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Winning the Canadian Derby would be a boyhood dream for thoroughbred owner Ole Nielsen
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.
Racket News
It would be a crime to abandon investigations into Russiagate, both because it’s ongoing and because of the cost to those of us who were victims of it
We Russia hoax Remnants feel differently about President Donald Trump’s recent landslide victory, and our expectations are diverse. But we all, to some degree, have similar stories and hopes — not for retribution, as delicious as that may be, but for accountability and reform.
And Kash Patel, President Trump’s pick to lead the Federal Bureau of Investigation, is the man we need. Like the President elect, he has seen this abuse up close. They are uniquely qualified.
Make no mistake, when we all chose politics as a profession, we knew it was bloodsport. But none of us expected the personal toll that impacted not just careers, but health and families — especially our children.
There are many families like my own, destroyed completely by the Democrats’ illegal zeal to Get Trump at any cost. During Russiagate and the subsequent hoaxes, I screamed at the top of my lungs on television several times each week as my wife and daughters lived in fear in our Buffalo-area home.
Most Remnants stayed silent. They were the smart ones.
Those subjects of the bogus Russian collusion investigations are quietly reassembling their lives today. Just six or seven years ago, some pulled their children from school, bullied by students and teachers alike. Both parents in at least one family were fired, and with no money for tuition their son was forced to drop out of the college he worked tirelessly to attend. I don’t think he ever returned.
These Remnant stories are commonplace. Many families lost their homes; most lost their life savings. I know of older targets living on meager pensions now that their bank accounts were drained by lawfare legal fees. Those still working are earning less than half the income of their peers.
One family left the country, disheartened by what America had become. Another man, once an international business success, was wrongly debased and finally diminished to serve in a bureaucracy.
Then there is the death and near deaths, the suicide attempts readers will never know, the illnesses brought on by stress. When I fell with head and neck cancer, another Remnant struck by the disease called me twice a week to share our battles. After several months, his calls stopped.
My colleague had finally succumbed to the Crossfire Hurricane plague, unfathomable stress that drives cancer. Readers don’t even know his name; his wife and two young children know he was a hero.
He did nothing wrong. He was a Remnant.
The mentally ill, weaponized by brazen Democrat lies, harassed nearly all of us. My frequent media appearances made me more recognizable than the smarter, quieter Remnants. That made my family a target of a local retired mailman who was arrested and prosecuted for harassment.
My youngest daughters, just five and seven years old at the time, were often harassed while playing in our front yard. A local elderly woman, an otherwise benign community museum volunteer, posted dozens of times on social media during her daily walks by our house, including photos showing our address. She screamed at my girls and mocked their safety.
The bitter old lady died recently and the nutty mailman is still creeping around. Our family prays for their souls because, like all the Remnants, we know the banality of evil. Unhinged activists, some neighbors, forced us to leave our beloved hometown forever. We miss it every day — especially after a big, beautiful Buffalo snowfall.
It’s worse for some, like Paul Manafort, Carter Page, and the inimitable Roger Stone. Last year Roger and I had a late lunch a few miles from his home. Out of nowhere, an Antifa activist showed up to threaten him in the empty restaurant. Clearly, these pongos are still tracking Roger closely. He did nothing wrong, yet I still fear for his safety.
I have talked to many of the Remnants since Election Day. Some have high hopes; these patriots still believe in our justice system. Others expect nothing at all after seeing enough corruption to believe justice is dead. Most are somewhere in between.
All of us agree the original Russiagate conspiracy continues even today. The Russia hoax was created by Hillary Clinton aide Jake Sullivan, who carries on with his lies today as President Joe Biden’s national security advisor. Christopher Steele, the British spy hired by Clinton to create the dodgy dossier, and his Fusion GPS co-conspirator Glenn Simpson are still doing the same work for similar clients. Andrew Weissmann, Peter Strzok, John Brennan, and more still peddle their lies. Elements of the original conspiracy were woven into Ukrainian meddling in the 2016 American election, then bogus Trump impeachments, January 6th prosecutions, anti-Trump lawfare, and Special Counsel Jack Smith’s Mar-a-lago raid.
FBI Director Patel can prove the original 2016 conspiracy continues today. Much of the evidence remains in federal and public databases. Preemptive pardons aside, that means Sullivan, Weissmann, Mary McCord, Steele, Simpson, Victoria Nuland, Alexander Vindman, Eric Ciaramella, Smith, and others may still be in the jackpot. We agree with attorney Mike Davis: these perpetrators potentially violated 18 U.S.C. § 241 and 242, federal civil rights statutes that prohibit conspiracies to violate the rights of others.
