Blog Post

Nigel Reid • Aug 05, 2020
The late scratch of BC Oaks heroine AMAZONIAN (Malibu Moon) took a little luster from Sunday’s Black Type Monashee Stakes. However, the return to the battlefield of HERE’S HANNAH (Numaany) and UNDER PAR (Stephanotis), as well as the presence of the Hastings’ Racing Club’s four-time winner WARRIOR’S PROMISE (Warrior’s Reward), made for a fascinating renewal of the Black Type contest. 

Making the most of a moderate early pace, Under Par had too much pep in the final stages for her opponents, although Sovereign Award winner Here’s Hannah lost nothing in defeat and will surely have benefitted from the outing following our enforced layoff.  

Bred in BC by Glen Todd, the five-year-old Under Par continues to demonstrate remarkable consistency and now has a record of ten wins, four seconds and a third-place finish from 16 starts. What a servant she is to the Mark Cloutier barn and owners, Canmor Farms and Maureen Goss. 

Under Par was the middle leg of a three-timer for rider Amadeo Perez, who also teamed up with ACE DEUCE (Lewis Michael) in the nightcap for trainer Barb Heads and, earlier in the afternoon, aboard the upwardly mobile PORTER GENT (Second in Command). 

Porter Gent (pictured) stepped up again on a promising maiden win on his seasonal debut to take an allowance event that, on paper at least, looked hot enough to be a Stakes contest in all but name.

Taking on some of the best juveniles seen last season, the Tod Mountain Thoroughbreds homebred continued the impressive early-season form of trainer Christine Ammann, landing the spoils ahead of fellow BC-breds, CASCADE BILLY (Bakken) and BAKTURA (Bakken).

Four of the eight races on Sunday went to BC-bred runners, with BIG TIME LOUIE (Second in Command) scoring for the second time this season for the red hot “Twink” Baumgartner barn. 

Twink has now sent out five winners from six runners and Big Time Louie, who Baumgartner bred in conjunction with White House Stables, was a third win of the season for the fledgling Sandown Racing Club. The members must be thinking the game is a fairly straightforward affair!

It was an afternoon of twos and threes. Aside from Perez’s hat trick, Porter Gent was one of two winners for the veteran BC sire Second in Command, while there were training doubles for Barb Heads (who also saddled LUCKY ENDING for owner/breeders RJ and Lois Bennett) and Glen Todd.

CURIOUS RUMOR (Jimmy Creed), Todd’s second winner of the afternoon and ridden, like the first, by retained jockey Efrain Hernandez, represented a particularly impressive training achievement with the mare winning on her first appearance since May 2018.

Moving to a Sunday helped boost the overall betting handle and it will be interesting to see if the positive decision to switch days reaps further reward on Thursday. 

Racing on the most appropriate days is, of course, essential, but getting the message out to the betting public is equally vital and it has been disappointing to see how little promotional support racing in BC is currently receiving for the new dates from the digital platforms belonging to Hastings Racecourse and Great Canadian Gaming. 

At the time of writing, there was no information at all on the Hastings website to announce the date changes, while the track’s Twitter feed was last used back in May. The Great Canadian Twitter feed and website are equally lacking in updates.

Racing returns to Hastings on Thursday afternoon beginning at 4:30pm and features the $50,000 Lieutenant Governor’s Handicap - which has attracted a field of five runners headed by last season’s BC Derby winner, FIVE STAR GENERAL (Fort Larned). It promises to be another exciting and highly competitive card of eight races, so don’t forget to tell your friends. Heck, tell your enemies, as well. Tell everyone

