Hoss Talk

Local horse owner Tom Bell nearly accomplished the impossible last Monday.

Within the span of one hour, he won two major races for three-year-old horses in the Pacific Northwest at two different racetracks.

Bell's first victory came at 4: 25 p.m. with the recently purchased Appearance Fee winning the $50,000 Richmond Derby Trial at Hastings Racecourse.

An hour later, his other outstanding horse, Alexandersrun, won the $100,000-US Emerald Downs Derby at Emerald Downs in Washington state. That victory clinched horse-of-the-year honours for Alexandersrun.

Those two wins also put Bell in an enviable position of having two logical contenders racing in the prestigious $250,000 B.C. Derby on Sept. 24 at Hastings.

NOT AN IDEAL SITUATION

For anyone involved with standard-bred horse racing, the dream is to have a horse good enough to compete in either the Hambletonian or Little Brown Jug races.

For Cloverdale native Casey Coleman that dream came close to becoming a reality. On Monday, the Coleman-trained American Ideal went into the $365,000-US Cane Pace Final at Freehold Raceway in New Jersey.

With three straight victories, American Ideal went into the race as a logical odds-on 2-5 favourite.

American Ideal finished second, beaten by less then a length.

"It was a disaster all the way around," said Coleman via telephone from Flamboro Raceway in Dundas, Ont. "He ran into the starting gate right at the break. Then, after the race, we did a veterinarian check and found out he had caught a virus.

"Obviously, it is a heart breaker not going to the Little Brown Jug. If American Ideal would have been healthy, he would have won. What are you going to do?"

ENTHUSIASM FOR SALE

With trends showing horse racing's popularity in British Columbia on the rise, local horse breeders are expecting positive results at this year's Canadian Thoroughbred Horse Sale, which will be held noon Tuesday at Thunderbird Show Park in Langley.

"The enthusiasm is as high as we have seen in years," said Ralph Jesiak, vice president of CTHS's B.C. division.

JOCKEY FUNDRAISER

After today's races at Hastings, all of the jockeys will be attending a fundraiser barbecue to support the Jockeys Disabled Fund and New Stride Thoroughbred Adoption Agency.

It is a rare chance for the public to meet perhaps the greatest athletes in professional sport. Tickets are $20 and include dinner, dancing and silent auction.

SUPERNATUREL GONE

During her remarkable career, Roy and Dixie Jacobson's outstanding mare Supernaturel won 18 races, placed second 17 times and earned $269,000 plus bonuses.

Supernaturel passed away at age 24 last Sunday from natural causes.

Tom Wolski can be seen at 11 a.m. on Saturdays on Citytv's Sport of Kings.

twolski@shaw.ca

Source: Vancouver Province
E-mail Tommy Wolski at twolski@home.com