David Kelly came up clutch in the season finale at The Track on 2 on Sunday, Sept. 21, sending out three winners to snatch a sixth straight training title.

His first training win came in the fourth race as he piloted Eyes Up Here ($5.40), who roared back after being passed in the stretch to win by a neck in 1:59.2. That victory put Kelly into a three-way tie with Travis Ellis and Brinsley Brooking-Lutz for the lead in the standings. Kelly’s Western Summit ($7.20) then faced off with Brooking Lutz’s Hestonsfreechips in the eighth race, and the former toughed out a first-over trip with Kelly in the bike to prevail in 1:56.3 with Hestonsfreechips (Tom Miller) second. Kelly put an exclamation point on his come-from-behind title defence by driving his Blue Star Sapphire ($3.10) to a 1:56.4 victory in the finale.

Kelly tripled on both closing-weekend cards to earn his sixth consecutive training title at The Track on 2 and his seventh in eight seasons since the Lacombe, Alta. oval's first pari-mutuel meet in 2018. He finished with 13 wins. Brooking-Lutz and Ellis tied for second with 11 tallies each.

Mike Hennessy wrapped up a repeat as the leading driver with a pair of wins on the nine-race program to bring his total to 31. Alberta’s 2024 Driver of the Year was nine victories clear of Kelly, who had 23. Logan Gillis finished third with 15.

One of Hennessy's wins came with Needabankloan ($2.60), who tied the track record for an aged pacing gelding. The six-year-old son of Toucam Sam-Newport Way was a cut above in the seventh race. He fired to the front from post five and put up fractions of :27.2, :56.1, and 1:24.1, leaving the field seven lengths behind in the the third quarter. He extended his margin to 12-1/2 lengths as he motored home in :27.4 to stop the clock in 1:52. Montana Slim (Kelly) finished second, followed by Up Yer Kilt (Preston Shaw). The winner is owned, trained, and driven by Jacques Lambert and has won 18 of 108 career starts. He now jointly holds the record with Hf Thegreatpumpkin and Whiplash Smile, who tied it on the previous card.

Alberta harness racing will now shift to Century Mile, which kicks off its season on Friday, Sept. 26 and runs through the end of the year.

To view Wednesday’s harness racing results, click the following link: Wednesday Results - The Track on 2.

(Standardbred Canada)