Veteran horseman Rod Hennessy entered Saturday's card of harness racing at Century Downs one training win shy of 2,000 lifetime, and he wasted no time in achieving the milestone.
Hennessy held destiny in his own hands as he was driving Ask For Me from his own stable in the Saturday afternoon opener at the Alberta oval. The second choice in the field of six, Ask For Me made every call a winning one en route to a 1:57.2 score by a neck over public choice Miss Bojangles (David A. Kelly) for his 2,000th training win.
Ask For Me (Mister Big - Ask For It) won her first of the year and fourth lifetime for owner Bryan Brook of Leduc. Alta.
Century Downs Racetrack & Casino General Manager Paul Ryneveld (R) congratulates Rod Hennessy on his 2000th Career training win
The feature race of the afternoon pitted six top pacers in the $9,000 Open Pace. American Passion might have been the longest shot on the morning line but driver Bobby Clark guided her like a 1-9 shot by placing her on the front and making three left turns. After carving out fractions of :28.2, :58.2 and 1:26.3, American Passion kicked home with a 29-second final quarter to trip the timer more than five lengths to the good in 1:55.3. Thats It (Hennessy) outclosed Divas Dragonfly (Jamie Gray) for second.
Trained by Sanford Campbell for owner Ray Henry of Calgary, American Passion (American Ideal - Felicia Hanover) notched her first win of 2018 and 28th lifetime to lift her career purse earnings to $207,092.
For the charted lines from Saturday's card at Century Downs, click the following link: Saturday Results - Century Downs.