Hastings opens 2025 meet with shrinking horse population, new challenges
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With mountains, water, and shimmering glass towers, Vancouver, British Columbia, can rightfully lay claim to being one of North America’s prettiest cities. But as country musician Kelsea Ballerini aptly observed, even the homecoming queen cries.
Hastings Racecourse, which opens its 45-date meet Saturday, occupies an idyllic plot of land near Vancouver’s Burrard Inlet. With free admission, an on-site casino, and fun promotions like wiener dog days, it’s a nice place to spend some time, grab a beverage, and lay a few loonies on the line.
But as with its south-of-the-border neighbor, Emerald Downs, the ontrack competition at Hastings is modest and the challenges manifold.
“Each year, we’ve lost some horses, and each year, there’s a new challenge,” Hastings racing secretary Scott Henson said. “I enjoy the challenge. It’s a new puzzle to put together every week, but we’re getting close to bare bottoms to run the 45-day meet we plan to run. It’s probably harder to put together a card for a 300-horse backstretch than a 1,400-horse backstretch. We’re kind of at a point where it’s 100 percent buy-in, knowing that we all need to work together to make this work.”
To this end, Henson said “everyone’s complying, doing what’s asked” to run a viable meet. But short of an as-yet-unattained financial infusion from the government, Hastings is a bit strapped for cash. And cash is king, in more ways than one.
“Coming out of COVID, it’s been a lot tougher than we thought. I think we would attract more [horsemen], but the cost of living in B.C. is tough,” Henson said. “Between potential tariffs, the U.S. dollar, and the cost of living in B.C., it’s not much in our favor.”
Hastings will host 28 stakes races across 11 dates this summer, highlighted by the Grade 3, $125,000 British Columbia Derby at 1 1/8 miles on Sept. 13. The $75,000 British Columbia Oaks, run at the same distance, will be contested on the same day, while the British Columbia Cup Classic and British Columbia Cup Distaff, each for a purse of $50,000 and at 1 1/16 miles, will be run on Monday, Aug. 4.
While Hastings is typically family friendly and free to enter, one day of racing that eschews such standards is The Cup, a ticketed event on July 19 for adults age 19 and older that started as three friends celebrating a birthday and has morphed into “a day at the races where old-world elegance meets a debaucherous day party,” according to the event’s website. Easter-egg garb, rivers of booze, cracked heels – a place where party animals are at least as vital as the ones on the track.
Opening day at Hastings coincides, not so coincidentally, with the 151st running of the Kentucky Derby, when tracks around the world pause to watch and wager on the 12th race at Churchill Downs. There are six races carded for Saturday at Hastings, the most intriguing of which is race 5, where five older males – including 7-year-old Finding Ways, 10 for 31 at the track and in his career – will sprint six furlongs for a $12,000 purse.
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