Sterling Cooper returned to the $10,500 Open class following a brief break and held off his foes to win the Friday night (Feb. 12) feature at Fraser Downs.

Trainer/driver Bill Davis co-owns the eight-year-old Camluck gelding with Jeffrey Elchuk of Surrey, B.C.

Despite being scratched sick from his last start on Feb. 5, the track record holder Sterling Cooper was backed by the betting public and sent postward as the 8-5 favourite. He didn't disappoint, leading through fractions of :27.1, :55.2 and 1:23.1 over the "good" track surface before holding off the pocket-pursuer Comes Home First (Brandon Campbell) in the passing lane to win by a neck in 1:53.2. Sterling Cooper paid $5.20 to win. Delite Debettor, a 53-1 longshot, closed from last to edge out second and first over contenders Son Of Anarchy (Paul Davies) and Chewy Baca (Travis Bowman) in a photo finish for third-place, less than a length behind the winner.

Sterling Cooper has now won three of his five Open starts this year. He is a 34-time career winner and has banked over $224,000 to date.

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