Hastings opens what it hopes will be a 50-day meet
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VANCOUVER, British Columbia – The 2021 live meet at Hastings begins Monday, but the question in everyone’s mind involved in the local industry is: When will it end?
There have been 50 days scheduled, with the meet to end on Oct. 25. But there is only enough purse money to carry the meet through 25 days, until Aug. 2.
“We are trying everything we can to get the extra money,” said Glen Todd, who is the Thoroughbred representative on the British Columbia Horse Racing Management Committee.
“Hopefully, the government will help us out,” Todd said.
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The majority of the purse money in British Columbia for both Thoroughbreds and Standardbreds is generated by slots at Hastings and Elements Casino, which is located at Fraser Downs, the Standardbred track in Surrey.
Due to the coronavirus pandemic, the casinos have been closed since early last year. Even if they were to open soon, there would still not be enough money to fund the purses at Hastings beyond Aug. 2.
Management at Hastings is hoping for a strong opening as the only Thoroughbred track operating in Canada right now. Due to a surge in COVID-19 in Ontario, Woodbine’s meet has been put on hold. It is uncertain when Century Mile will open in Alberta, but there is some hope it will be running by the end of May. Assiniboia Downs in Winnipeg is slated to start May 17.
Hastings will race only on Monday for the first two weeks of the meet, and will add Tuesdays to the schedule on May 18. Post time is 5 p.m.
No fans will be allowed for now. Patrons at home can enjoy the digital signal from the track.
There are just four stakes during the meet, and they will be held on Aug. 2. All four are CTHS Sales Stakes and each is worth $50,000. The two races for juveniles will be contested at 6 1/2 furlongs. The races for 3-year-olds and up are at 1 1/16 miles.
There are seven races on the opening-day card. Porter Gent could be a handful in the opening-day feature, a six-furlong allowance dash for 3-year-olds and up who have never won two races, or British Columbia-bred nonwinners of three.
Trained by Christine Ammann, Porter Gent has not finished worse than second in his six starts. Following back-to-back wins sprinting in his first two starts of 2020, he closed his 3-year-old campaign with a runner-up finish going 1 1/16 miles in the $50,000 Sir Winston Churchill.
Porter Gent will break from post 4 in the seven-horse field with Amadeo Perez riding.
Ammann, who had a breakout meet in 2020 with 16 wins from 50 starters, likes the way Porter Gent is training. She also is realistic about having the same kind of success she had last year.
“Porter Gent is training very well, so I expect him to run a big race,” she said. “I have pretty much the same horses I had last year, plus a lot of 2-year-olds. They are all doing well, but they don’t have the same conditions, which will make it harder to win races.”
Ammann finished third in the trainer standings last year behind Glen Todd and Mark Cloutier, who tied for first.
Todd will be represented in Monday’s feature by Prince Cairo. A 3-year-old son of Cairo Prince, Prince Cairo is coming off a win in a $30,000 optional maiden-claiming race on March 18 at Turf Paradise.