For trainer Ian Jewell, the decision to ship a pair of horses three hours north from their summer base of Emerald Downs came down to a diuretic.
Jewell’s duo, Moneyshot and Seas of Normandy, finished a good fourth and a troubled 10th, respectively, in the $125,000 Longacres Mile on Aug. 17 at Emerald Downs. Jewell, a native of British Columbia who trains for B.C.-based WYN Racing Stables, could have run them back this Sunday in the $50,000 Muckleshoot Tribal Classic going 1 1/16 miles at Emerald. Instead, Jewell and WYN Racing have opted to run them at Hastings in Saturday’s $50,000, 1 1/8-mile S.W. Randall Plate.
“I’m not gonna lie, the thing I like most is they can run on Lasix in Canada,” said Jewell, shedding light on the fact that the anti-bleeding medication is not allowed in U.S. stakes races. “I was thinking about the Muckleshoot, but the fact that they can’t use Lasix down there, I just thought it’d be in both horses’ best interest to run them up here in Vancouver. And Vancouver’s home.”
Seas of Normandy is a front-runner who has drawn the rail in the Randall and will vie for the early lead with Nauvoo in an eight-horse field. When asked if he might employ rabbit tactics in order to ensure that the versatile Moneyshot gets a hot pace to run into, Jewell said, “I think there’s only one other legit speed horse in the race. I’m just gonna send Normandy out to win it on his own if he gets a nice, easy lead. There’s no reason he can’t win either, but the way it worked out, he got the rail and, yeah, he will be forwardly placed.”
Moneyshot was a close second in last year’s Grade 3 British Columbia Derby as a 3-year-old, and he earned a career-high 85 Beyer Speed Figure at odds of 46-1 while finishing fourth, beaten three lengths, in the Longacres Mile, a race in which Jewell said Seas of Normandy “didn’t get away very good.”
“He didn’t have the best of trips,” Jewell said Wednesday. “But he was on the track [at Hastings] this morning and looks like he loves it.”
Frankly, there’s not a horse in the Randall field who can’t win it on their best day, including last year’s winner, Apprehend. He finished a lackluster ninth at odds of 4-1 in the Longacres Mile after winning four straight races – including three stakes – in Canada.
One of those stakes wins came in last year’s Grade 3, 1 3/8-mile Premiers at Hastings, a title he can be expected to defend next month. As for the Longacres Mile misfire, trainer Barbara Heads thinks the distance was too short.
“I’ve always liked him going farther,” Heads said. “The way he travels, I remember watching him before I got him. He’s a horse that takes a long time to level out and get his legs under him. The more the distance, the more he likes it.”
Apprehend can also win just about any which way he wants. The son of Arrogate won last year’s Randall in gate-to-wire fashion but has since rallied late after closely stalking the pace.
Run Rudolf, who won last month’s BC Cup Classic Handicap, is likely to employ the same tactics after breaking to the immediate outside of Apprehend in post 4. The same can be expected of multiple stakes winner Diocles in the far outside post.
In post 7, Moneyshot is capable of stalking closely or coming from afar, while in posts 5 and 6, the last-out winners Lucky Force and What’s Shakin are closing types. What’s Shakin wheels back less than two weeks after earning a career-high 86 Beyer for his win in the CTHS Sales Stakes at 1 1/16 miles on Aug. 25, a race in which Diocles was second by 2 1/2 lengths.
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Delta Colleen
Heads has half the field for Saturday’s four-horse female feature, the $50,000 Delta Colleen. Avana is 4 for 5 on the year and 8 for 9 at Hastings, perfection escaping her by a mere neck when second in this year’s Emerald Downs Stakes. Her stablemate, Viva La Diva, has won two of her last three and finished second, beaten less than a length, by Avana in last year’s British Columbia Oaks.
“She ran a really good race against Avana in the Oaks,” Heads said. “She’s well capable. Sometimes when you have a real light field, races get set up differently.”
Viva La Diva should be flying early and Avana will be rolling late as the heavy favorite. Air Force, the only horse to defeat Avana at Hastings, and Wirly Girly round out the tiny field.
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