Winning the Canadian Derby would be a boyhood dream for thoroughbred owner Ole Nielsen

Lloyd Lewis

Published

5 years ago

13 minute read

Written by Curtis Stock

The Canadian Derby has and always will be the stuff of dreams. Just ask thoroughbred owner Ole Nielsen who won Saturday’s allowance race at Century Mile with favoured Vancouver invader Explode to move squarely into the forefront of the $250,000 August 18th Derby.

“Winning the Canadian Derby would be a boyhood dream,” said Nielsen after his charge Explode got up in the final strides over a bowl of mud and the wind blowing the starched flags sideways having just enough to get past a very game filly Im Evin Im Leavin to win by half a length.

Sharp Dressed Beau, the 3-1 second choice in the wagering who had three straight wins coming into the race, was another length and a half back in third.

“I’m an Edmonton boy. I was raised here,” said Nielsen, who now lives in Vancouver. “I went to the University of Alberta and then moved to Vancouver to go to the University of British Columbia. I remember picking up empty pop bottles so that I could have enough money to bet $2 to win, place and show on a horse at Northlands. And when I was a little older I remember betting $100 to win on Chariot Chaser,” he said of the 1965 Derby when Chariot Chaser splashed through a similarly muddy track coming from 21 lengths back with Sandy Shields in the irons to run down Vancouver’s Weedbender.

Chariot Chaser paid $26.00 to win that day. “I had more than enough money to buy a train ticket to Vancouver for a nice holiday trip. Now I’m not going to say Explode is going to win the Derby – too many things can happen and you don’t know who else is going to show up – but he will get the distance; he’ll run all day.”

The Derby is 10 furlongs. Saturday’s allowance race was nine furlongs. But Nielsen is probably correct that Explode will handle the extra eighth of a mile. That was in full evidence on Saturday when he overcame his outside 10th post position, raced four wide around the first turn and then five wide down the backstretch before unleashing his move.

After the wire winning jockey Amadeo Perez had Explode gallop out another eighth of a mile which he accomplished with aplomb.

It was also in full evidence back in Vancouver at Hastings Park when he won his last two stakes starts by a combined total of 10 1/2 lengths – first going six-and-a-half furlongs when he came from last place and then the mile and a sixteenth Chris Loseth when he stalked the early pace and then fluidly drew away by half a dozen lengths.

“I felt good about (Saturday’s race) but he gave me some anxious moments down the stretch gawking around here and there – something he absolutely doesn’t do in Vancouver – and then jumping the tire tracks left by the starting gate,” said Nielsen, who runs a breeding operation in Vancouver.

“I was shocked the way he ran down the lane. But he got the job done. And that filly…,” Nielsen said of Im Evin Im Leavin. “Boy she ran a huge race. That’s some filly. Amadeo had to ask him at the end to go. Fortunately he did.”

The victory was Explodes third in a row and fifth in his last six starts. The only blemish – a small one – came when he simply ran out of real estate and finished second in the Jim Coleman Province stakes missing by three-quarters of a length to Dr John after being 10th during the early going in the six-and-a-half furlong dash.

“After he won the Ascot Graduation and was named champion two-year-old in B.C. I said at the Awards Dinner that I’d had quite a few good horses over the years and it’s hard to convince me that they are good horses,” recalled Nielsen, who said he has been a “horse nut” all his life winning his first race way back in 1971. “But I said ‘This might be a good one.'”

For sure. “As I said at the dinner I’ve had several good horses,” he said mentioning horses like Winmor Miss that he owned with with Jim Sapara who beat the boys including highly regarded Rockcliffe in the Alberta Derby and Monashee who won over $800,000.

“Monashee won three races in Edmonton. I really liked sending her to Alberta when my mom and dad and my sister were still alive and lived here. It was a lot of fun.”

Nielsen bought Explode as a weanling in Kentucky and then put him into the B.C. Yearling Sale. “We’re short of horses in Vancouver so I bought six weanlings and ran them all through the B.C. sale as yearlings. I had a $15,000 reserve bid on Explode which I thought was fair but nobody put up their hand,” said Nielsen adding that he wound up selling only one of those six weanlings. Luckily Explode was one of the ones I kept. I’m very, very happy with him.”

“He only arrived in Edmonton (on Friday). Mark (trainer Cloutier) brought him out here with Harold Barroby’s son, Trapper, in Harold’s rig. It was a new spot for him. He was a bit nervous in the paddock and it wasn’t a very nice bloody day. The experience will do him good. That was one tough race. In my opinion these were better horses than he was running against in Vancouver.”

“It should set him up nicely for the next one,” said Nielsen, with ‘the next one’ of course being the Canadian Derby. “We were going to stay in Vancouver and run him on Aug. 5. But it made more sense to come here if you are trying to get the big prize. We’ll see how smart we are in three weeks.”

