BC Sprint – Grade I
6 Furlongs Dirt Stake Purse $2,000.000 Open 3 Year Olds And Up

1st West Coast Party        Martyparty       Wilson E J

It was fitting in way that this one prevailed by a half-length in the premier sprint of the year because all year these sprinters have been beating each other and it has been a while since this five-year-old had had his winning turn. Six previous races and six defeats being beaten and beating just about every other runner in the field he was part of a puzzle that made this race very hard to predict. So today on the biggest day of the year he prevailed and I for one am thrilled for his trainer. I talked to the trainer a while back when I briefly held the reins of this horse, and he told me that he was over the moon to grab this one back after it was claimed from him as he had always thought he was a champ in the making. Well, the rest as they say is history and the best trade in the world is trading six losses for a win on the biggest day of the year.

2nd Plan To Wheel       Fractious        Hernandez R M

Ran a great race to be second and is another that has been close all year without the consistent wins. The trainer was to have a great BC although a half-length here and a nose there in the right place and they would have been celebrating their best year ever. As it is as the dust settles though this was a great effort in the toughest division at HRP.

3rd Semi Auto       Threshold        Centeno D E

Used the wide gate speed and took advantage of the speed holding up by keeping on for third. This is a real consistent three-year-old who was the first of the younger generation home.

4th Demon        Wood Duck Stables      Geroux F

Ran another great race to be fourth. He raced the opposite tactics than he did last year, and it paid off with the last paycheck, but you feel that the stalk from the 8 was always going to be a tough ask and he did really well to stick on. He may well get another chance next year and I do feel that as a five-year-old he may be even better.

5th California Sun     Royalty Stables       Silvera Ru

Beaten a length into fifth isn’t the best feeling for an owner but this consistent sprinter has more than paid his keep this year and this was another brave effort.

6th Rudy Is With Me     Mb Stables       Saez L

Settled back and came home strongly but this is a horse who always looks like he needs another furlong. A five-year-old next year so he will get another chance.

7th Retaliate   Fractious        Franco M

Only beaten a couple of lengths you had to feel disappointed as this one has been so dominant previously in this division, but he was given a tough task being taken back from gate one and then asked to try and close though 13 rivals. At the end of the day, he is only three, so he has plenty of time to capture this title.

8th Tiz Trippi       Rock Creek        Jaramillo E

Pretty sure he Rock Creek would have been happy with finishing a nose behind Retaliate at the start of this race, but little did they know that would be the difference between seventh and eighth. The division is so close that if we raced this race 14 times, he would have probably won one of them but in this version, this is where we find him.

9th On Schedule      Mb Stables        Velazquez J R

Got the race engine wide gate choice of being taken to the back of the pack early on and despite a pretty strong pace could not find a way through at the end. Not his day today.

10th R Lopez      Nynl Stables         Dominguez Jo

Apart from Retaliate this one had the most impressive record leading into this race but couldn’t sustain a wide gate speed push that saw him fighting for the lead after a couple of furlongs. In some version of this race, he makes all and wins but that isn’t the version we got today.

11th Standing Ovation     EasyMoney Stables        Smith M E

Never really got a look in.

12th Bigmouth Raj        Night Rider Stables     Beschizza A

Gate thirteen and that need the race engine has to keep going one way or the other to hunt for the rail saw this one run below his best.

13th Championship Rounds      Mb Stables       Lopez P

Can I write Ditto as this one pretty much had the same problem as Bigmouth Raj.

14th Loko Moko      South Shore Stables       Alvarado F T

Looking at his last three he looks to have fallen off the edge since August and may just need to have some time out at grass before relaunching himself into a four-year-old career.

Categories: BC 2021-2023