Lickcreek Jazzy found her groove amongst Open company on Saturday night as she eked out last week’s winner, Lil Kim, by a neck over a sloppy Fraser Downs racetrack

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With three vet scratches, the field for Saturday’s $13,000 Fillies & Mares Open Pace was reduced to five. Post 4 starter Lickcreek Jazzy and trainer-driver Ed Hensley got away fourth as Furious Five (Serge Masse) and race favourite Lil Kim (James Burke) fired off the gate. With the rail advantage, Furious Five established early command forcing Lil Kim to drop back into the pocket during a sizzling :26.4 first quarter.

The field remained in single-file alignment as they travelled to the halfway point in :58.1. From there, Lickcreek Jazzy moved to the outside and Lil Kim pulled the pocket. Lil Kim pulled ahead of Furious Five past the 1:26.2 three-quarters mark while Lickcreek Jazzy angled wide.

Furious Five dug in and reclaimed the lead at the top of the stretch, but eventually gave way leaving Lil Kim and Lickcreek Jazzy to battle for the win. In the final strides, Lickcreek Jazzy pushed ahead for the 1:55.4 score. Lady And Thetrench (John Abbott) rounded out the top three.

Hensley shares ownership of the winning six-year-old mare with the J J J Stables of Aldergrove, B.C. Lickcreek Jazzy, a daughter of Hi Ho Silverheels-Lick Creek Rosa, notched her first win of the season in three starts. Her 16th win overall pushed her earnings close to the $200,000 mark.

To view Saturday's results, click here.