Two-Year Extension with City of Vancouver Another Positive

Vancouver, B.C. (Oct. 28/14) – With the average on-track wagering figures in 2014 showing a marginal increase over 2013 and a two-year operating extension in place with the City of Vancouver, there was good reason for optimism as the thoroughbred season wound down at Hastings Racecourse.

“We laid a great foundation this year to build on going forward,” said Darren MacDonald, General Manager at Hastings. “The two-year extension with the City allows us to continue working with industry stakeholders towards a long-term, sustainable horse racing program.”

Great Canadian Gaming Corporation, owners of Hastings Racecourse, announced it had reached the operating agreement with the City of Vancouver through November, 2016.

MacDonald released wagering statistics that included average on- track wagering at $17,191 per race and average all associations of $64,156 per race. The highest handle of the year was on Monday, August 4 – BC Cup Day – with $400,264 on-track and an all associations total of $1,450,746.

“I must thank the horsemen, owners, breeders and of course our fans for supporting our product this past year,” MacDonald said. “With the success of our marquee days we have shown that horse racing is very relevant in the Greater Vancouver marketplace.”

Big Finish on Closing Day for Leading Rider Amadeo Perez

Amadeo Perez breezed to the Leading Jockey Award at Hastings Racecourse for the second time in three years with four more winning rides on Sunday, Oct. 26, the final day of the thoroughbred racing season.

Perez finished the 2014 meet with 108 victories including six stakes races, chalking up $1,563,711 in total purse money. His win-place-show record was 108-76-66 after 385 starts.

Perez, 31, also won the award in 2012 at Hastings. His enormous margin of victory this season was awesome as he finished 27 wins ahead of runner-up Richard Hamel and 68 wins ahead of third-place Frank Fuentes.

Craig MacPherson was also a runaway winner of the Leading Trainers Award with 40 wins on the season, a convincing 13 ahead of Mike Anderson. MacPherson, who also won the honours last year, sent 143 horses to the starting gate in 2014 and finished with a win-place-show record of 40-23-28. That equated to a leading $756,599 in purses.

Swift Thoroughbreds Inc. owned by Horatio and Jackie Kemeny and Mark and Naudia Mache` swept the Leading Owners Award with a record of 17-16-12 and $360,433 in purse winnings under the guidance of exclusive trainer Dino Condilenios. It was also a repeat victory for Swift Thoroughbreds.

Annual Thoroughbred Awards Dinner on December 4

Perez, MacPherson and Swift Thoroughbreds will be acknowledged for their successful performances in 2014 at the Thoroughbred Awards Dinner on December 4 at Newlands Golf and Country Club in Langley. The ceremonies will include the induction of long-time jockey and media racing personality Tom Wolski as well as Spaghetti Mouse, the all-time B.C.-bred leading money winner owned by Nick and Pauline Felicella. The top thoroughbreds from various categories competing at Hastings Racecourse in 2014 will also be recognized.

Tickets for the Dec. 4 Awards Dinner are available through Cristan Gossen at 604.671.8140 or cgossen@gmail.com and B-J Davidson at 604.574.0145 or cthsbc@cthsbc.org