Rolling from off cover, Night Stick stormed to the finish to take the $9,000 featured pace on the opening night card at Century Mile on Sunday (Nov. 15).
Trainer-driver Kelly Hoerdt landed Night Stick in third to a :29.2 opening quarter while rail-starter Speaking Of Art set the pace. Race-favourite Crackle N Burn rolled first over from fourth approaching a 1:00 half and took control from Speaking Of Art while Phanatical Manica, tracking the new leader’s brush to the top, raced uncovered into the far turn with Outlawgunsablazin in tow.
All the movement shuffled Night Stick to last as Crackle N Burn took the field past three-quarters in 1:28, but Hoerdt slid the four-year-old Western Ideal gelding off the rail for the sprint to the finish. Once gathering his momentum, Night Stick sprinted towards the top and nailed a game Crackle N Burn at the finish of a 1:55.4 mile by a half length, while Outlaw Gunsablazin rallied from second over for third.
Co-owned by Hoerdt with Fred Gilbert and David Mooney, Night Stick won his third race from 13 starts this season and his sixth from 20 overall, earning $36,738. He paid $5.20 to win.
In the evening’s third race, Horse went fast as the 8-5 favourite to beat the track record for three-year-old pacing colts by a full second. Trainer-driver Nate Sobey sent the Vertical Horizon son to the point from the pylon post and set a clip of :27.2, :57.2 and 1:26.2 before darting from his competition through the stretch to stop the clock in 1:53.4. The time bests the previous record of 1:54.4 set by Loaded Deck in 2019.
To view Sunday's harness racing results, click on the following link: Sunday Results - Century Mile.