Nielsen was glad to hear that Im Evin Im Leavin isn’t going to run in the Derby with trainer Greg Tracy and the filly’s owners Wayne Bakke, Nathan Hoines and Jodee Hoovestal opting instead to run her in the $100,000 Century Casinos Oaks the day before the Derby.

While most people were surprised with Im Evin Im Leavin’s inspired performance while being sent away at 20-1 Tracy wasn’t.

“In her last start she rattled the starting gate and had blood running down her forehead. I mean she literally shook the whole gate,” said Tracy of a race where she ended up third defeated by nine-and-a-half lengths.

“Prayven (jockey Badrie) also lost his whip when she acted up in the gate.” If you threw that race out, you’ll see that Im Evin Im Leavin had won her previous three starts – two in New Mexico and the other at Century Mile – in most convincing fashion. Furthermore, in Im Evin Im Leavin’s last start of 2018 she finished second to B.C. powerhouse Summerland, who has won eight of her nine career starts.

Tracy will probably run Flatout Winner in the Derby. Fifth on Saturday he could be a live longshot. Bumped hard leaving the starting gate, he lost several lengths at the break, made a good wide move down the backstretch before being taken back to the rail where he flattened out. Moved off the rail again he started to run again.

“I think he’ll get a lot from this race,” said Tracy. “He just shipped in (from Churchill Downs in Kentucky) before the race. I think he’ll be a different horse in the Derby.”

STOCK REPORT – In other Derby news trainer Robertino Diodoro is looking at sending two horses to Edmonton for the Grade 3 race.

Diodoro, who has won the last two Canadian Derbies and four of the last six – although, amazingly, the verdict of the 2017 Derby which was won by Chief Know It All is still tied up in the courts – intends on sending both Señor Friday and Miltontown to Edmonton on Thursday. Senor Friday has won at Prairie Meadows, Canterbury Downs and in Phoenix. He’s owned by Charlie Garvey.

Miltontown, who was claimed for $50,000 is owned by the same connections that won last year’s Derby with Sky Promise: Rick and Clayton Wiest, Tim Rollingson and Norman Tremblay. “Miltontown’s last race was in the Iowa Derby but I think you can throw that race in the garbage. He got a terrible trip. It was a speed-biased track and he was trapped behind horses.”

Asked if he thought he could win the Derby with either of them Diodoro said “Both are doing well. If I didn’t think they could win they wouldn’t be coming to Alberta.”

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Follow Curtis on Twitter at CurtisJStock

The Canadian Derby is hosted by Century Mile Racetrack and Casino. They offer many options to enjoy the 90th running of this classic.

Tables of four (4) or six (6) in our Finish Line Restaurant.
Tables of four (4) in our private Paddock Room wagering area.
VIP Tents – The Spangled Jimmy Tent and Sky Promise Tents located next to the racetrack, South of the Century Mile building.
Executive Cabanas for twenty (20) located directly on the apron along the East side of the Century Mile building (18+ area).
Outdoor, open grandstand seating.
Outdoor beer gardens (18+ area).

Additional notes:

Casino is open from 9:30 am to 3:00 am. Slot machines activate at 10:00 am. The Casino is age restricted to 18 years of age or greater.
Main Apron along the racetrack will be fully open and accessible to all ages (no cost for attending on the Apron, outside of ticketed areas).
There is no infield seating options this year due to the grass in that area still establishing itself.
Food and beverage options will be sold throughout the venue. Outside food and beverage not permitted.
Free on site parking and free shuttles from Premium Outlet Collection mall will be available.

Click here to learn more about the Canadian Derby.

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Broken ‘equalization’ program bad for all provinces

Published on November 21, 2024

Todayville

From the Fraser Institute

By Alex Whalen and Tegan Hill

Back in the summer at a meeting in Halifax, several provincial premiers discussed a lawsuit meant to force the federal government to make changes to Canada’s equalization program. The suit—filed by Newfoundland and Labrador and backed by British Columbia, Saskatchewan and Alberta—effectively argues that the current formula isn’t fair. But while the question of “fairness” can be subjective, its clear the equalization program is broken.

In theory, the program equalizes the ability of provinces to deliver reasonably comparable services at a reasonably comparable level of taxation. Any province’s ability to pay is based on its “fiscal capacity”—that is, its ability to raise revenue.

This year, equalization payments will total a projected $25.3 billion with all provinces except B.C., Alberta and Saskatchewan to receive some money. Whether due to higher incomes, higher employment or other factors, these three provinces have a greater ability to collect government revenue so they will not receive equalization.

