Wrangler Hitech put forth his best effort yet in winning Saturday’s featured $10,000 Open Pace at Alberta Downs in a career-best clocking of 1:53
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Beach Boy Toy (Gerry Hudon) was the early leader through fractions of :27 and :56 before trainer-driver Keith Clark sent Wrangler Hitech to the top from third. The four-year-old gelded son of As Promised-Raines Lucey reached three-quarters in 1:23.1 with four lengths on his rivals and then cruised home to hit the wire in 1:53 with longshot Almost No More Bs (Jamie Gray) coming on to finish a half-length behind in second. Favourite Neal Diamonique (J.F. Gagne), last week’s Open winner, was third.
Wrangler Hitech paid $5.20 to win as part of the second choice entry. Clark shares ownership of the winner of two races in 17 seasonal starts and over $40,000 with Robert Jones of Slave Lake and Peter Giannakopoulos of Edmonton, AB. Lifetime, Wrangler Hitech has recorded 16 victories while putting away $218,575 in purse earnings.
In other action, Rod Hennessy scored a training-driving hat trick on the 10-race card. Tap Room, a two-year-old son of Brandons Cowboy, won for the first time in two starts in 2:00.1 while three-year-old Camystic miss Tap Out matched that time as she broke her maiden later on the card. Six-year-old pacing mare Kg Mist closed out the night with a 1:53.4 victory, her second in a row.
To view Saturday’s results, click here.