By Greg Douglas – Dr. Sport
SCENE & HEARD: Peter Redekop has endured – and enjoyed – countless thrilling moments as a revered horse owner throughout North America dating back to the 1960’s.
“But nothing tops this in my racing background,” the 84-year-old Hall of Famer was saying prior to today’s 144th running of the Preakness Stakes. “We thought we had a chance to be part of this year’s Kentucky Derby but just missed out. Now our focus is on the Preakness and I can say it’s the biggest race for me since getting into this business.”
Interestingly, Mr. Redekop won’t be anywhere near Pimlico Race Course in Baltimore this afternoon when his three-year-old Anothertwistafate leaves the starting gate at 3:48 from post position 12.
“I’ll be in Calgary at my granddaughter’s wedding,” he says with obvious pride. “We have three daughters, three sons-in-law and eight grandchildren. I’m not sure just yet how I’ll be kept updated from the Preakness but we’ll work something out.”
Anothertwistafate, son of Scat Daddy, was 23rd on the point list when entries were taken for this year’s 20-horse Kentucky Derby field. He earned an automatic berth in the Preakness with his win in the El Camino Real Derby at Golden Gate on February 16 and went on to finish second by a neck in the Sunland Derby on March 24.
Redekop will be well represented at Pimlico by his nephew and fellow horse owner James Redekop, racing manager Dr. Bryan Anderson and wife Carol and, of course, trainer Blaine Wright.
“There has been a lot of buzz about him (Anothertwistafate) and realistically, I was pleasantly surprised about the 6-1 odds that came out late in the week,” Wright says. “We’ll just have to hope our horse comes away from the gate well and let the jockey (Jose Ortiz) do the rest of the work.”
Peter Redekop has been an integral part of the Vancouver racing scene for more than five decades. His family immigrated to Canada after the Second World War and settled on a farm in Abbotsford in 1948. He saw his first thoroughbred race at the PNE as a young adult and when his real estate development business with cousin Peter Wall began to flourish, they purchased a couple of yearlings in the BC Breeder’s Sale in the early 1960’s.
Mr. Redekop, inducted into the BC Horse Racing Hall of Fame in 2013, remains the only owner to capture the BC Derby three consecutive years with Second City in 2012, Title Contender in 2013 and Alert Bay in 2014. His first Derby win was with Squire Jones in l994, trained by the legendary Lance Giesbrecht.
This year’s BC Derby on September 7 has had its purse increased from $150,000 to $250,000 thanks to the generosity of Peter Redekop.
It’s all the more reason thousands of local racing fans will be heartily cheering on Anothertwistafate today as they watch live coverage of this year’s $1.5 million Preakness Stakes from Baltimore.