Two-year-old pacing filly Probert continued her undefeated win streak in the Betty Millbank Memorial Breeders Stakes while Western Canada Pacing Derby champion Kneedeep N Custard continued his reign in the Robert Murphy Memorial three-year-old colt pace preliminaries on Friday night (Oct. 25) at Fraser Downs.
In the first $15,000 division, Probert looped Yjuliahos after the :29.2 opening quarter and clicked off middle splits of :59.3 and 1:29.4 en route to a three-length victory in 1:58.2. Yjuliahos held off Bootscootn Annie for the runner-up honours, with Riverunsnappy a close fourth in the passing lane.
Owned, trained and driven by Rod Therres, the Dali-Outlawcherishafool filly is now five-for-five lifetime and perfect through all four preliminary legs of the B.C. Breeders Stakes.
Therres completed a sweep of the fourth round of the Betty Millbank Memorial with Indigo Beach, who doubled up in stakes action with a seven-length romp to establish a new lifetime mark of 1:58.1. The Shadow Play-Greek Beach filly led through fractions of :28.3, :59 and 1:29 before taking off. Clan Findlay overtook Partyindaparkinlot to finish second.
Therres co-owns Indigo Beach, who now has a 2-2-1 record through five starts, with Ruth Cridland of Pitt Meadows, B.C.
Kneedeep N Custard is poised for a sweep of the Robert Murphy Memorial after dominating the sophomore colts, with his latest score in 1:52.2 on Friday being his fastest yet in the series for trainer/driver Kelly Hoerdt.
The Custard The Dragon-Art Amour gelding rushed around early leader Kootenay Mystery after a :27 opener and proceeded to the half in :55.4 and three-quarters in 1:24.3 before drawing off by 3-1/4 lengths. Bettor Cat, back in with Kneedeep N Custard after winning a separate division last week, settled for the runner-up role for the third time in their match ups. Bad Moon Horizon finished back in third.
The win was the fifth in a row and 13th in 21 starts this year for Kneedeep N Custard, bringing his lifetime earnings over the $150,000 mark.
Rockin N Talkin went wire-to-wire in the second Robert Murphy division of the night, setting fractions of :27.2, :57.2 and 1:26.1 during a career-best mile clocked in 1:53.4. Thankyaverymuch and Spiderdman closed from the back of the five-pack to finish just over two lengths behind in second and third, respectively.
Bill Tainsh Jr. drove the Custard The Dragon-Shes Just Rockin gelding for trainer Jim Marino and co-owner J J J Stables. Rockin N Talkin, who finished a half-length behind Kneedeep N Custard last week, won his first two preliminary legs and now has five wins from 16 starts on the year.
J J J Stables' Boiling Oar countered Iwontdothatagain's back-to-back Open wins with a 1:51.2 triumph in this week's $12,000 edition with Tainsh in the bike to wrap up a training triple for Marino. The win was the four-year-old gelding's 10th this year from 22 starts. He went first-up after the half to overtake pacesetter Cool Cowboy (:26.2, :55.1 and 1:23), with Iwontdothatagain following his cover and chasing 1-3/4 lengths behind. Peace Out Posse completed a 2-3 finish for the Kelly Hoerdt stable in the Open.
To view Friday's harness racing results, click on the following link: Friday Results - Fraser Downs.