Hastings notes: Perez takes aim at second straight riding title

VANCOUVER, British Columbia – It looks like Amadeo Perez is going to be the leading rider at Hastings for the second straight year when the meet ends Oct. 14, but he won’t be a runaway winner like last year.

In 2012, he won 95 races, 27 more than Fernando Perez, who finished a clear second. This year, the wins have been spread around a lot more, and Perez heads into the final two weekends of racing with 56 wins, just five more than Scott Williams. The difference between Perez and Richard Hamel, seventh in the standings, is just 13 wins.

In terms of depth, this is the best group of riders seen at Hastings in years. Obviously, the addition of Aaron Gryder added considerable talent to the jockeys’ room, but when a jockey as good as Hamel, a two-time leading rider here, is seventh in the standings, there were plenty of options for trainers to choose from this year.

The emergence of Antonio Reyes as a top rider added depth to the field, and at age 53, Frank Fuentes seems to be riding better than ever.

Perez might not have dominated like he did last season, but he is very pleased with how his year has gone.

“It’s been great, and hopefully I can repeat as leading rider, but there is still a lot of racing left,” he said. “I have been able to ride some really nice horses, and winning the Longacres Mile with Herbie D is clearly the highlight of my career.”

Williams made the transition from apprentice to journeyman look easy. Last year, he was based at Northlands Park, and following a successful season, he won the Sovereign Award as the top apprentice rider in Canada.

“I am very happy I decided to ride here this year,” Williams said. “I learned a lot and was given a lot of live mounts. It’s a great group of jockeys, which is good for the public and good for us. You could go out there and give it all you had and feel comfortable with who you were riding with.”

Williams isn’t planning to ride this winter.

“I am going to head back to Alberta and see if I can find work in the oilfields to keep me busy before we come back here next year,” he said.

Arabella’s Muse gets vacation

The sensational 2-year-old filly Arabella’s Muse has been turned out for the year and won’t try to stretch out to 1 1/16 miles in the $75,000 Fantasy Stakes on closing day, Oct. 14. Trainer Toni Cloutier was pointing the homebred filly to the race, but her owners, Leif Nordahl and his daughter, Karen, decided to turn her out for the year.

Arabella’s Muse won her debut by more than 13 lengths and dominated the $100,000 Sadie Diamond Futurity in her only other start.

“She couldn’t be doing any better, but her owners want to give her the winter off and bring her back next year,” Cloutier said.

“At the beginning of the year, we only wanted to start her twice, and she did enough, winning the Futurity,” Leif Nordahl said. “It was very tempting to run her in the Fantasy, but my daughter said no.”

Leif Nordahl has an able replacement for the Fantasy in Bluegrass Miss, who won her debut going 6 1/2 furlongs in a $30,000 optional-claiming maiden race Sept. 7. The Kentucky-bred filly by Bluegrass Cat came back to work an impressive five furlongs in 59.20 seconds Sept. 26.

“She’s a pretty nice filly, too,” Cloutier said of Bluegrass Miss. “That was an awesome work for her, and I think she’ll be fine going long.”

With Arabella’s Muse out, the likely favorite for the race is Ole’s Miss. Trainer Tracy McCarthy has been pointing Ole’s Miss to the Fantasy since she won the $50,000 Boulevard Casino in her second start July 14. The Ontario-bred daughter of Officer showed an impressive turn of foot when she rallied from last to win the Boulevard Casino. McCarthy said she’s confident that the filly is fit enough despite the long layoff. McCarthy is married to retired Canadian Hall of Fame jockey Chris Loseth.

“We haven’t worked her that much, but Chris has been two-minute-licking her a lot, so she’s plenty fit,” McCarthy said. “We’re planning to work her Sunday, and if all goes well, she should be ready to go.”

Ole’s Miss also rallied to finish third going 3 1/2 furlongs in her only other start.

“I think her running style helps her a lot,” McCarthy said. “She’s fast enough, but you can put her wherever you want in a race. With front-runners, you are ultimately going to run into horses that are just as fast. She is multifaceted, and it should serve her well in the long run.”

Barroby taking it easy

Trainer Harold Barroby is in good spirits while recovering at home from an operation to repair a leaky heart valve. Barroby had the operation Aug. 26 and expected to be back at the track a week or two afterward.

“It was supposed to be an easy procedure, but I had a seizure and a minor stroke,” Barroby said. “I’m fine now, but the doctors want me to take it easy, so that’s what I’m doing. I really appreciate all the people at the track that have called to wish me well, and I’m looking forward to being back there next year.”

Barroby, 69, is the all-time leading trainer in wins and stakes wins at Hastings.