Driver Brandon Campbell entered the Saturday, April 18 card at Century Downs a single win away from 3,000 in his career, and the reinsman guided his trainee, Standininmyshadow, to a debut win in the opener to hit the milestone.

Standinmyshadow burst out of post four, and the break of Sloppy Joe (Drew Campbell) prompted the hard-leaving Hf Faithatful Speed (Kelly Hoerdt) to drop into the pocket. The leader carved out fractions of :29.2 and 1:00, and his advantage grew as the first-over favourite Y V Weller (Nathan Sobey) jumped it off approaching three-quarters in 1:29.2. The three-year-old son of Shadow Play-Macho Chick pulled away while rounding the final turn, and he rolled home to win by four lengths in 1:58.1 over a good surface for owner Raymond Henry of Calgary, Alta. Betterontherox (Blaine Chappell) closed for second over Hf Faithatful Speed. The winner returned $5.60.

Campbell, following another win later on the card, is 3,001-for-15,530 lifetime and has booked $20,208,888 in driving earnings. The Calgary, Alta. horseman, who earned his first driving win in 2003, has won more than 100 races each season for the past 17 years, topping the 200-win mark three times including a career-high 293 wins in 2023 when he ranked top five among all drivers in Canada. He has also accrued 972 wins as a trainer from 4,648 starts.

Shark Week, the fastest harness horse in the history of Western Canada, reached the winner’s circle for the first time since last November as the gelding recaptured the Preferred Pace crown with a closing effort in the $15,000 feature. The Century Downs overall track record holder was on the left line as he travelled in the three-hole through fractions of :27.4, :58, and 1:26 set by Outlaw Game On (Logan Gillis), gapping out down the backstretch. But he caught up to pocket-sitting favourite Mercedes (Brandon Campbell) nearing three-quarters, split out three-wide coming around the final turn, and motored down the lane to round up Outlaw Game On and Mercedes and win by a half-length in 1:54.1. Outlaw Game On was second, with Mercedes third.

Shark Week scored his first win in six starts this year and his first at Century Downs since the final victory of a seven-race streak on closing day of the track’s meet last August. The eight-year-old son of Vertical Horizon-Shark Gone Bad took his 66th career score in 113 starts, boosting his earnings to $564,380. Rod Hennessy of Strathmore, Alta. trains him and shares ownership with Lorne Duffield of Edmonton, Alta. The win price was $6.40, marking the second time he has won while not the favourite since 2022.

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

(Standardbred Canada; photo of Brandon Campbell winning with Standinmyshadow on April 18)