Nigel Reid • July 31, 2020
Winning jockeys can be BC-bred, too!
Popular local rider Scott Williams enjoyed quite the haul on what will be the final Monday/Tuesday meeting held at Hastings this season.
Williams, who is riding with great enthusiasm this year following a difficult 2019, hit the wire in first place on six occasions, vaulting himself into joint-first place in the jockeys’ race alongside Efrain Hernandez with 11 wins.
The half-dozen wins came via an impressive four-timer on Monday, including aboard FANCY FRAULEIN for Carl Lausten. Bred by Loire Miller, the daughter of Glen Todd’s Canmor-based sire TEXAS WILDCATTER (Monarchos) was the first of three winners for Lausten’s small barn over the two days.
On Tuesday, Lausten and Williams teamed-up with CTHS Yearling Sale graduate HOME RUN GUY (Bakken) who, following a promising first effort of the season, landed a competitive-looking claimer. An hour later, Lausten threw rider Alex Marti aboard PADDY D’ORO (Shrug) to take the closing event in authoritative style by three-and-a-half-lengths for owner Gabriel Mathussek. The four-year-old was bred by Rob McDonald.
Paddy d’Oro was a third winner of the two days for deceased BC sire, Shrug. Bred by Maureen Goss and owned by Dennis Tucker, the Cindy Krasner-trained GMT BABY (Shrug) was one of Williams’ four wins on Monday while, on the same day, SPROG (Shrug) took the nightcap for the in-form Twink Baumgartner barn, the Sandown Racing Club and Twink’s joint-breeders, White House Stables. Amadeo Perez rode.
Christine Ammann’s purple patch also continues unabated and she saddled the Tod Mountain homebred RIO ALEX (Gayego) to land the opening contest on Tuesday. Ammann has now saddled five winners, placing her joint-second numerically with Rob Gilker.
Gilker is another handler with the horses in good form and he saddled a double on Monday, the pick of which was BUTTERSCOTCH BLEND. Bred by Amy Boulton and Brad Auger, the four-year-old daughter of Mission Impazible took the day’s opening allowance event with something to spare, showing she has lost none of the talent that saw her win last season’s CTHS Sales Stakes.
Lausten’s fine three-timer apart, the training highlight of the two days was undoubtedly Olivia Carr, who saddled the very first winner of her fledgling career in the shape of the amusingly named BAKKEN THE USSR (Bakken). A CTHS Yearling Sale graduate, the three-year-old gelding is owned by James Redekop, bred by Red Rock Farms and, following Home Run Guy (pictured), was a second winner of the week for his sire, BAKKEN (Distorted Humor).
Bakken and Shrug helped swell the BC-bred winner haul to 12 of the 16 races on offer over the two days. Remarkably, BC-bred horses took all eight heats on Tuesday and the likes of SIMPLY GOLDEN (Sungold), impressive first-time starter SIR BREGOVIC (Sir Gallovic), STEVIE’S SONG (Storm Victory), WISE MARKET (Mass Market) and BOLD ARCH (Archarcharch) all carrying the BC suffix.
Away from Hastings, the BC-bred total for 2020 was boosted at Century Downs by TEXAS ALLEY KAY (Texas Wildcatter) and IRISH TRICK (Bakken). At Grande Prairie, meanwhile, there was a win for SASSY N CLASSY (Gotcha Gold).
There are few positives to be found for the racing industry in this global pandemic. However, with no spectators, tracks can at least be flexible in terms of their racing dates. Such flexibility is crucial when looking to host racing on days that might generate greater betting turnover and, with that very much in mind, racing at Hastings will now switch to Sundays and Thursdays (beginning this Sunday) for the rest of the season.
HAPPY NEW YEAR FROM THE CTHS BC BOARD OF DIRECTORS by Dave Pihl, President CTHS BC Division
Not Bourbon (Not Impossible – Bourbon Belle) passed away on December 28, 2025, at the age of 20. Bred and owned by Charles Fipke and trained by Roger Attfield, Not Bourbon was an exceptional racehorse whose accomplishments earned him a place in Canadian racing history. During his career on the track, Not Bourbon captured some of the nation’s most prestigious races, including the Queen’s Plate, Plate Trial, Queenston Stakes, and Overskate Stakes. As a two-year-old, he showed early promise by winning the Bull Page Stakes and setting a track record for six furlongs at Woodbine. Over the course of three racing seasons, Not Bourbon earned more than one million dollars, and his outstanding three-year-old campaign was recognized with a Sovereign Award. Retired to stud, Not Bourbon went on to become a champion sire in Ontario, further cementing his legacy in the breeding shed. In 2020, he relocated to British Columbia, standing his first season at Emerald Acres in Aldergrove, before moving to Flying Horse Farm in West Kelowna, where he continued to make a meaningful contribution to the provincial breeding industry. Not Bourbon will be remembered for his talent as a racehorse and his contributions to breeding in both Ontario and British Columbia.
CTHS BC'S Position Regarding The TRBC Joint Trust Agreement
BAKKEN on the move Bakken on the Move BC's leading sire for the past five years has been relocated and will stand at Steen and Cathy Reggelsen's Strideaway Thoroughbreds in Armstrong for the 2025 season
Huge blow to Hastings as CTHS President passes just two weeks after his Willow Creek Farms secures its second consecutive leading-owner title
