The win streaks continued for Grey Horizon and Outlawguns N Roses as Alberta's top sophomores starred in the Western Canada Pacing Derby and the Century Casino Filly Pace on Saturday, Oct. 12 at Century Mile.
Grey Horizon powered to victory off a pocket trip in the 62nd edition of the $107,030 Western Canada Pacing Derby for trainer/driver Brandon Campbell.
Campbell and 1-9 favourite Grey Horizon ceded the lead through a :29 opening quarter and followed loosely in the pocket as 44-1 longshot Believe It Sea It (Kelly Hoerdt) kept on rolling through a :56.2 half.
As they raced to three-quarters in 1:25.1, Grey Horizon was flushed out by the oncoming YYC On The Horizon (Jamie Gray) and swept by the pacesetter in the stretch to win by two lengths in 1:54.3. A wide-closing Outlawstaythcourse (Dave Kelly) bested YYC On The Horizon in a photo for place.
Grey Horizon extended his stakes win streak to six. Now eight-for-13 on the year, he boosted his career bankroll over the $300,000 mark and improved his overall record to 13-6-0 from 21 races.
The roan colt by Vertical Horizon out of Panagler is owned by Jodi Loftus, Raymond Henry and George Rogers, all of Calgary, Alta.
Grey Horizon paid $2.30 to win.
Outlawguns N Roses was up to her old tricks in the $131,720 Century Casino Filly Pace: winning, that is... despite her late stretch antics.
Taking over command in the final turn, Outlawguns N Roses and driver Dave Kelly spun for home with a clear lead but the 3-5 favourite drifted out through the lane all the way to the grandstand side. Bares All (Logan Gillis) was bearing down late but Outlawguns N Roses continued to power ahead, winning by 4-1/2 lengths at the end in 1:53.1 for trainer and co-owner Rod Starkewski.
"She's got an odd way of going and I'm not exactly sure why she drifts out late," commented Kelly after the race. "Some days she does it and some days she doesn't, and it's cost her before, but thankfully, she was powering away as she was doing it today so it didn't cost her today."
The early fractions went in :27.4 and :57.1 with Over Ice (Brandon Campbell) leading the way before Outlawguns N Roses, advancing first-up from mid-field, drew clear as they passed three-quarters in 1:24.3. Her final quarter was clocked in :28.3.
The Captive Audience-Gunlingin Gal filly earned her fifth consecutive victory and 10th of the season from 12 races.
"The last couple of weeks we've been able to trip her out and she hasn't had to be as hard on herself cutting miles and stuff like that, and she's showing how much she can kick now and it's pretty incredible," said Kelly.
Byby Baby Byby (Mike Hennessy) completed the top three, finishing 13-1/2 lengths behind off a pocket trip.
With her richest victory to date, Outlawguns N Roses now boasts $340,810 in purses for Starkewski and co-owner Clauzette Byckal of Onoway, Alta. Her lifetime record stands at 14-4-0 from 21 starts.
"She's just been incredible from day one," said Kelly, who drove his fourth winner of the night. "She's got a tonne of talent and Rod and Jackie have done an incredible job with her. Shout out to Tim and Clauzette for coupling me up with her early on and we've been inseparable since."
Outlawguns N Roses paid $3.20 to win.
To view Saturday's harness racing results, click the following link: Saturday Results - Century Mile.
(Standardbred Canada)