Cullen & Mares Continue To Dominate
Travis Cullen trainees Feelin Flush and Sing Like An Angel continued to dominate the Open pacing mares at Alberta Downs on Saturday, sweeping the top two spots in the afternoon's $8,400 feature race.
Feelin Flush (Cullen) and Sing Like An Angel (Phil Giesbrecht) were the early trailers in the six-horse field, but began to advance after the opening quarter. Feelin Flush appeared to stall on the outside as they approached the final turn, but was resurgent in the stretch and brushed by the pacesetting Blue Star Beauty (Keith Clark) with Sing Like An Angel following into second. The top two mares both sprinted their final quarters in :28.1 with one length separating them at the wire. Feelin Flush stepped out of the shadow of her streaking stablemate to win in 1:54.1. She had been the runner-up in their three previous races. American Passion (Gerry Hudon) and Crackers Hot Shot (Bill Tainsh Jr.) came on for third and fourth while Blue Star Beauty, who set fractions of :28.3, :57.1 and 1:25.2, faded to fifth.
Cullen and Ken Hanson share ownership of the winning mare. The six-year-old As Promised mare now has six victories in 14 starts this year with over $35,000 banked in purses. Lifetime, she now boasts 27 wins with her earnings climbing past the $200,000 mark.
Cullen, Alberta Downs' leading horseman, continues to put up big numbers this season and has more than double the wins of his nearest rival on the local leaderboard in both the driving and training categories. On Saturday, he drove five winners on the 11-race card, including three from his own stable. He is also the leading percentage driver and trainer nationwide.
To view Saturday's harness racing results, click on the following link: Saturday Results - Alberta Downs.