Primary Purpose Prevails In Harvest Stake
Primary Purpose held off his fellow elimination winner Nobody Can to capture the $25,000 Harvest Stake for aged pacers on Sunday afternoon at Fraser
Downs.
Blasting off the gate from the inside post positions were Trust The Artist (Scott Knight) and Nobody Can (Jim Marino) with Post 7 starter Primary Purpose and driver Serge Masse caught three-wide in an early tussle for the lead.
Trust The Artist finally cleared the lead ahead of Nobody Can at the :26.1 opening quarter while Primary Purpose took back and found a spot at the rail in fourth place behind At Last (Kevin Anderson).
Trust The Artist led the field past the half in :55 before Primary Purpose moved back out for more and swept up alongside the front-runner. The pair battled head-to-head past three-quarters in 1:23.2 and into the stretch with the rest of the field springing to life.
Primary Purpose edged out in front down the stretch and held off the late-closers to score the 1:52.4 triumph by half a length. Nobody Can shot up the passing lane to finish second while Clintons Escape (Tim Brown) fanned wide off second over cover for third. Trust The Artist ended up fourth and At Last finished fifth.
Trainer Rod Therres also owns and bred the five-year-old son of Cammibest and Sing Mitzi For Me, who spent some time racing in Ontario the last few years. He has won half of his 10 starts this year while banking over $37,000. Lifetime, the gelding has won 21 races while earning $455,804.
Her paid $3.70 to win as thr 5-2 second choice.
Open mares competed the $12,500 sixth race and the Keith Clark-trained Jennas Pass was a gate-to-wire winner in 1:54.1 with Gord Abbott sitting in the sulky. The five-year-old daughter of Freedoms Pass-Presidential Jenna won by two and a half lengths over Red Star Dana (Serge Masse) while last week's winner, Jans Rich Girl (Scott Knight), closed well from the back of the pack to show. Jennas Pass paid $10.50 to win as the 4-1 second choice. Favourite Mystic Maiden (Jim Marino), making her first start in B.C. since returning from a summer stay in Ontario, finished fifth.
For results from Sunday's harness racing card, click on the following link: Fraser Downs - Sunday Results.