This is where many Remnants stand: please do not forget the families in the ash tray and simply move on. Investigate the perpetrators now, reach back to the beginning of their Russiagate criminal conspiracy and follow it to today. Prosecute them fully and legally; expose how they illegally crushed us.
But do this only in pursuit of true justice — not for retribution, but for accountability and reform.
Michael Caputo worked at the highest levels of global politics for 40 years. He served as HHS Assistant Secretary for Public Affairs during the COVID pandemic and as a senior advisor to the 2016 and 2024 Donald Trump for President campaigns. He is the Jeffrey Bell senior fellow at the American Principles Project.
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From the Daily Caller News Foundation
By Adam Pack
A federal judge dismissed a January 6th defendant’s defamation lawsuit against Fox News and its former primetime TV anchor, Daily Caller co-founder Tucker Carlson on Wednesday.
Delaware Federal District Court Judge, Jennifer Hall, ruled that Carlson’s reporting on Epps was protected under the First Amendment because Epps’ lawyers did not prove Carlson had acted with “actual malice.”
“For the reasons announced from the bench today, it is hereby ordered that Defendant’s Motion to Dismiss for Failure to State a Claim is granted,” Hall, a Biden appointee, wrote.
Members of the corporate media claimed that Epps would win his lawsuit against Fox News and prove Carlson had acted with “actual malice” in his reporting on the Jan. 6 defendant, according to an MSNBC discussion on the defamation case led by former Republican National Committee chairman and MSNBC political analyst Michael Steele on July 16, 2023, following news of Epps’ lawsuit.
“I think what Dominion ushered in this question of actual malice and we saw the $800 million settlement has really ripped open if you will, the opportunity for others to go at Fox News,” former Florida Republican Rep. David Jolly said during the clip.
“They better get out a really big check book because they’re gonna pay heavily,” former Democratic Maryland Rep. Donna Edwards also said.
Judge Hall, however, sided with Fox News’ lawyers and dismissed the lawsuit before it could proceed to trial.
“It is especially clear that any conclusions were only opinions, because the statements were replete with ‘cautionary language’ that signal opinion and interpretation,” Fox News’ lawyers wrote in a memorandum in support of the network’s motion to dismiss Epps’ lawsuit. “In one segment, after showing a video of Plaintiff, Mr. Carlson squarely stated: ‘Once again, you can draw whatever conclusions you like from that video. We have ours and we shared them with you’. Fox opinion hosts were clearly providing their interpretations that listeners could accept or reject based on their own assessment of the fully disclosed facts.”
“First amendment protection for such commentary is essential for our democracy,” the memorandum also stated.
“Epps and his wife have clearly been through a nightmare of threats and innuendo,” Jonathan Turley, Fox News legal commentator wrote on his personal website following the judge’s ruling. “However, this public controversy was discussed by various networks and the Jan. 6th Committee. It was also a matter of legitimate public debate and commentary, with people on both sides expressing their views on the evidence and underlying allegations.”
Epps sued Fox News in July 2023 following Carlson’s comments that suggested Epps may have been a government agent after video footage surfaced showing him the night before Jan. 6, 2021, encouraging Trump supporters to go inside the Capitol the next day, leading to speculation that he may have been an FBI informant.
“We’re far beyond that. In fact, tomorrow—I don’t even like to say it because I’ll be arrested—we need to go into the Capitol. We’re here to defend the Constitution,” Epps could be heard saying in the video.
“I’m going to put this out there. I’m probably going to jail for it. Tomorrow, we need to go into the Capitol. Into the Capitol. Peacefully,” Epps added. Someone in the crowd responded by calling Epps a “fed,” the video showed.
Chief Judge of the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia James Boasberg sentenced Epps to just 12 months probation on Jan. 9, three years after Epps encouraged Trump supporters to storm the U.S. Capitol.
Other Jan. 6 defendants received much longer sentences than Epps. Department of Justice (DOJ) prosecutors offered Epps a misdemeanor plea deal for cooperating with federal authorities and expressing remorse for his actions, and recommended he serve six months in jail for his conduct on and preceding the Jan. 6 riot. Epps was sentenced to twelve months probation in January.
“It’s amazing Ray Epps gets mere probation after there is video evidence he helped incite the January 6th riot, while Trump supporters get sent to prison for months — even years — for trespassing and taking selfies on the Senate floor,” Mike Davis, founder and president of the Article III Project previously told the DCNF. “The FBI protects its own.”
Carlson also accused Epps of lying in his testimony to the January 6th Committee.
“Following the dismissals of the Jankowicz, Bobulinski, and now Epps cases, Fox News is pleased with these back-to-back decisions from federal courts preserving the press freedoms of the First Amendment,” Fox News told the Daily Caller News Foundation in a written statement.
Epps’ lawyer did not immediately respond to the DCNF’s request for comment.
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