Georgia Hanover bested her favoured rival Byby Baby Byby in another close finish to the $15,000 Fillies & Mares Preferred Handicap Pace at Century Mile on Friday, Nov. 13.
Brandon Campbell had the catch-drive on the outside assignee, who earned her fourth consecutive win and third straight against Preferred mares for trainer/owner Chris Lancaster.
Poker Queen and Phil Giesbrecht fronted the six-horse field through panels of :27, :55.4 and 1:24.4 while the stretch duel was setting up with 8-5 favourite Byby Baby Byby and Mike Hennessy following in the pocket and Georgia Hanover tracking second-over for Campbell.
As the distaffers entered the homestretch, Byby Baby Byby closed inside and struck the front while Georgia Hanover rallied three-wide off cover and those two fought to the finish in 1:54 flat, with the latter mare getting up by a quarter-length in a photo for the win. Mademechangemymind and Nathan Sobey came on for third, finishing 3-1/2 lengths behind as the longest shot on the board at 19-1.
Georgia Hanover, a daughter of Captaintreacherous out of Get Lucky, is now eight-for-22 on the year with $71,465 banked in seasonal earnings and $121,054 lifetime. She has hit the board in 25 of her 40 career starts, which includes 14 victories.
Georgia Hanover was the 3-1 third betting choice and paid $8.40 to win.
Trainer Chris Stranaghan sent out three winners on Friday's 11-race card, including a pair of half-siblings out of the Camystic mare Mothers Melody. The two-year-old Santanna Blue Chip filly Lizitor, driven by Mike Hennessy, broke her maiden in her second career start winning the night's opening race in a 14-3/4-length romp in 1:57 flat. Her eight-year-old Vertical Horizon brother Litizor, driven by Drew Campbell, later prevailed in a $7,000 claiming race for his 44th career victory in 1:55 flat. Stranaghan also teamed up with Hennessy for a victory with the class-dropping mare Little Rhys Chick in 1:55.3. All three winners are owned by Wanda Howlett of St. Paul, Man.
The Friday card ended with "The Hat Trick at The Mile," a trial concept involving a block of three races run off more quickly than the traditional format, delivering more action in a shorter time span for fans.
Live harness racing continues at Century Mile on Saturday, Nov. 14 at 6:35 p.m. (MDT) featuring eliminations for the Western Canada Pacing Derby and Century Casinos Filly Pace.
To view Friday's harness racing results, click the following link: Friday Results - Century Mile.
(Standardbred Canada)