You don't need to be a Game Of Thrones fan to know that winter is coming. However, Alberta has seemingly welcomed winter and winter weather earlier than most regions.
The Saturday (Oct. 22) card of harness racing at Century Downs outside Calgary, Alta. certainly appeared to be a portent for the future of the rest of country with snow and sloppy track conditions the order of the day. The less than stellar surface was no issue for the aquatically-named Shark Week, who sped away from his rivals for his fifth win in his last six starts.
Sent off as the 1/4 choice in the $13,500 Preferred Handicap Pace, Shark Week ($2.60) and driver Mike Hennessy made the front from post five and his kept his rivals at bay through a :28 opening quarter. After a :57.3 half and 1:27 third panel, Shark Week still had his fellow free-for-allers within striking distance...but not for long. Once he hit the top of the stretch, Shark Week hit another gear. He sloshed home in :28.3, turning a two-length advantage into a five-length romp with the mile timed in 1:55.3. Samba Beat (Phil Giesbrecht) stayed for second through the mile while Crackle N Burn (Kelly Hoerdt) came on for third.
Make that eight wins on the season for Shark Week (Vertical Horizon - Shark Gone Bad), trained by co-owner Rod Hennessy of Falun, Alta., and co-owned by Lorne Duffield of Edmonton, Alta. Now with 16 wins lifetime, four-year-old Shark Week pushed his purses over the $171,000 mark in his career.
In the very next race, Giesbrecht followed that front-end template — the same path to victory for the first five horses on the card — with Outlaw Gunsablazin to post a 14-1 upset in the conditioned $13,500 co-feature. After panels of :26.4, :55.4 and 1:25, Outlaw Gunsablazin paced home in :30.4 to maintain his three-length advantage for the 1:55.4 score. Favoured Bonus Round (David Kelly) was next best with Stash The Cookies (Logan Gillis) rounding out the top three.
Outlaw Gunsablazin (Blue Burner - Gunslingin Gal) is co-owned by trainer Rod Starkewski of Lamont, Alta. with Clauzette Byckal of Onoway, Alta. The six-year-old gelding eclipsed the $200,000 mark in career earnings with the win, his 17th lifetime. He paid $30.10 to win.
To view the results from Saturday's card of harness racing at Century Downs, click the following link: Saturday Results - Century Downs.