The largest opening day crowd in a long time turned out for the first card of the 2016 season at Historic Old Hastings Racecourse. For their efforts they got to watch a couple of high quality stakes races for older horses of both genders and two strong, if short, fields of allowance horses prepping for the first three-year-old stakes of the year that are now three weeks away.
The sun was not the only bright light. Trainer John Snow had a pretty shiny day with three wins and a second from five starters. Last year’s leading rider, Richard Hamel, started this season with a riding double. In the second race, the Ascencios, father and son, competed as a duo in a race at Hastings for the first time. They were back in together in the eighth, and father Gabriel showed Junior how it is down with a come-from-behind win.
It was a formful day for the many who speculated. Five favorites won on the eight-race card, and the pari-mutuel handle was close to $800,000, or about $370,000 more than opening day last year.
The Swift Thoroughbreds Inaugural Stakes went to Modern ($4.70) who, coincidentally, wore the colours of Swift Thoroughbreds. Not that it mattered whose colours he wore because the closest Modern came to losing was when he got a little antsy in the gate just before they sprung the latch.
Once safely away, Modern was never going to get beat as he lead every step on his way to six furlongs in 1:10.91, a bit over a length ahead of Hollywood Angel who posed no threat to the winner but battled on gamely to hold off a hard-charging Shooting Jacket for second. Richard Hamel rode the winner who has a lot of speed and a tonne of pedigree.
Modern, by Tiznow, was bred in Kentucky by Darley and is out of the A.P. Indy mare Interior Design who is a full-sister to the Champion Two-Year-Old Filly of 2001, Tempera, who won the G-1 Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies that year. Modern is owned by Swift Thoroughbreds and trained by Dino Condilenios.
The Brighouse Belles Stakes went to the five-year-old mare Avadiva ($24.60), a recent shipper from Turf Paradise. She was not as dominant as Modern but actually ran a little faster than he did for the first quarter-mile while being harassed by Sabrina who would continue to do so for most of the six furlongs that went in 1:11.43. The final time was only about 3 lengths slower than Modern’s.
Sabrina chased the winner deep into the stretch before giving up on it, and then did so reluctantly as Quatre Cat and Majestic Presence ran by her late. Quatre Cat always had an unimpeded view of the outside fence during her four-path excursion over the course. Trip considered, she ran an enormous race to be second, lapped on the winner at the wire.
It was an impressive race for Avadiva who, despite coming in race-fit from Arizona, was cast aside to some extent at more than 11-1. And while she had been racing in Arizona, she came home to win a stakes after stalling at the Allowance N3L at Turf Paradise although she was running good races. Before missing the entire 2015 season, Avadiva broke her maiden at Hastings almost two years ago, in May of 2014, after running third the previous August in her only start at two.
She was bred in British Columbia by her owner, Mauro Comensoli and is by the deceased Skimming out of the Free at Last mare, Freeliena. Skylar White Shield, also from Arizona, rode for trainer Robert Anderson.
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