Long weekend events planned at Hastings Racecourse

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Summer is here, which means the excitement is building at Hastings Racecourse. No racing this Saturday but the weekend kicks off with seven solid races Friday, and the Canada Day card on Monday is the best of the year so far.

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The $50,000 Lieutenant Governor’s for three-year-olds-and-up and the $50,000 Monashee for fillies and mares share the spotlight Monday. Both races are at 1 1/16 miles.

First up is the Monashee where we will find out just how good We B Three is. The B.C.-bred daughter of Teide was nothing less than sensational when she won the Emerald Downs Stakes in her first start of the year. With leading rider Amadeo Perez riding for leading trainer Steve Henson, We B Three broke sharply and was never threatened while easily winning the 6 1/2 furlong dash by 5 3/4 lengths. She followed that up with one of the fastest five-furlong works ever recorded at Hastings, 57.8 seconds, and she appeared to be well within herself with Perez aboard for the impressive move.

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Henson is expecting another strong performance on Monday.

“Her win in the Emerald really picked her head up,” said Henson. “She wasn’t happy going into the race and I wasn’t sure what was bothering her. It was driving me crazy because I didn’t know what to do with her. I sent her home for a week and that helped. She was starting to really come around before the Emerald and she is a different horse now. I loved her workout because Amadeo never works them fast.”

We B Three won the Monashee last year but couldn’t keep up with Infinite Patience the rest of the year. Infinite Patience was heavily favoured in the Emerald but didn’t fire while finishing fourth in the five-horse field. Trained by Barbara Heads, Infinite Patience has compiled an incredible 14-1-0 record from 19 starts at Hastings.

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“Barb has done a fantastic job with her,” said Henson. “She is one of the best horses I’ve ever seen at Hastings. I always thought We B Three could beat her sprinting, but now we’re going long and that is a different ball game. My mare has never been better, so hopefully we can finally get it done.”

Infinite Patience didn’t look her best in either of her races this year and maybe time is catching up with the seven-year-old daughter of Sungold. Sprinting isn’t her game, though, and nobody should be surprised if she turns things around Monday.

“We B Three is a really nice horse and she was the sprint champion last year,” said Heads. “Infinite Patience is doing really well right now and she’s better going a distance. She is getting older, though, and sometimes mares just don’t want to play anymore. It will be a sad day if that is the case. We will see how it goes and then make a decision on which way we’re going after the race.”

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Should be a great race and don’t count out last year’s three-year-old filly champion Air Force who was impressive winning her four-year-old debut but came down with a fever and had to miss the Emerald Downs.

Wally Oppal, the former attorney general of B.C., will be on hand to decorate the winners of the Lieutenant Governor’s and Monashee. Oppal first got involved with horse racing through the Jawl Bros. who were prominent horse owners at Hastings in the late 1970s to ’80s.

“I love coming to the races,” said Oppal. “I like being close to the action. I think it is a thing of beauty watching the horses come around the far turn and then thundering through the stretch.”

Oppal was a close friend of the late Tommy Wolski. After retiring as a jockey, Wolski wrote a weekly column for The Province and was the host of the popular TV show Hoss Talk.

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“I was a judge when I met Tommy,” said Oppal. “We became very close, and he would send my children birthday cards every year. He was from Boston and one year we took him with us on a family trip there. We went to a few Red Sox-Yankee games, and he showed us where he grew up in a tenement home. He was a unique person.”

FRIDAY SELECTIONS: FIRST RACE 7 P.M.

RACE 3: STRIKING VALUE has the right kind of style in a race chock full of speed and could get up in time while making his second start at the meet for trainer Frank Barroby.

RACE 7: TIARA DAWN should improve off her debut where she broke behind the field and didn’t get beat by much after making a late move. Antonio Reyes rides for trainer Edgar Mendoza who has strong statistics with second-time starters.

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MONDAY SELECTIONS: FIRST RACE 2:30 P.M.

RACE 5: WE B THREE was extremely impressive winning the Emerald Downs and considering her strong interim work appears to be peaking right now.

RACE 6: BOLD ARCH romped in his initial start this year and is capable of carrying his speed around three turns.

Randy Goulding has been handicapping horses and writing for The Racing Form at Hastings Park for more than 30 years. His column will run every Friday throughout the racing season.

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