HOLY NOVA MAKES IT
TWO HASTINGS STAKES IN A ROW

Posted May 31/08 

Vancouver, B.C. – May 31/08 – Holy Nova pulled off a repeat performance with her second consecutive stakes victory in the $50,000 Senate Appointee Saturday at Hastings Racecourse.

Winner of the Brighouse Belles Handicap earlier this month, Holy Nova gained the lead at mid-stretch to win by two lengths over Yoorock Gal in a final time of 1:16.40 over 6 ½ furlongs.

With leading jockey Mario Gutierrez again in the irons for trainer Troy Taylor and leading owners Glen Todd and Patrick Kinsella, Holy Nova shrugged off earlier concerns that a recent illness might have slowed her down.

Not so.  “She’s easy to run,” Gutierrez said.  “I really feel comfortable on her and I wasn’t worried about sitting second in the early part of the race.”

Holy Nova paid $3.20 to win and the second favourite, Alpine Garden, finished a disappointing fourth.   Alpine Garden, trained by Terry Jordan, was hoping to bounce back from a last-place finish in the $50,000 M.R. Jenkins Memorial Handicap at Stampede Park.

Gutierrez now leads the jockey standings with 28 wins.  Mario’s 18-year-old brother Juan Carlos Gutierrez won his first race of the season at Hastings in the second aboard Turbo Tommy and received the traditional cold bucket shower from the other riders in the race.

Racing resumes at 1:25 Sunday afternoon at Hastings.