From 2009 to 2010, Maritime harness racing marvelled over the pacing prowess of filly Meridian Magic. Now a broodmare, her first mating with paranormally-named Camystic appears to have resulted in a filly with equal supernatural ability.

The Atlantic Sires Stakes made its return to Cape Breton on Saturday (Sept. 22) as Northside Downs hosted the circuit's two-year-old pacers. The feature of the day was the single $17,340 division for two-year-old pacing fillies and the first head-to-head showdown of undefeated standouts Therealdeal and Magical Mistress.

As the wings of the gate folded, driver Adam Merner hustled Magical Mistress to the front of the field of eight and tripped the first timer in a sharp :28.1, with her rival in arrears by double digits. Merner kept that separation to his advantage with a sensible :58.1 half before asking his filly to turn on the jets down the backside. Opening up on her rivals with every stride, Magical Mistress was nearly 15 lengths the best as the third quarter flashed up in 1:27 and in the words of Larry Lederman, "if this was a fight, they'd stop it". Magical Mistress was in a league of her own, hitting the wire some 17 lengths the best in a track record time of 1:57. Ma Rebelle (Marc Campbell) was the best of the rest with Elm Grove Nellie (Dale Spence) a placed third.

The time of the mile shaved one-fifth off the old standard established by Saulsbrook Alana almost five years ago to the day on Sept. 21, 2013. Of note, the time of the mile equals the track record of the three-year-old pacing fillies as well. A further postscript: the track was rated 'good' with a two-second allowance.

A homebred owned by Barry Martin of Sydney, N.S. and trained by Stephen Gass, Magical Mistress is now perfect in eight seasonal starts with earnings of $39,510.

Pacing colts were also in action on the Saturday afternoon card in a pair of $9,320 ATSS 'A' divisions. Dusty Lane Cortez (David Dowling) earned his victory the hard way by attacking pacesetter Howmac Finale (Spence) first up, making the lead in the stretch and then holding off the late challenge of Purple Poet (M. Campbell) to win by a neck in 2:00.3.

Devon Wallace trains Dusty Lane Cortez (Westwardho Hanover - Tara Artiste) for David & Jordan Lewis of Alberton, PEI. The win was the third in nine tries this season for the $13,000 Atlantic Classic yearling, with earnings increased to $16,442.

The second division went to Red Dirt Boomer (Gilles Barrieau), who finished second but was placed first after pacesetter and first across the wire Woodmere Bolt (Earl Smith) was placed second for a pylon violation at the seven-eighths mark.

Barrieau trains Red Dirt Boomer (Malicious - Independent Gal) for Dan Ross of Belfast, PEI. A $13,250 Atlantic Classic yearling, Red Dirt Boomer now boasts a 5-2-0 summary from eight seasonal starts with more than $25,000 in purses.

Dismissed as one of the longest shots on the board, Brother John raced like he had something to prove in the $1,200 Winners Over Pace. Leaving with driver Randy Getto from the rail, Brother John fought off the persistent overland bid of Charlottes Style (Barry Bates) for the first three-parts of the mile and then repelled pocket-sitter turned first-up challenger Southwind Ricardo (Ryan Campbell) through the wire, winning by a half-length in 2:01.

Eight-year-old Brother John (Stonebridge Regal - Pine Barrens) earned his fifth win of the year and 34th lifetime for trainer Ken Collins and Nova Scotia-based owners Randy & Bradley Getto, Susan Macsween and Wayne Hardy.

For the results from Saturday's card of harness racing at Northside Downs, click the following link: Saturday Results - Northside Downs.