However, contrary to the intent of the program, as recently as 2021, equalization program costs increased despite a decline in the fiscal capacity of oil-producing provinces such as Alberta, Saskatchewan, and Newfoundland and Labrador. In other words, the fiscal capacity gap among provinces was shrinking, yet recipient provinces still received a larger equalization payment.

Why? Because a “fixed-growth rule,” introduced by the Harper government in 2009, ensures that payments grow roughly in line with the economy—even if the gap between richer and poorer provinces shrinks. The result? Total equalization payments (before adjusting for inflation) increased by 19 per cent between 2015/16 and 2020/21 despite the gap in fiscal capacities between provinces shrinking during this time.

Moreover, the structure of the equalization program is also causing problems, even for recipient provinces, because it generates strong disincentives to natural resource development and the resulting economic growth because the program “claws back” equalization dollars when provinces raise revenue from natural resource development. Despite some changes to reduce this problem, one study estimated that a recipient province wishing to increase its natural resource revenues by a modest 10 per cent could face up to a 97 per cent claw back in equalization payments.

Put simply, provinces that generally do not receive equalization such as Alberta, B.C. and Saskatchewan have been punished for developing their resources, whereas recipient provinces such as Quebec and in the Maritimes have been rewarded for not developing theirs.

Finally, the current program design also encourages recipient provinces to maintain high personal and business income tax rates. While higher tax rates can reduce the incentive to work, invest and be productive, they also raise the national standard average tax rate, which is used in the equalization allocation formula. Therefore, provinces are incentivized to maintain high and economically damaging tax rates to maximize equalization payments.

Unless premiers push for reforms that will improve economic incentives and contain program costs, all provinces—recipient and non-recipient—will suffer the consequences.

Authors:

Alex Whalen and Tegan Hill

National

Liberals, NDP admit closed-door meetings took place in attempt to delay Canada’s next election

Published on November 12, 2024

Todayville

From LifeSiteNews

By Anthony Murdoch

Pushing back the date would preserve the pensions of some of the MPs who could be voted out of office in October 2025.

Aides to the cabinet of Prime Minister Justin Trudeau confirmed that MPs from the Liberal and New Democratic Party (NDP) did indeed hold closed-door “briefings” to rewrite Canada’s elections laws so that they could push back the date of the next election.

The closed-door talks between the NDP and Liberals confirmed the aides included a revision that would guarantee some of its 28 MPs, including three of Trudeau’s cabinet members, would get a pension.

Allen Sutherland, who serves as the assistant cabinet secretary, testified before the House of Commons affairs committee that the changes to the Elections Act were discussed in the meetings.

“We attended a meeting where the substance of that proposal was discussed,” he said, adding that his “understanding is the briefing was primarily oral.”

According to Sutherland, as reported by Blacklock’s Reporter, it was only NDP and Liberal MPs who attended the secret meetings regarding changes to Canada’s Elections Act via Bill C-65, An Act to Amend the Canada Elections Act before the bill was introduced in March.

As reported by LifeSiteNews before, the Liberals were hoping to delay the 2025 federal election by a few days in what many see as a stunt to secure pensions for MPs who are projected to lose their seats. Approximately 80 MPs would qualify for pensions should they sit as MPs until at least October 27, 2025, which is the newly proposed election date. The election date is currently set for October 20, 2025.

Sutherland noted when asked by Conservative MP Luc Berthold that he recalled little from the meetings, but he did confirm he attended “two meetings of that kind.”

“Didn’t you find it unusual that a discussion about amending the Elections Act included only two political parties and excluded the others?” Berthold asked.

Sutherland responded, “It’s important to understand what my role was in those meetings which was simply to provide background information.”

“My role was to provide information,” replied Sutherland, who added he could not provide the exact dates of the meetings.

MPs must serve at least six years to qualify for a pension that pays $77,900 a year. Should an election be called today, many MPs would fall short of reaching the six years, hence Bill C-65 was introduced by the Liberals and NDP.

The Liberals have claimed that pushing back the next election date is not over pensions but due to “trying to observe religious holidays,” as noted by Liberal MP Mark Gerretsen.

“Conservatives voted against this bill,” Berthold said, as they are “confident of winning re-election. We don’t need this change.”

Trudeau’s popularity is at a all-time low, but he has refused to step down as PM, call an early election, or even step aside as Liberal Party leader.

As for the amendments to elections laws, they come after months of polling in favour of the Conservative Party under the leadership of Pierre Poilievre.

A recent poll found that 70 percent of Canadians believe the country is “broken” as Trudeau focuses on less critical issues. Similarly, in January, most Canadians reported that they are worse off financially since Trudeau took office.

Additionally, a January poll showed that 46 percent of Canadians expressed a desire for the federal election to take place sooner rather than the latest mandated date in the fall of 2025.