Kai's Command brings speed to starter series

VANCOUVER, British Columbia – It seems as though every trainer at Hastings is trying to find a horse who is eligible to run in the Champions Starter Series that begins July 13. What makes the series – restricted to horses who have started for an $8,000 claiming price or less in 2014 – so attractive is that the final leg of the four-leg series carries a $50,000 purse.

Nominations close July 1 with a $100 payment, but horses can be supplemented to the series for $200. All four races will be contested over 6 1/2 furlongs, and claimed horses must re-establish eligibility. The final leg will be run Sept. 14 as part of the Grade 3, $150,000 British Columbia Derby card.

Trainer Jody Rawson doesn’t need to shop. She trains and owns half of Kai’s Command, who was an easy winner of a $16,000 claiming race last Sunday. He started the year by winning a $4,000 conditional claiming race April 27 and came right back to beat $8,000 open claimers May 11. He has the perfect style for Hastings. He has speed, and in his second win, he dueled right from the start. In his win last Sunday, he stalked the pace, and after taking control of the race on the stretch turn, he drew off to win by 5 1/2 lengths over Deputy’s Command.

Rawson is very excited about Kai’s Command running in the series and is hoping to find a way to keep him on top of his game for the next five weeks.

“I’ll probably just train him into the first race,” said Rawson. “He would have to run for $25,000 or higher, and I don’t want to make him run that hard with the series coming up. He runs well fresh anyway. I own half of him, so I’m pretty excited about the series.”

Kai’s Command was coming off a four-week layoff prior to his impressive win Sunday, and Rawson’s only concern is keeping him on the ground.

“He loves to run, and he can be a handful when he doesn’t get enough work,” said Rawson.

Kai’s Command didn’t start at 2, and he was just a bottom-level claimer as a 3-year-old last year, winning a $5,000 maiden-claiming race and a $4,000 non-winners of two.

“It’s funny,” said Rawson. “He actually trained like a good horse last year but didn’t run that well. We took the blinkers off this year, and he really hasn’t been that impressive in the mornings, but he brings it in the afternoons.”

Kai’s Command was bought as a yearling by Bud Malette and Kathleen McClay after he didn’t sell at the 2011 Canadian Thoroughbred Horse Society’s yearling and mixed sale. They named him after Rawson’s son, Kai, who was born a week later. Malette sold his share of Kai’s Command to Rawson last winter.

“It was very sweet of them,” said Rawson. “Kai loves him, and he’s always asking me to play the videos of his races. It’s all pretty exciting.”

◗ There also is a fillies-and-mares division. Fair Command, who won a $12,500 claiming race for trainer Craig MacPherson last Saturday, looks like the top local horse in the division. She became eligible when she won an $8,000 conditional claiming race May 24 in her first start this year.

◗ Hastings is hosting a “real money” handicapping contest Saturday. It costs $200 to enter, of which $150 will be the player’s bankroll. The player will keep any money he earns from wagering on six races at Hastings. The other $50 will go into a prize pool, with the player who has earned the most money wagering receiving 45 percent of the total pool.