Masen was purchased out of an online horse sale last year for $80,000 by MacPherson\u2019s owner, Nicole Droder, and joined the horse population in Vancouver as part of Droder\u2019s desire to support horse racing here<\/p>\n
Published Aug 14, 2025 \u00a0\u2022\u00a0 Last updated 9\u00a0hours ago \u00a0\u2022\u00a0 3 minute read<\/p>\n
<\/a><\/p>\n You can save this article by registering for free here<\/a>. Or sign-in<\/a> if you have an account.<\/p>\n While there\u2019s more Friday night racing in East Van this week, local racing fans will also have eyes on Seattle, where two leading Hastings\u2019 performers go for glory in Sunday\u2019s $125,000 Longacres Mile at Emerald Downs.<\/p>\n Advertisement 2<\/p>\n This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below.<\/p>\n THIS CONTENT IS RESERVED FOR SUBSCRIBERS ONLY<\/p>\n Subscribe now to read the latest news in your city and across Canada.<\/p>\n SUBSCRIBE TO UNLOCK MORE ARTICLES<\/p>\n Subscribe now to read the latest news in your city and across Canada.<\/p>\n REGISTER \/ SIGN IN TO UNLOCK MORE ARTICLES<\/p>\n Create an account or sign in to continue with your reading experience.<\/p>\n THIS ARTICLE IS FREE TO READ REGISTER TO UNLOCK.<\/p>\n Create an account or sign in to continue with your reading experience.<\/p>\n Sign In or Create an Account<\/p>\n or<\/p>\n Article content<\/p>\n The Craig MacPherson-trained Masen, recent winner of a valuable Allowance contest at Hastings, will be ridden by his regular partner Kerron Khelawan and heads to Seattle, according to MacPherson, in the best shape he\u2019s been since joining the barn over the winter. An impeccably bred son of a European champion miler, Masen was purchased out of an online horse sale last year for $80,000 by MacPherson\u2019s owner, Nicole Droder, and joined the horse population in Vancouver as part of Droder\u2019s desire to support horse racing here.<\/p>\n Article content<\/p>\n Article content<\/p>\n MacPherson said: \u201cIt\u2019s been a learning curve with Masen and I think we\u2019re just starting to see him come together now. He had a nice work Sunday, so we\u2019ll see what happens.\u201d<\/p>\n Masen will be MacPherson\u2019s second runner in the storied race, which dates back to 1935 and which has been run at Emerald Downs since 1996.<\/p>\n Canucks Report<\/p>\n Thanks for signing up!<\/p>\n Article content<\/p>\n Advertisement 3<\/p>\n This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below.<\/p>\n Article content<\/p>\n \u201cWhen I was still in school age, my brother and I, we\u2019d go down every year to see the Mile. The likes of (trainers) Charlie Whittingham have won the race, Richard Mandela\u2019s won the race, Bob Baffert\u2019s won the race. It may have lost a little of its shine, it used to be a race where you\u2019d regularly see horses coming in from Chicago, Santa Anita and places like that, but it\u2019s still a big race.\u201d<\/p>\n Raced initially in Ireland, Masen has plenty of international travel experience and will ship down to Seattle just a couple of days before the Longacres Mile.<\/p>\n \u201cThe ship to Seattle is a pretty easy one. It\u2019s only two to three hours, depending on traffic. With an older horse like this, I\u2019m not too worried about him finding the new surroundings a problem,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n Advertisement 4<\/p>\n This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below.<\/p>\n Article content<\/p>\n The relatively short cross-border trip should also suit Apprehend, who is trained by Barbara Anderson-Heads and owned by Peter Redekop, whose Anothertwistafate won the Longacres in2020. Like Masen, Apprehend, who will start for just the second time this season following a recent track record-breaking victory in Edmonton, is used to life on the road.<\/p>\n \u201cHe\u2019s been around the world and back again, so he\u2019s pretty educated on travelling and he\u2019s really good about it,\u201d Anderson-Heads revealed. \u201cI\u2019ve never really had the opportunity where I\u2019ve had the right horse,\u201d she said. \u201cApprehend looks to be competitive in the race and it\u2019s fun to have a horse like him to take down there.\u201d<\/p>\n Advertisement 5<\/p>\n This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below.<\/p>\n Article content<\/p>\n Apprehend, who will need to overcome a wide gate draw, will be ridden by leading Hastings jockey Amadeo Perez, who won the Longacres in 2013 on Herbie D for Hastings\u2019 trainer, Rob Gilker. This year\u2019s Longacres also features the former B.C. Derby runner-up Moneyshot, who is now based at Emerald Downs in the barn of former Hastings\u2019 handler, Ian Jewell. Jewell also saddles Seas of Normandy and both horses run for Hastings\u2019 owners, Wynn Racing.<\/p>\n Meanwhile, 13 three-year-olds, including the sole filly No Time, will chase a $1 million purse in Saturday\u2019s 166th running of the King\u2019s Plate, the first leg of the Canadian Triple Crown, at Woodbine.<\/p>\n Hastings selections<\/p>\n Friday, Aug.15.: First post 7 p.m. Race 3. Prime Directive caught the eye when losing in a head-bob finish on just his second lifetime run and he reappears here for new connections after being claimed last time.<\/p>\n Race 4. Snap to It, who was promoted to first on the disqualification of a stablemate two starts ago, can break a five-race runner-up sequence stretching back to August last year.<\/p>\n Check out our sports section<\/a> for the latest news and analysis. Care for a wager? Head to our sports betting section<\/a> for news and odds.<\/p>\n Article content<\/p>\n Share this article in your social network<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Breadcrumb Trail Links Sports Sports Betting Masen was purchased out of an online horse sale last year for…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":345799,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4107],"tags":[1071,79,16,15],"class_list":{"0":"post-345798","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-racing","8":"tag-racing","9":"tag-sports","10":"tag-uk","11":"tag-united-kingdom"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@uk\/115031255716509069","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/345798","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=345798"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/345798\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/345799"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=345798"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=345798"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=345798"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}![\"apprehend\"](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/apprehend_amadeo_perez_saturday-september-7-2024...race-6...p_298128717.jpg\")
Apprehend, ridden by Amadeo Perez. Photo Michael ByeArticle content<\/p>\n![\"The](\"https:\/\/dcs-static.gprod.postmedia.digital\/19.3.2\/websites\/images\/identity\/logo-identity-vp.svg\"){kind=logo}
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<\/p>\n![\"masen\"](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/training-photos12-masen...march-14-2025...photo-michael-bye.jp_298128707.jpg\")
Masen, ridden by Kerron Khelawan. Photo Michael Bye<\/p>\n
Like MacPherson, Anderson-Heads has yet to win a Longacres Mile, but feels Apprehend represents the best chance she\u2019s had to scratch that particular itch.<\/p>\n