Blue Canyon is one of the easiest horses to spot at Cal-Expo, as the 8-year-old pacing son of Tulane is not only just this side of white, but also literally towers over most of his rivals.
 
When Blue Canyon suits up in Saturday’s (August 14) opener, he will be making his 188th lifetime appearance, with 19 wins, 24 seconds and a like number of thirds to show for these efforts and a 1:55. career standard from two years ago.  The veteran is owned by Bridget Desomer and will as usual be guided by her husband Etienne.
 
When last seen under the lights here in late May, Blue Canyon was definitely floundering with a pair of breaks, but judging by his sparkling victory in a Matinee event last weekend, he’s gearing up for a much brighter second half of his 2020 campaign.
 
“I have two people to thank for Blue Canyon’s mile last week,” related Bridget. “One is Pam Greer, who I met indirectly through my mother-in-law Vickie.  Pam was nice enough to let Blue Canyon stay up at her place during the break, and they had five acres of grass, trees and a pond that they shared with a quarter horse and a retired standardbred named Riverman.
 
“Blue Canyon and my other horse, Tu Charming, spent the majority of their vacation swimming in the pond, which I believe kept them sharp.  They both came back to the racetrack with a new attitude and muscles I didn’t even remember seeing before.”
 
Bridget also credits her husband Etienne with some adjustments that seem to be agreeing with the big gray.
 
“He’s changed his shoeing behind to something that I have never seen in many years in this business.  Tien and our blacksmith Louie have spent a lot of time trying to figure out how to shoe him.  If Blue Canyon continues to pace the way he did in that mile last Saturday (August 7), by George, I think they’ve got it!”
 
By the way, Blue Canyon’s 187 trips to the post isn’t the most in the cast.  Drawn just to his inside on the rail is the 10-year-old Mow Em Down from the Nick Casale barn, and this guy is making start No. 254 in the evening’s opener.  Talk about your iron horses.
 
Opening night of the summer/fall/winter meet is Friday, August 13, with racing through December 18.  The live August schedule will be Friday & Saturday, August 13 & 14, as well as August 20 & 21.  The following week, Cal-Expo will switch over to its most recent traditional schedule of Thursday through Saturday (August 26-28).  All post-times are scheduled for 5:30 p.m. (PDT), however, it should be noted that post-time on Friday, August 13 is a 6:20 p.m., and on Saturday (August 14) at 6:15 p.m.