A little charity work, a little stakes action, and a whole bunch of great racing over three days this Thanksgiving holiday weekend at Century Downs in Balzac. It begins Saturday afternoon with the C-Cup Classic, a fund raising event for prostate cancer being put on by the Canadian Thoroughbred Horse Society’s Alberta division. All monies raised are going toward the Calgary Prostate Cancer Centre. Prostate cancer is the most common cancer among Canadian men and is the third leading cause of death from cancer in Canadian men.
The C Cup Classic will be the first official Canadian Amateur Jockey's Association pari-mutuel race! Please be a part of this very worthwhile event and come to cheer on our riders and pledge them in support. There is an online pledge site for the riders taking part in the event.
Thanks to Jasper Brewing Company for their support; they are the official beer of On Track to Beat Cancer and the C Cup Classic. Every Jasper Brewing Company beer sold during On Track to Beat Cancer means a $0.50 donation towards the Calgary Prostate Cancer Centre. Also, thanks to Century Downs which will match the donation! A big thank you to our other sponsors; Bar None Ranches, Furlongs Inc., Energy Equine and Collette.
The action shifts back to the stakes schedule for Sunday’s card. Nine colts and geldings and seven fillies are nominated for the CTHS Sales Stakes, worth $50,000 apiece.
“The Sales Stakes are open to any horse which has passed through one of the five CTHS sales,” trainer Rod Cone, told me. “The breeders wanted to make that part of the eligibility requirements. Say you bought a horse at an Ontario sale and brought it back to Alberta. That horse would now be eligible for this event. Or, say you have a horse that you bought in Alberta or BC and it developed well enough that you wanted to take a shot at the Ontario Stake. Now you’ll be able to do that.” Cone has nominated Canaveral Bay, owned by Dylan Heppner and Dictionary, owned by Al Pitchko, for the colts event.
Monday should be a very interesting day with the second running of the $50,000 Lynn Chouinard Founders Distaff and the $100,000 Harvest Plate. The Distaff, which honours the late proprietor of Bar None Ranches will be run over a distance of a mile and a sixteenth. I would guess that this is one race that trainer, Ron Grieves, would want to win badly. He’s got Our Sammi, which is owned by Bar None, on the nomination list. Our Sammi is a homebred and has two wins and a third in four starts this year.
Escape Clause, which was third in the Distaff last year, is back to try again. In fact, the filly is nominated for both the Distaff and the Harvest Plate. She’s likely to say with her own kind, however, according to trainer, Donnie Schnell.
What’s interesting about the Monday program is that it will bring together a bunch of stakes contenders from BC, Alberta, and Manitoba, making it a punter’s challenge to pick the winners. Vancouver business man, Peter Redekop, has Aqua Frio for the Harvest Plate, and Anstrum for the Distaff. Anstrum has raced most of the summer in Alberta in the care of trainer, Monica Russell, and was third in her most recent start in allowance company on September 23rd.
The powerful Riversedge Stable from Okotoks has five horses nominated for the Monday card. Clear The Runway, Gem Alta, and Stone Carver are named for the Harvest Plate. Curlish Figure and Sail On By are nominated for the Distaff.
In addition to Escape Clause, Schnell has also nominated Hey Bro and Langara for the Harvest Plate. Hey Bro has three firsts and two seconds in five starts this season and set a new track record in his first appearance at Century Downs this fall. Of the three Schnell horses which are nominated, he’s likely the one with the bet chance to start. The Plate drew a whopping 25 nominations as of Monday morning, so preference will be given to stakes winners and to money won this year to determine a maximum field of 12 starters for each race.
It promises to be a great way to celebrate the Thanksgiving holiday if you’re a race fan.
A hastily organized BBQ by the backstretch committee, raised more than $2,000 for injured rider, Andre Martin. He was hurt on opening weekend and won’t be able to ride again until next spring at the earliest. Kudos to trainers Craig Smith, Rod Cone and Tim Rycroft who led the way in laying in supplies, and spending time at the outdoor grills on a cold Sunday morning. As usual, Century Downs pitched in as well to help provide some of the supplies… Tim Rycroft isn’t the only member of the family having a banner season in Alberta racing. Father, Tom, now has a few horses to help fill in some spare time in retirement. He’s got five wins to show for his work so far. He’s even got two horses nominated for the Harvest Plate: Blue Dancer for owners C & H Duggan and Shot in the Dark Racing Stables, and Excitations, which is owned by World Pro chuckwagon driver, Chanse Vigen. Wouldn’t that be something if he could pull off a surprise in the big one! Of course, the first step is to get into the race and we’ll find out about that on Thursday morning.