Chi Chi Time opts for British Columbia Oaks over Derby
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Of the two 3-year-old stakes that will be run at 1 1/8 miles on Saturday at Hastings, only one, the $125,000 British Columbia Derby, has been classified as a Grade 3. But there’s some question as to whether the $75,000 British Columbia Oaks might feature the stronger field.
“Over the course of the season, the boys haven’t been outstanding,” trainer Cindy Krasner said. “I think the fillies’ races have actually been tougher on paper than the boys.”
Among the entrants in Saturday’s co-features, just two – Chi Chi Time and Gee I’m Foxy – have earned Beyer Speed Figures of 80 or higher – and both will run in the Oaks. Chi Chi Time has hit the 80 threshold twice, and she’s won all of her four career starts – three of them stakes – by a combined 28 3/4 lengths.
“Chi Chi Time is outstanding,” said Krasner, whose Oaks contender, Someday Lady, has finished well behind Chi Chi Time in their two showdowns. “She’s just been a freak all year.”
Gee I'm Foxy, winner of five stakes at Assiniboia and Century Mile, is the most accomplished horse in either race. And while the front-running Chi Chi Time should go off heavily favored breaking from the rail in a five-horse Oaks field, the one time she started in post 1, she broke left and almost ran into a tow truck before jockey Kuri Powell corrected course.
Both Krasner and Chi Chi Time’s trainer, Pat Jarvis, cross-nominated their fillies in the Derby, with Jarvis taking until Thursday to declare that Chi Chi Time would run against her kind in the Oaks instead of the Derby. But while the Derby is shy on star power, it has drawn a well-matched field that should offer plenty of betting value.
Among the Derby’s nine male runners is the winner of the Manitoba Derby, Attack, who was elevated to first in that race when Take Charge Tom was disqualified. Attack then finished third to Take Charge Tom in the Canadian Derby, a race in which another BC Derby entrant, Accidental Genius, was second.
Take Charge Tom will not run in the BC Derby, but Rondelito will. Riding a four-race winning streak – three in stakes – Rondelito was ticketed for the Canadian Derby before “a little foot issue” forced trainer Steve Henson to pull him from consideration. Accidental Genius ran second to Rondelito in a pair of stakes on July 5 and Aug. 4 at Hastings, and Rondelito's stablemate, Mount Doom, finished second to him in a June 14 sprint.
Mount Doom was the top 2-year-old at Hastings last year, winning four straight stakes to close his campaign, but questions about his ability to handle two turns seemed to be answered negatively when he ran a distant fourth and fifth in two of Rondelito’s wins at 1 1/16 miles. However, Henson said he decided to give Mount Doom one more “make or break” try at the distance in a sale-restricted stakes on Aug. 25, and he responded by finishing third against older horses, earning a career-best Beyer of 77.
“He still may be a sprinter, but that race showed he can get the distance,” Henson said.
Henson said he thinks the BC Derby is “very evenly matched,” adding, “I think the horse that gets the trip will win the race. Hopefully, one of my two will be in the catbird’s seat.”
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