Senga Nightmare delivered a 14-1 upset as she braved a first-over trip to win the $14,000 Fillies and Mares Preferred 2 Handicap on Wednesday, July 2 at Century Downs.

Ryan Grundy settled the mare into the five-hole through a :27.3 first quarter and, undeterred by her long odds, sent her first-up entering the second turn. She marched forward through the half in :56.4 and made steady headway down the backside, reaching the bridle of favoured leader Outlaw Sharktastic (Paul Davies) just past three-quarters in 1:25.1 to kick off a final bend battle.

Neither horse gave an inch around the turn, but Outlaw Sharktastic tired and backed away in mid-stretch. Goodbye Ceia Later (Phil Giesbrecht) came through at the pylons with a late rally, but Senga Nightmare held tough and reached the line to win by three-quarters of a length in 1:54.4. Goodbye Ceia Later finished second followed by the closing Sandras Mystery (James Jungquist). The win price was $30.80.

Senga Nightmare notched her 35th career victory and raised her earnings to $255,229 in 151 starts. She has won eight of 21 appearances this year. Grundy, a resident of Airdrie, Alta., owns and trains the seven-year-old Vertical Horizon-Nells Sweet Future mare.

Trainer Mathew Howlett added another three wins to his strong season, leading all trainers with a triple on the 10-race card. The Winnipeg, Man.-based conditioner opened his account as Litizor ($2.50) crushed his opponents in the fourth race. Seadog Dale ($11.10) then gave Howlett a double with a dominant showing in the eighth, and Wicked Feeling ($2.50) won the finale to make it a triple. Howlett is 26-for-108 this year, a win rate of 24.1 per cent, and is on pace to beat his personal bests in wins and earnings.

To view Wednesday’s harness racing results, click the following link: Wednesday Results - Century Downs.

(Standardbred Canada)