In a harness racing happenstance, 10-year-old pacing mare Luvinajiffy and her three-year-old son Grand Coolie both celebrated wins on the same race card.

Luvinajiffy pulled off a 17-1 upset in the third race at Fraser Downs on Friday, Nov. 20 and then Grand Coolie went out and scored a maiden-breaking victory at odds of 10-1 in the fifth race. The mother-son duo, who competed on the same race card for the first time, were both bred and raised in Sidney, B.C. by trainer Reg Wonnenberg and his partner Gail Brassington.

While it is not so unusual for a parent and their offspring to race on the same program, a winning combination is rare. According to Standardbred Canada records, this was the only time a dam and her offspring were both winners on the same race card in Canada in the last 12 years. A winning sire/offspring combination has occurred only four times in that time period: Santanna Blue Chip and son Sanattle Slew on April 7, 2014 at Woodbine Racetrack; Tajma Hall and son Tajtoo on Dec. 20, 2008 at Northlands Park; What A Beach and daughter Thalie on Aug. 27, 2005 at Ayers Cliff; and Lisryan and daughter Rhondas Lissy on June 25, 2004 at Tartan Downs.

The unique moment for mother and son was over a decade in the making.

Back in 2001, Wonnenberg, who has been involved in harness racing on and off for 35 years, purchased a filly named Crimson Beloved from the late Tom Bourdeau. After racing her for a few years in B.C., he decided to breed the mare. The stallion was, incidentally, one Wonnenberg happened to meet in person previously when he had made his first trip to Toronto amid his years working in construction in Grand Cayman.

"I thought I'd go out to Armstrong Farms and went out there and I actually stood and pet Village Jiffy at that time," recalled Wonnenberg. "It was kind of funny that years later we bred Crimson Beloved to that stud. And we ended up with Luvinajiffy. It's kind of a crazy world."

Luvinajiffy enjoyed some stakes success winning the $22,500 B.C. Breeders Stallion Stakes Final as a four-year-old and had earned 10 victories, over $70,000 and a mark of 1:53.4 (taken in a dead-heat win at Fraser Downs) by the time Wonnenberg decided to breed her in 2011.

"I think she was a six-year-old and we decided that we were going to kind of get out of the business -- we were going to go do some other things -- and we had her and another mare," said Wonnenberg. "We didn't want to give them up...so we bred them."

Luvinajiffy was bred to the 2007 co-Horse of the Year, Tell All, and went on maternity leave in foal to her first and only current offspring, Grand Coolie.

"We were there to deliver him and he was just huge," said Wonnenberg. "And the poor mare, she's a pretty big mare, but she had a heck of a time delivering and so when it was all said and done, when we went to breed her back to Mister Big, she wouldn't catch. She wouldn't come into foal. I don't blame her."

After weaning Grand Coolie from his mother, Wonnenberg decided to give the mare another shot at racing.

During her comeback season in 2013, Luvinajiffy attracted the attention of some local stables and she was claimed for $7,500. But Wonnenberg had to get his beloved mare back.

"The fellow that claimed the horse was good enough to put her back in the same price and probably knew that we were going to take her back," he said. "It just so happened that night when he did put her back in, she raced really good for him and she won. And there was also another claim in on her. Fortunately, at the sake of the dice, we won so we got her back."

Luvinajiffy has remained with Woonenberg from that point forward and she has earned another seven wins and $52,941 in earnings since her hiatus.

"She came back and she just raced so good," said Wonnenberg. "She was just incredible and here we won with her just the other day again. She's a wonderful mare. To have the two of them [win], almost back to back, it was something we kind of always dreamed about and it happened."

However, Grand Coolie's road to the races was not without obstacles as he was injured in an accident as a yearling. Wonnenberg was working in his garden when Grand Coolie got spooked in his nearby paddock and ran down the field and tried to jump over the fence.

"He decided he was going to go over the fence instead of go through the gate. He jumped over this thing and he caught his feet and he landed on his head. He was in a lot of pain as a yearling for quite some time," said Wonnenberg, noting an injury to the youngster's stifle area has hindered his gait and likely his ability to be the calibre of racehorse his mother has become.

But Grand Coolie puts in the effort on track and Wonnenberg plans to continually assess the lovable bay gelding's future based on his well-being and capabilities.

Mom is able to keep an eye on her son too with their stalls located side by side at an Aldergrove-area training centre. For now, they will both continue racing at Fraser Downs, but plans for a new addition to the family are not out of the question.

"We're thinking about it when the wintertime comes, but she loves to race still," said Wonnenberg of plans to try and breed Luvinajiffy again. "I think we may still breed her eventually. You know what they say, the second foal is always the best foal, so who knows."