Hastings jockey's race comes down to wire

VANCOUVER, British Columbia – Going into the closing weekend at Hastings, Antonio Reyes holds a one-win lead over Richard Hamel in the race for leading jockey. Hamel’s only mount this weekend is in the $100,000 Canadian Juvenile on Sunday at Century Downs, where he will ride the 5-2 morning-line favorite He’s Meant to Be.

Reyes is far from home and cooled out with 54 wins, though. Nipping at his heels are Amadeo Perez with 52 and Enrique Gonzalez at 51.

If he can hold on, it would be the first title for Reyes at Hastings.

Perez led the way last year for his third title. He also was the leading rider in 2009 and 2012.

It would be the second title for Gonzalez, who topped the standings in 2013.

With nine races on Saturday and Sunday, there are plenty of races for Perez and Gonzalez to bypass Reyes.

The trainer’s race was almost over before it started. Phil Hall will claim his third straight title. He has 52 wins as of Friday, which, remarkably, would put him in the race for leading rider if he were a jockey. Next in the standings is Glen Todd with 26.

“It really helps to have the quality of horses I get to train,” Hall said.” I couldn’t have done it without a great team led by my daughter Sara and Brad Cuthbertson.

The annual Thoroughbreds Award dinner will be held Dec. 5 at the Newlands Golf and Country Club, where the big question is whether Infinite Patience or Here’s Hannah will be named local horse of the year.

Infinite Patience went undefeated in five starts, all for trainer Barbara Heads. She never really got turned loose in any of her races by Reyes. As good as Here’s Hannah and Summerland were as 2-year-olds in 2017 and 2018, Infinite Patience was more impressive. For example, Infinite Patience set a stakes record in the $75,000 Fantasy, and the 78 Beyer Speed Figure she received was significantly higher than the 64 Here’s Hannah earned for blowout win in the 1 1/16-mile race. Last year, Summerland was given a 69.

Here’s Hannah, last year’s horse of the year, had just one loss this year and was packing 130 pounds when she lost by a head to Bear going 1 1/8 miles in the $50,000 Delta Colleen.

A daughter of Numaany, Here’s Hannah came back to win the Grade 3 Ballerina. Trained by by John Morrison, Here’s Hannah has compiled a 12-1-1 record from 14 career starts for earnings of $502,350.

Speaking of Numaany, he was brought into the province by Swift Thoroughbreds, which was voted into the British Columbia Horse Racing Hall of Fame. The induction ceremony will take place at the awards winner.

Dancing Allstar, the 2007 Sovereign Award winner for the best 2-year-old filly in Canada, also will be inducted. The British Columbia-bred daughter of Millennium Allstar was trained by Terry Jordan and owned by Bob Cheema. She was bred by Bent Tree Farm.