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The office will be closed Tuesday, December 19, 2023 - Wednesday, January 3, 2024 The office reopens on Thursday, January 4, 2024 Wishing you a happy, healthy holiday season and good racing in 2024! The Directors and staff - CTHS BC
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To: All members of the Canadian Thoroughbred Horse Society (BC Division) NOTICE OF ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING TAKE NOTICE THAT the Annual General Meeting of the Canadian Thoroughbred Horse Society (BC Division) will be held: Time: Commencing at 11:30 am Date: Wednesday, June 21, 2023 Place: CTHS (BC Division) Office - Boardroom #7 – 5492 Production Blvd. Surrey, BC The main purpose of this meeting is for the following: 1. to receive the annual reports of the Society; 2. to approve the appointment of the auditor for the 2022 fiscal year; 3. to transact such business that may properly come before the Annual Meeting. Dated this 30th day of May, 2023. BY ORDER OF THE BOARD OF DIRECTORS Note: Copies of the 2022 financial statements and minutes of the June 23, 2022 annual general meeting will be available at the meeting or upon request by contacting the office. As per Article XI, Section 9 (a) of the CTHS By-Laws, new business proposed to be discussed at the meetings of the Society, or any Regional Division thereof, shall be delivered in writing to the National Executive Secretary or Regional Secretary/General Manager as the case may be. Proposed new business, endorsed in writing by at least three (3) members entitled to vote at the meeting and received prior to the mailing of the Notice of the Meeting, shall be included in the agenda and may be subject of a vote at the meeting. Only voting members who are present are eligible to vote (no proxies).
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What better way to launch the 2023 thoroughbred racing season at Hastings Racecourse than to stage a full-blown dinner party just prior to opening day? First race to launch the 2023 schedule at Hastings is set for 2 p.m., Sunday, April 30. Four nights earlier – Wednesday, April 26 – the industry celebrates its 2022 BC Thoroughbred Awards Dinner and Hall of Fame Inductions at the Italian Cultural Centre. Horses from 16 categories will be acknowledged for their performances at Hastings last year. Co-ordinator Minna Rytkonen issued secret ballots to a panel of selectors in December. The winners will be revealed by emcees Dan Jukich and Mike Heads highlighting the April 26 event. Season-ending stats following last year’s 45-day racing calendar confirmed the 2022 leading breeder (Tod Mountain Thoroughbreds), owner (Rob and Sheena Maybin), trainer (Edgar Mendoza) and jockey (Amadeo Perez) awards. BC Horse Racing Hall of Fame 2022 inductees, announced earlier by curator Randy Goulding, are Dr. Ed Wiebe (builder), Richard Hamel (jockey) and Robbie Anderson (trainer). “After a two-year interruption staging the Awards Dinner due to the pandemic, we’re looking forward to seeing everyone again as a kick-off to the 2023 racing season,” says B-J Davidson, CTHS-BC Regional General Manager. “We consider it a huge family gathering.” 
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Standardbred Canada (SC) and the Canadian Thoroughbred Horse Society (CTHS) are pleased to announce the development of a National Economic Impact Study. The two organizations are working with Serecon, a third-party research company, to conduct an economic scan and facilitate key stakeholder interviews through a national survey and provide further analysis. The goals of the project are: To increase the understanding of the current state of the sector; To identify and articulate the economic and social impacts of horse racing across the country; To develop strategic recommendations to ensure the sustainability and inclusivity of the horse racing sector; Socialize findings with key federal government stakeholders The study will review such economic drivers as cost of ownership, economic contribution from horses, and industry trends. “We are pleased to collaborate with Standardbred Canada to conduct the economic impact study for the Thoroughbred and Standardbred racing breeds,” said Adrian Munro, President of CTHS. “The study will build off of the pre-pandemic era to begin tracking overall impact drivers for our industry.” “This is a first for both national breed registries who have agreed to work together to collect data and information on the horse racing sector in Canada and using the key performance metrics that the survey provides will help us understand and measure our lines of business with the ultimate goal of building a sustainable future for the industry,” said Dan Gall, President and CEO of Standardbred Canada. The final report will be reviewed by CTHS and the SC Board of Directors and is scheduled to be submitted in January 2023. This report will provide an overview of the evolution and current state of the Canadian horse racing industry and highlight the economic and social impacts of the sector, outline challenges, opportunities, and recommendations to consider. Bob Burden, a Senior Director with Serecon, added that “Our team will accurately assess the total contribution of the Canadian horse racing industry to Canada's economy so that both associations will be better equipped to address challenges going forward”. Both parties, SC and CTHS, encourage the horse racing sector to provide information into the research being conducted to allow our sector to be as thorough and accurate as possible with the data collected. To take the survey click here .
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