PURSE FOR BC CUP CLASSIC BECOMES $25,000 RICHER
Posted: April 07, 2006
Vancouver, B.C. (April 7/06) -- Long-time thoroughbred racing supporter Peter Redekop has committed an additional $25,000 in purse money for the BC Cup Classic over the next five years with an option to continue the arrangement for an additional five years.
“It brings the purse back up to $100,000 and that’s where I think it should be,” Mr. Redekop says. He was very instrumental in getting BC Cup Day started and was one of the major sponsors of the event from the start.
This year’s BC Cup Classic for three-year-olds & up bred in British Columbia or owned by a B.C. resident is the highlight of BC Cup Day at Hastings Racecourse on Monday, August 7.
Mr. Redekop has been a staunch supporter of the thoroughbred racing scene dating back almost 40 years when, in his words: “I was visiting the PNE in 1968 and happened to wander over to the track. It impressed me that I won more money than I had bet.”
His career as an owner reaches an all-time high Saturday when his northern California colt Cause to Believe runs as the 5-2 morning line favourite in the $500,000 Illinois Derby at Hawthorne Racecourse. Coming off an impressive victory in the California Derby, Cause to Believe has six wins and three seconds in nine starts with career earnings of $335,565.
“I’ve told our trainer (Jerry Hollendorfer) that only a victory at Illinois will take us to the Kentucky Derby,” Mr. Redekop said upon his Vancouver departure to watch Cause to Believe for the first time in person. “We’ve already put up our $6,000 supplementary nomination fee for the Kentucky Derby but I won’t go without winning the Illinois Derby. That’s the kind of competitive person I am.”
While Mr. Redekop isn’t certain where he’ll be on Kentucky Derby Day on May 6, he does know he intends to be at Hastings Racecourse for the opening of the local racing season at 1:25 p.m. on Good Friday, April 14.
“If you’ll pardon the pun,” he says, “I wouldn’t miss it on a bet!”
For Hastings racing related inquiries: Raj Mutti 604-251-0445
For further media inquiries: Howard Blank 604-512-6066
