Hands Off Harry and Custard Dolce starred as Alberta's top three-year-olds battled in the $104,490 Western Canada Pacing Derby and $123,880 Century Casino Filly Pace on Saturday, Oct. 18 at Century Mile over a track rated good.
Hands Off Harry delivered a dominant performance to win the Western Canada Pacing Derby.
The 6-5 choice backed out of a four-horse scrum heading into the turn, dropping onto the pylons while Momas Work Of Art (David Kelly) swooped to the front in a :27 quarter. The up-front action quickly resumed as Discontinued (Brandon Campbell) left the pocket to take over down the backstretch, and he led to the half in :56 as Hands Off Harry was flushed out to start a first-over journey en route to the final turn.
After a brief scrap, Hands Off Harry overpowered Discontinued at three-quarters in 1:25, straightened for home in front, and shut the door on his opponents as he stormed home to triumph by 3-1/2 lengths in 1:53.2. Outlawminutbyminut (Logan Gillis) got by Momas Work Of Art on the line for second.
Hands Off Harry started his season with a victory in the Ray Gemmill Memorial but, not staked to the Alberta Sires Stakes (ABSS), rose through the conditioned ranks at Century Downs with four wins in six starts from May 24 to July 19. The All Bets Off-Hands Off Hanover gelding was second in the Ralph Klein Memorial on Aug. 2, then was off six weeks after a fourth-place finish in a conditioned event, returning last week with a place effort in his elimination for the Western Canada Pacing Derby. Saturday's win was his seventh in 12 seasonal starts. Owned and trained by Nathan Sobey of Sturgeon County, Alta., Hands Off Harry is now eight-for-16 lifetime and has earned $152,875. He paid $4.40 to win.
Sobey expressed his jubilation after the victory.
“Days like this make all the hard ones worth it,” he said in a post-race interview. “I’m ecstatic.”
He also hinted Hands Off Harry may be available for sale.
“I’m waiting for the phone to start ringing,” he said. “We’ll see.”
Custard Dolce rocketed down the lane to score an impressive victory in the Century Casino Filly Pace.
She was able to land third from a second-tier post-nine start thanks to Jody Jamieson sending Luau forward from the pylon position in a :28.1 first quarter. Phil Giesbrecht kept the favoured Custard Dolce on the cones as Kootenay Leia (James Junquist) started up first-over from fourth on the backstretch, followed by Threecurtaincalls (Campbell).
Custard Dolce slid out third-over behind that pair at the half in :56.4 and tracked his cover onto the final turn, following Threecurtaincalls three-wide to three-quarters in 1:25.2 as Kootenay Leia struck the front. Custard Dolce fanned widest of all to make it a four-across dash for the cash, and she thundered clear of the rest to a 1:54.2 triumph by 2-1/4 lengths over Mademechangemymind (Mike Hennessy). Threecurtaincalls was third.
Custard Dolce scored her fourth stakes victory of the season, adding the Century Casino Filly Pace trophy to wins in the ABSS Diamond, ABSS Marquis, and Gord and Illa Rumpel Memorial. She is eight-for-11 this year for trainer Jamie Gray, who bred the daughter of Custard The Dragon-Blue Star West and shares ownership with Jackson Wittup of Calgary, Alta., Max Gibb of Millarville, Alta., and Derek Wilson of Heritage Pointe, Alta. The filly, a defending ABSS champion, has now won 16 times from 20 career outings and has earned $374,725. She returned $2.40 to her backers.
Giesbrecht praised the filly after her win.
“She drives so well that the nine-hole didn’t really bother me, because she’s so handy,” he said in a post-race interview. “She’s fantastic and great-gaited. I actually can’t wait for her to get out of the elements around here and see how fast she can go.”
Mercedes motored to back-to-back victories in the $16,000 Preferred Pace, the overnight feature. The stallion, starting from the second tier, got away fifth behind contested early fractions of :27.3 and :54.2 with Shark Week (Hennessy) on top first before releasing Sunshine Boy (Jamieson), who held command until Midnight Mover (Jungquist) reached the lead near the half.
Mercedes made his move for Campbell before the midway point, racing first-up to three-quarters in 1:22.2, but he failed to make headway as Midnight Mover paced strongly for home. Mercedes kicked in as they came into deep-stretch though, and he pulled clear of his tiring opponent late to win by a length in 1:52.1. Sunshine Boy was third.
Mercedes has won three of his past four attempts at the Preferred level. Campbell trains the five-year-old, who is now five-for-12 this year, for Raymond Henry of Calgary. The son of All Bets Off-Skade has racked up 19 victories and $130,496 in earnings in 39 lifetime starts. The winner paid $3.20 to win.
To view Saturday’s harness racing results, click the following link: Saturday Results - Century Mile.
(Standardbred Canada)