Governors’ here on July 15. He was ridden by Sahin Civaci.

“Sahin gave him a great ride,” said Hall. “I thought for sure he was going to get stopped at the quarter pole, but he somehow found a way through. Calgary Caper is an old war horse and he’s really been training well.”

The 7-year-old son of El Corredor will break from post 4 with Civaci retaining the mount.

Calgary Caper should have an honest pace to work with, and one of the horses likely to be involved early is the Hall-trained Absolutely Stylish, who will break from the rail with Enrique Gonzalez riding. In his only start at Hastings he finished second to Hansen’s Victory, also entered in the Classic, in an allowance race for nonwinners of three on July 15. The 92 Beyer Speed Figure Absolutely Stylish received for his win in a one-mile maiden special weight race at Santa Anita last year is the best in the field.

“He seemed a little lost running on a bullring for the first time” said Hall, referring to Absolutely Stylish’s Hastings race. “He seems to have improved since then and I think he’s going to run a big race.”

Highway Boss, trained by Glen Todd, made a strong move into a fast pace before coming up empty in the stretch in the Lieutenant Governors’. He ran a similar race last year’s Classic prior to romping in the $50,000 S. W. Randall Plate.

The John Snow-trained Crazy Prophet has a 2-2-0 record from 4 starts at the distance and will appreciate being back at Hastings after finishing last at Pleasanton in a $62,500 optional claiming race with second-level allowance conditions on July 1. That was his first start of the year.

There is a $25,000 guaranteed pool Monday for the late pick four, which begins on race 6.