44 YEARS BETWEEN TRAINING TITLES FOR POPULAR VETERAN TROY TAYLOR
Posted: November 05, 2007
Vancouver, B.C. (Nov. 5/07) – With the leading jockey and owners titles having been determined heading into the final weekend of the 2007 Hastings Racecourse season all eyes were on the trainers category on Sunday’s 12-card finale.
Troy Taylor, a man of few words but a highly respected thoroughbred icon at the age of 75, finished his year’s work with 46 winners compared to Toni Cloutier’s 42. Incredibly, the last time Mr. Taylor captured a training title was before many of his colleagues on the backstretch were born. It was 44 years ago in 1963 when the track was known as Exhibition Park.
Mario Gutierrez had flown home to Mexico for a family wedding and wasn’t at Hastings on the final weekend to celebrate his winning the leading jockey title with 134 first-place finishes and purse earnings totaling more than $1.7 million. Nine of those victories came in stakes races. Fernando Perez was the leading apprentice with 33 wins.
The high-profile combination of Glen Todd and Patrick Kinsella swept the leading owners honours with 34 wins and over $570,000 in purse earnings, worthy of a champagne celebration in their private box as the lights lowered Sunday on the 118th season of racing in British Columbia.
Over the 68-day racing card in 2007 at Hastings, the average on-track handle per race was $29,334 with the all-sources average handle per race being $81,517. With the running of 610 total races over the season, the average purses per day totaled $92,234.
“We managed to hold our own with wagering numbers compared to 2006,” said Director of Operations Raj Mutti. “Our live mutuel handle was marginally down compared to last year but we more than made up for it with an increase in our wagering on simulcast races.”
For media inquiries contact: Howard Blank 604 – 512-6066
For racing related inquiries contact: Raj Mutti 604 - 251-0445
