'Princess' Outlaw Fireball Reigns
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Reigning divisional champion Outlaw Fireball kept her perfect Alberta Sires Stakes record in tact as she swept by the field down the stretch to win the season's first $59,600 final in the Princess leg for three-year-old pacing fillies on Saturday afternoon (June 3) at Century Downs Racetrack and Casino.
Outlaw Fireball took a full second off her lifetime mark and her winning time of 1:55.1 was just two-fifths of a second off the track record for sophomore fillies. The Blue Burner-Watchasgirlsgoby filly is trained by Marjorie Dumont and owned by driver J.F. Gagne and partners Peter Van Seggelen, Carl Warnaar and Tapron Holdings Ltd.
Leaving from the outside post eight in Saturday's featured finale, Cardinal Rule (Mike Hennessy) quickly crossed to command and sprinted the first quarter :26.3 before 4-5 favourite Wedding Dance (Jim Marino) looped her to take command in front of the grandstand. Wedding Dance led the field through middle splits of :55.1 and 1:24.2 while Steady Breeze (Kelly Hoerdt) closed up a gap in fourth-place and went first-up. Stylomilohos (Brandon Campbell) followed the cover and tipped three-wide for the stretch drive, but Outlaw Fireball went widest of all from the backfield and rallied onto the scene late to score the three and a half length victory. Steady Breeze finished second and Stylomilohos was third. Legs Like Tina (Phil Giesbrecht) came on for fourth while Wedding Dance earned the final paycheque in fifth.
Outlaw Fireball, who was one of the four elimination winners last week in her season's debut, paid $10 to win as the 4-1 second choice on the toteboard to Wedding Dance. The victory, her seventh in 11 career starts, pushed her bankroll over the $100,000 mark.
The same connections opened the Saturday card with a victory in the weekly $9,500 Fillies & Mares Open Handicap courtesy of Tajmeallover, who made the lead at the quarter pole and scored in 1:54.1 by one and a half lengths over the pocket-riding Lydi Lula Belle (Jim Marino). Sent postward as the favourite, the Tajma Hall-Watch Over Me mare paid $2.70 to win. Her stablemate/sibling Watch My Luck (Nathan Sobey) finished third ahead of Nighttraintovegas (Rick Schneider) in the field scratched down to just four starters.
In other action, the Alberta-sired sophomore filly Shesamysterytome posted an eye-catching nine and three-quarter length victory in 1:55 flat for trainer/driver Ryan Grundy and owners Ashlee Sluggett and Trevor Williams. The win followed up the Mystery Chase-Allamerican Boo filly's third-place finish in the fastest Princess elimination won by Wedding Dance.
The $55,400 Alberta Plainsman final for three-year-old pacing colts will headline Sunday's harness racing card at Century Downs. The fillies will face off again in the Alberta Diamond leg next month, with eliminations scheduled for July 8.
To view Saturday's harness racing results, click on the following link: Saturday Results - Century Downs.