Stash The Cookies led all the way in the $16,000 Fillies & Mares Preferred Handicap Pace featured on Friday, Oct. 24 at Century Mile.

With Kelly Hoerdt picking up the catch-drive, Stash The Cookies got the first call from post three, clearing insider Poker Queen (Phil Giesbrecht) into a :28.1 opening quarter. She led the field in single file fashion down the backstretch to the half in :55.3 and remained clear on top as her rivals started to make moves on the way to three-quarters in 1:24.2.  As she turned for home, Stash The Cookies sprinted out to an insurmountable lead and secured the victory in 1:53 with Byby Baby Byby (Mike Hennessy) rallying late and cutting the winner's three-length, mid-stretch margin to one. Poker Queen finished third while the favoured outside assignee, Bares All (Logan Gillis), closed from the back to nab fourth place.

Trained by John Chappell, Stash The Cookies notched her sixth win of the season in 15 starts competing against Alberta's top distaffers while increasing her annual income to $64,255 for owner Derek Gilbert of Brandon, Man. The nine-year-old Sunfire Blue Chip-Saucy B mare now boasts 47 career victories and a bankroll totalling $475,864.    

Stash The Cookies paid $8.50 to win at 3-1 odds.

Hoerdt, a four-time Friday winner, also teamed up with Chappell in the next race for a victory with four-year-old claiming pacer Moneybags ($11.40), who romped to a new lifetime mark of 1:54.1, winning by more than nine lengths.

In other action, Litizor earned his fifth straight win for trainer Chris Lancaster and co-owner Shawna Olson before being claimed for $7,000 by William Pambrun. With David Kelly in the bike, the Vertical Horizon-Mothers Melady gelding popped the pocket near the half and eventually wore down pacesetter Credit Is Magic (Mike Hennessy) in the stretch with Dillon James (Logan Gillis) closing at the rail and getting up late in a place photo 1-3/4 lengths behind the 1:54.2 winner.  Litizor, who strung together four consecutive wins in July, now boasts a dozen victories in his seven-year-old campaign spanning 28 races. He paid $3.20 to win as the 3-5 favourite.

To view Friday's harness racing results, click the following link: Friday Results - Century Mile.

(Standardbred Canada)