Vancouver, B.C. (Sept. 11/16) – On one hour’s sleep, horse owner Glen Todd was back at his Hastings Racecourse stable Sunday morning wondering if life could get any better.
It was 12 hours earlier when Todd had won his first BC Derby with Sorryaboutnothing, describing the moment as “the last thing on my bucket list”.
The victory in Saturday’s 71st running of the $150,000 Grade 3 BC Derby was shared by Todd’s trainer of 40 years Troy Taylor on the eve of Taylor’s 85th birthday. Then to top things off, Todd received a phone call from California early Sunday morning from his unofficially adopted son and two-time Kentucky Derby winning jockey Mario Gutierrez announcing his wife Rebecca had given birth to their first child, 7 lb. 2 oz. Sebastian.
“It’s been a whirlwind of events,” Todd, 70, said Sunday morning as he headed home to bed. “Winning the BC Derby was a long time coming. I’ve been in the racing business 49 years and I’m not getting any younger. This is really, really a great feeling. There have been over 100 congratulatory emails and text messages from all over North America and two from England. I have to say, I’m overwhelmed.”
It was also an overwhelming victory for Sorryaboutnothing, who quickly took the lead in the 1 1/8-mile showcase event and went wire-to-wire under jockey Antonio Reyes. Sorryaboutnothing paid $11.70, $7.20, $5.70, finishing in a final time of 1:50.45.
Among the field of nine starters was favoured Opportunistic, also owned by Todd along with Mark DeDomenico. Opportunistic, winner of the Emerald Downs Derby on July 31, finished fourth.
Both 3-year-olds are expected to face each other again in the $100,000 Grade 3 BC Premiers on Oct. 1.
A streak of five consecutive stake victories ended for even-money favourite Snuggles in the $100,000 BC Oaks for 3-year-old fillies when Victress survived a riveting stretch duel to beat Snuggles by a neck. Victress, owned and trained by Rob and Vicky Gilker, paid $11.00, $3.90, $3.10, finishing in a final time of 1:51.30 under jockey Amadeo Perez.
It was one of three consecutive stake wins on the card for Perez. He rode Touching Promise ($9.00) to victory in the $75,000 Delta Colleen and Calgary Caper ($11.50) in the $75,000 S.W. Randall Plate.
Touching Promise was bred in B.C. by Russ and Lois Bennett and has now won six career stakes under trainer Barb Heada. Calgary Caper, owned by Kim Peacock, Hall of Famer Lance Giesbrecht and Phil Hall, posted the fastest time of the four Saturday stakes: 1:49.91.
Leading rider Richard Hamel guided Pretty Reckless ($3.20) to victory in the $50,000 Champions Distaff Starters Series Final while the $50,000 Final of the Champions Starter Series was won by Western Heritage ($7.00) with rider Rico Walcott enjoying a 5 ½ length victory over Prince Hotel.
Live racing resumes at Hastings on Saturday, Sept. 17, leading up to Sunday’s $100,000 Sadie Diamond Futurity for two-year-old Canadian-foaled fillies and the $100,000 Jack Diamond Futurity for two-year-old Canadian-foaled colts and geldings.
Both weekend cards begin at 1:50 p.m.
For further information:
Darren MacDonald
dmacdonald@hastingsracecourse.com
604.216.5234