After 30 years, B.C. Cup Day continues to showcase the province’s best horses

Article content

This year’s B.C. Day also marks the 30th anniversary of B.C. Cup Day at Hastings Racecourse, an afternoon devoted to showcasing all that is good about the sport in our province and which, this season, features five stakes contests, each carrying at least $50,000 in purses.

With a valuable supporting card, there will be more than $300,000 up for grabs, as the best equine athletes B.C. has to offer strut their stuff in front of what is expected to be one of the largest crowds of the season.

Originally developed as a way of promoting horses bred exclusively in our province ahead of the annual sale of yearlings, B.C. Cup Day quickly became a permanent fixture in the local racing calendar and is now open to horses from anywhere — although, with six of Monday’s races headed by B.C.-bred morning line favourites, it’s a fair bet that locally produced runners will once again dominate this holiday Monday.

“B.C. Cup Day was an immediate success and continues to show everyone just how good our locally bred horses are,” explained Dr. Bryan Anderson, one of the founders behind the original B.C. Cup Day concept and, along with his wife, Carol, still a prominent local breeder.

“It’s vital that we continue to showcase the quality of horses being produced here if we are to improve the numbers of horses being bred.”

Gary Johnson, chair of the Thoroughbred Racing B.C. group which now steers the industry, agrees that B.C. Cup Day not only remains a vital part of the Hastings’ racing season, but clearly demonstrates a viable future for the sport in B.C.

Johnson said: “I’m reminded of those early years, when that original group of people, led by Dixie Jacobson, Bobby Jawl and Bryan Anderson, worked tirelessly to showcase the very best of B.C.-bred thoroughbreds. I was new to the sport, holding a small share in a racehorse, and I dreamed of having one good enough to compete on B.C. Cup Day.

“Now, 30 years later, I’m filled with that same sense of hope.”

While times have changed, the spirit of B.C. Cup Day remains strong. This year’s celebration marks more than just a day of racing — it signals a path forward.

The afternoon’s main event is the $50,000 B.C. Cup Classic which, this year, has attracted a stellar cast of runners, headed by August Rain, winner of last year’s Canadian and B.C Derbies. There will also be important B.C. Derby clues in the B.C. Cup Sir Winston Churchill Derby Trial, while seven of Hastings’ best three-year-old fillies are slated to go in the $50,000 B.C. Cup Hong Kong Jockey Club Stakes, an important trial for the next month’s B.C. Oaks.

The two-year-olds also get their first opportunity to show their talent to a large crowd, with two fillies and three geldings set to clash in the $60,000 B.C. Cup Nursery Stakes.

Finally, Canadian racing fans will also have an eye on Manitoba on Monday, when the $125,000 Manitoba Derby kicks-off the 2025 Western Canadian Derby Series, featuring a $100,000 bonus for any horse capable of annexing the Manitoba, Canadian and B.C Derbies, run at Assiniboia, Edmonton (Aug. 23) and Vancouver (Sept. 13), respectively.

B.C. CUP DAY SELECTIONS

Monday, Aug. 4. First post 2:30 p.m.

RACE 5: The $50,000 B.C. Cup Winston Churchill Derby Trial Stakes: Last year’s leading juvenile Mount Doom has had his balloon popped twice this year by stablemate Rondelito, but can be forgiven his last effort when an incident in the starting gate ended his chances.

RACE 7: The $50,000 B.C. Cup Classic: Already previously a winner, runner-up and third-place finisher in the race, the now eight-year-old B.C.-bred At Attention remains a potent force.