The $50,000 George Royal, which was the most competitive stakes field we have had in some time at Hastings and surprising many was Ironside Stables UNCHARACTERISTIC ($56.90), who flew home late at 27-1 to catch everyone to claim his first stakes win here in Vancouver. The son of Texas Wildcatter captured the Manitoba and Canadian Derby last fall and stamped himself as a top three-year-old in Western Canada last year and proved today that he will be a force against older horses as he rallied from ninth place to get up in deep stretch to win in 1:16.23 under Alex Marti for trainer Rob VanOverschot.
The Tod Mountain Thoroughbreds PORTER GENT and Amadeo Perez ran another courageous race tracking the crazy fast tempo (21.63, 44.32) and looked to be a winner in midstretch but just got caught nearing the wire. Shawn and Karen Strachan SIR BREGOVIC may have run the best race of them all as he battled on a suicidal pace and was still in with a chance to win nearing the wire and ended up a tough-luck third beaten only by three-quarters of the length for trainer Jim Strachan and rider Cerapio Figueroa.
The third race Saturday was the $50,000 Emerald Downs stakes for older fillies and mares going six and a half furlongs and getting to the wire first was Russ and Lois Bennett’s SOLARITY ($15.00) who rebounded off of a last place performance three weeks ago to score by three-quarters of a length in 1:16.85. The Barbara Heads trainee sat much of the trip in the three path stalking a comfortable pace of 22.30 and 45.63 and then started to inch away heading for home and was able to hold off her stablemate CHA CHING at the finish. Russ and Lois Bennett’s CHA CHING had no early speed and was travelling well at the end and secured second money in the stretch under Scott Williams. The Swift Thoroughbreds HEIDI broke sharply and set a sensible but contested pace of 22.30 and 45.63 ran gamely to the wire finishing third.
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