Three-year-old pacers Blue Eyed Cowboy and Comes Home First prevailed in a pair of close finishes in their respective Brad Gunn Stakes eliminations on Sunday afternoon at Alberta Downs.

Blue Eyed Cowboy, the favourite in the first $10,000 elimination, delivered on his pari-mutuel promise with Bill Tainsh Jr. driving for owner/trainer Rod Starkewski of Lamont, Alta. He prevailed for the first time in seven starts this year in 1:53.4.

After sitting a gapped out third through a :28.2 opening quarter, the Brandons Cowboy-Eicarls Blue Eyes gelding rolled to the front and maintained a two length lead as he raced past the half in :57.4 and three-quarters in 1:25.4. In the stretch, Blue Eyed Cowboy held off the hard-charging Great Quote (Travis Cullen), who weaved through horses to find a clear path at the inside. The winning margin was half a length. Keith Clark trainees Get Thereovernight (Gerry Hudon) and Cigar Party (Clark) finished third and fourth, respectively.

In the other $10,000 elimination, second choice Comes Home First got up in the nick of time to defeat favourite Sotally Tober by a neck in a career-best 1:52.2 clocking with Jim Marino in the sulky for trainer Lance Ward and the J J J Stables of Aldergrove, B.C.

The Brandons Cowboy-Cinderella Cam colt followed Sotally Tober (Jamie Gray) through fractions of :26.3, :56.4 and 1:24.3 before out-sprinting him to the wire for his second win this year in seven starts. Sonic Spark (Travis Cullen) finished over four lengths back in third and Outlaw Last Chance (John Chappell) was fourth.

The $50,000 (guaranteed) final of the Brad Gunn will take place next Sunday, July 20 at Alberta Downs.

To view Sunday's harness racing results, click on the following link: Sunday Results - Alberta Downs.