British Columbia Derby Draws 10-Horse Field

Koffee Grinder, whose four-race win streak at Hastings Racecourse ended in August, looks to get back to the winner's circle in the $150,000 British Columbia Derby (Can-III) Sept. 14 at the Vancouver bullring.



Butch and Renata Goertzen's local homebred son of Grindstone drew the rail in a field of 10 sophomores. Leading Hastings trainer Craig MacPherson saddles Koffee Grinder, to be ridden by Richard Hamel, in the 1 1/8-mile B.C. Derby, which is race 9 on a stakes-filled afternoon with a scheduled post time of 5:13 p.m. PDT.



MacPherson and Hamel teamed to win the 2012 renewal of the B.C. Derby with Second City.



Koffee Grinder was 4-for-4 at Hastings to begin 2014, including three stakes triumphs. The streak came to an end Aug. 22 in the Richmond Derby Trial Handicap when he finished second at 3-5 odds by 2 1/4 lengths to 29-1 shot Slice of Red. Koffee Grinder, whose seven starts have all come at Hastings, favors a stalking style.



Slice of Red, a game winner last time for Linwood Stables and trainer Robert Anderson, drew the far outside and will be ridden back by Keishan Balgobin. The Richmond Derby Trial was the Rosberg gelding's first stakes win and came after finishing more than 15 lengths behind Koffee Grinder in the British Columbia Cup Stellar's Jay Handicap Aug. 4.



MacPherson, hitting at a 29% clip at Hastings, also entered L. D. S. Enterprises' Distillery, who was third in the Richmond Derby Trial after setting a slow pace. Amadeo Perez, the runaway leader among the jockeys at Hastings with 78 wins and earning of more than $1 million, has the return call.



Mebossman, winner of the Emerald Derby at Emerald Downs by a neck Aug. 10, journeys to Hastings for the first time as the Washington-bred Petionville   gelding makes his initial start for trainer Frank Lucarelli. Also exiting the Emerald Derby is Del Rio Harbor, who finished second in the 1 1/8-mile test after setting an honest pace. The son of Harbor the Gold won the Coca-Cola Handicap for trainer Doris Harwood June 22.



Shipping in from California for owner Peter Redekop is Alert Bay, who makes his first start for red-hot trainer Anita Bolton and will be ridden by Rico Walcott. The City Zip   gelding won the Echo Eddie Stakes at Santa Anita Park in April when trained by Blaine Wright. He comes in off a fifth in the Real Good Deal for California-breds Aug. 1 at Del Mar.



Bolton, has won with 15 of 41 starters (37%) at the current Hastings meet, teamed with Walcott  to win last year's B.C. Derby with Redekop's Title Contender.



Others in the field are Remembertobreathe, a distant second to Edison in the Canadian Derby (Can-III) Aug. 16, and recent Hastings stakes winner Wonder World.

A race before the B.C. Derby is the $100,000 British Columbia Oaks, which attracted a field of eight sophomore fillies.