The spotlight was on the sophomore pacers Saturday afternoon at Fraser Downs as the Surrey, B.C. oval hosted the fourth leg of the Robert & Mary Murphy Breeders Stakes.
Sophomore pacing filly Fast Lane Wealth followed up her Oct. 28 stakes score with a wire-to-wire win her $7,500 fourth leg division of Mary Murphy Breeders Stakes for driver Serge Masse and trainer Kayla Mills.
Fast Lane Wealth established the lead from post five and carved out fractions of :28.2, :59 and 1:28.2 while turning back first over challenger Passing The Girls (Rick White) en route to the 1:57.1 triumph. Two Stitches (Jim Marino) followed three and a half lengths behind in second while Yarhos (James Burke) rounded out the top three finishers.
Fast Lane Wealth paid $6 to win as the 2-1 second choice. The Swinging Lifestyle-Mjg Saphire filly notched her fourth win of the season in 19 starts for owner Barbara Mills of Delta, B.C.
In the other filly division, Promising Girl edged out slight favourite Theregoesmyheart for her first stakes victory with Mark Abbott at the helm for trainer Chris Lancaster.
Theregoesmyheart (Rod Therres) cleared to command at the :28.1 opening quarter mark and proceeded to the half in :59.1 and three-quarters in 1:28 with Cheyenne J (David Hudon) pulling the pocket and applying heavy first over pressure into the stretch. However, it was Promising Girl that was the real threat as she moved second over from fourth and then kicked home off cover down the lane to prevail in 1:58.3. Theregoesmyheart missed by a neck while Cheyenne J and Alverna (David McKellar) finished three-quarters of a length behind in third and fourth.
Promising Girl paid $5.40 to win. The As Promised-Creative Girl filly, a winner of three races in 14 starts this year, is owned by breeder Angel Currie and Barbara Chadwick of Surrey, B.C., along with Diane Hansen of Blaine, Washington.
Thunder Noise, driven by Clint Warrington Jr., converted from the pocket to win his $7,500 fourth leg division of the Robert Murphy Breeders Stakes giving trainer Ming Siu his first win in over five years.
Entering the race undefeated in the previous Breeders Stakes legs, favourite Gotta Have Nukes (Rick White) fired to the lead from post five and led the way past panels of :28.3, :59.2 and 1:27.4. He rebuffed first over challenger I Hear Voices (Jim Marino) into the stretch, but couldn't hold off the late rally from Thunder Noise, who swept by to win in a career-best 1:56.2 by three-quarters of a length. Gotta Have Nukes settled for second with I Hear Voices finishing third.
The 2-1 second choice paid $6.90 to win for the first time in 17 seasonal starts. Richmond, B.C.'s Siu co-owns the Island Fantasy-Make Some Noise gelding with Edmund Mk Lui of Parkhill, Ont.
After being edged out by Ausinlavistababy in the third round of the B.C. Breeders Stakes, Steve O turned the tables on that foe to get his first win of the series for driver J.F. Gagne and trainer Marjorie Dumont.
Favourite Austinlavistababy (Serge Masse) led the field through fractions of :27.2, :56.1 and 1:25.3 while turning back challenges from Getmethruthenite (Jim Marino) and Procrastinatinpeat (David Hudon) along the way. But early trailer Steve O surged three-wide into the stretch and zipped past the front-runner to score by more than two lengths in 1:55.4. Austinlavistababy stayed for second and Procrastinatinpeat finished back in third.
Steve O paid $7.10 to win as the 5-2 second choice. Owned by the Western Glory Stable of Wetaskiwin, Alta., the Village Jiffy-R Wayout West Lo colt has put together a record reading 5-8-3 in 16 starts during his debut year while earning over $55,000 in purses.
To view Saturday's harness racing results, click on the following link: Saturday Results - Fraser Downs.