Four-year-old pacing mare Cusdmagicdragon made her Open debut a winning one on Friday night (January 4), prevailing off a pocket trip in the $12,000 distaff feature at Fraser Downs.
Cusdmagicdragon, winner of the Don Byrne Memorial at Northlands Park during her six-figure sophomore campaign, tracked recent Open champion Tahiti Seelster throughout the mile for trainer/driver Kelly Hoerdt.
Tahiti Seelster sprinted out to a five-length lead through a :26.4 opener in the sloppy conditions and maintained an uncontested lead through middle splits of :56.1 and 1:25 before Cusdmagicdragon went by in the stretch for the one-length victory in 1:54.3. After following in third, You Name It improved position via the passing lane to take the runner-up role while Thats It rallied from last of six to show as Tahiti Seelster faded to finish fourth.
The winner returned $3.10 as the 1-2 betting favourite. Hoerdt co-owns the Custard The Dragon mare with Blair and Erna Corbeil of Beaumont, Alta.
Cusdmagicdragon's 10th career win leaves her just shy of the $200,000 earnings mark. She earned the bulk of her wins (eight in total) and bankroll ($157,455) during her 19-race season in 2018.
The Open victory was one of four wins through the first seven races on the Friday night card for Hoerdt.
To view Friday's harness racing results, click on the following link: Friday Results - Fraser Downs.