Century Mile hosted a 10-race card on Saturday (Jan. 25), highlighted by a $11,500 Preferred 2 Pace which saw Mercedes put the field in the rear-view mirror after an aggressive steer.
Leaving from post eight in the field of nine, driver Jean Francois Gagne hustled Mercedes off the gate, finding themselves parked and pressing from third as Vinny N The Iceman (Logan Gillis) led to the quarter in :28.3. Mercedes motored alongside the leader before assuming command, reaching the halfway point in :56.4. Pressure came to Mercedes on the far turn, with Matts A Mystician (Nathan Sobey) racing first-over at three-quarters in 1:25.2.
Mercedes shrugged off the challenge of Matts A Mystician before outsprinting the pocket-sitting Vinny N The Mystician to score by three-quarters of a length in 1:53.3. However, due to contact with Matts A Mystician when popping the pocket, Vinny N The Iceman would be disqualified to sixth after the inquiry. Believe It Sea It (Kelly Hoerdt) was placed second, Kioti (Philip Giesbrecht) was placed third.
Brandon Campbell trains the winning Mercedes, who made his first start in 2025 a winning one after winning 12 of 18 a season ago. The five-year-old son of All Bets Off-Skade has won 15 of 28 for his career, banking $85,936 for owner Raymond Henry.
To view Saturday's harness racing results, click the following link: Saturday Results - Century Mile.
(Standardbred Canada)