Belmont history beckons while Avana chases 'legend' status at Hastings Racecourse

Vancouver Sun

6 days ago

A place in racing history awaits the winner of the final leg of the Triple Crown on Saturday, when Kentucky Derby winner Sovereignty takes on Preakness winner Journalism in the 157th running of the Belmont Stakes at Saratoga.
It's far from a two-horse race, but if either of the main protagonists prevails in the $2-million contest, he will hold the bragging rights as best three-year-old colt in North America. And it's only June.
The three-year-olds at Hastings, by contrast, will have to wait another week before their important tests even begin. This weekend sees the older generation kick off the Hastings' Stakes Program with six fillies and mares going for the $40,000 Emerald Downs Stakes, while seven boys are slated for the $40,000 George Royal Stakes. Trainer Barbara Heads saddles the likely favourite in each race.
August Rain, winner of both the Canadian and B.C. Derbies last season, goes in the George Royal, while the remarkable Avana, winner of the B.C. Oaks and four other important Stakes contests last season, will be a favourite in the Emerald Downs. Avana's tendency to dawdle along at the rear before chasing down her prey from a seemingly impossible position, is gaining her quite the fan club at Hastings, even while her running style is causing rising blood pressure among her connections.
'I was concerned a couple of times last season that she wouldn't be able to make up the ground,' Heads explained this week. 'Especially when we hit a slow pace. Because normally, when your horses are way off the pace like that, you depend on a good pace in front of you.'
Heads continued, 'Every horse has its own running style and that's just hers. I try not to dissect it too much. Amadeo (Perez, her rider) knows her well now and lets her decide when to make her move.'
By contrast, the pugnacious August Rain will be found at the heart of the action in the George Royal Stakes.
'He loves being in the mix and into the grind of it all,' Heads admitted. 'The dogfight, you know? It seems like if he does get in a little bit of trouble, it only gives him more incentive.'
August Rain and Avana are both owned by Peter Redekop who, now 90, will certainly remember perhaps the greatest 'hold-up' mare to grace the East Van oval, Delta Colleen.
An Oaks winner like Avana, Delta Colleen won 18 Stakes races at Hastings (then called Exhibition Park) in the late 1980s and early '90s, and she is remembered each year in the Delta Colleen Stakes. Avana still has some way to go to emulate Delta Colleen's status as a Hastings' legend, but a win on Saturday will put her a step closer and, as her connections now know, she will certainly enjoy the chase.
First race Saturday, 2:30 p.m., Belmont Stakes (4:05 p.m. PT): Kentucky Derby hero Sovereignty can prove himself the best three-year-old in the land and confirm his superiority over Preakness winner Journalism by landing the Belmont Stakes at Saratoga. He missed the Preakness and will be a fresh horse for the final leg of the Triple Crown.
Hastings Race 5 (4:59 p.m. PT): Diocles overcame his dislike of a sloppy track two weeks ago to beat several of today's rivals convincingly. He was doing his best work at the end and represents a red-hot Pat Jarvis barn.
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