The baying howls of the Halloween wind that gusted to almost 40 kilometres per hour were inconsequential to The Great Shark in one of four two-year-old stakes at Century Mile last Friday night.
The Great Shark simply went wire-to-wire in the first $25,000 division of the Rocky Mountain Boys and on to a very impressive 2-1/4-length triumph.
It was more ammunition for The Great Shark in this Saturday’s rich Alberta Sires Stakes Super Finals. The Great Shark has now won six in a row. Yet he wasn’t even favoured in the Rocky Mountain with that distinction going to third-place finisher Ruler Of Dragons, who will get a chance at revenge in the $90,000 Super Final.
Both of Ruler Of Dragons’ only two losses in seven races have come at the hands of The Great Shark: the Rocky Mountain and his division of the ABSS Lone Star on Oct. 10 when he lost by a head.
There will be four $90,000 Super Finals on Saturday's card for the top two and three-year-old colt and filly pacers in the Alberta Sires Stakes program this year, along with four $15,000 consolations.
One of the Super Finals is for two-year-old pacing colts and geldings -- the race where The Great Shark and Ruler Of Dragons will hook up again. Another is for two-year-old pacing fillies. A third is for three-year-old pacing fillies and the fourth is for three-year-old pacing colts and geldings. The consolations are for the same categories.
The Great Shark, who was just taken over by trainer/driver Kelly Hoerdt from more than capable former trainer Brinsley Brooking Lutz, made it look easy despite the torturous head wind that blew hard into the horse’s faces down the stretch and accounted for slow final quarters all evening and a :30.4 final quarter for The Great Shark.
“The wind was a big factor,” said Hoerdt of a two-second track variant. “It made coming from behind very difficult.”
The Great Shark easily had the fastest final time of Friday’s four two-year-old stakes, finishing his mile in 1:56.2.
By comparison Bet He Rocks went in 1:57.4 winning the second division of the Rocky Mountain Boys; Alexia paced in 1:58.2 in the first division of the Brad Gunn for two-year-old fillies as the 8-5 favourite; and Blue Star Strike won the second division of the Brad Gunn in 1:57.3.
Owned by Michelle Danroth, who is also the breeder, and former stalwart trainer/driver Brent Grundy, The Great Shark opened with a first quarter in :29.1, blew down the backstretch in a wind-aided :57 second half and three-quarters in 1:25.3, and then got the mile in the aforementioned 1:56.2, with the wind taking its toll for a :30.4 final quarter. Vegas Gangster was second.
The last four races The Great Shark has won were all stakes. Prior to Friday's impressive victory, the gelded son of Smart Shark out of Great Desire won a division of the $27,400 ABSS Rising Star on Sept. 20 at Lacombe’s Track On 2, winning most easily by two lengths after taking a six-length lead at the three-quarter pole. Then he won a division of the $27,100 Lone Star over hard-charging Ruler Of Dragons on Oct. 10 and a division of the $27,100 Shooting Star on Oct. 17 by 4-1/4 lengths over Chasing Tigers, both at Century Mile. Now, the Rocky Mountain.
“I’ve only had The Great Shark for six days,” said Hoerdt, always a big presence in stakes races. “Right now, he does everything right; he’s a pretty normal horse. He has the potential to be a really good horse. His record speaks for itself. We won’t be taking anything for granted.”
The two horses Hoerdt is most concerned with are both Jamie Gray trainees -- Ruler Of Dragons, with Ontario reinsman Doug McNair picking up the catch-drive, and Mayhem N Madness, who had four straight seconds coming into the second division of the Rocky Mountain Boys and will have Phil Giesbrecht in the sulky.
Drawing the outside post seven for the Rocky Mountain, Mayhem N Madness briefly broke stride but gathered himself well and closed up for fourth behind winner Bet He Rocks.
The Great Shark has defeated Mayhem N Madness twice: in a Sept. 14 condition pace at Track On 2 and in the Rising Star.
The Super Finals card will include the sensational three-year-old pacing filly Custard Dolce among its headliners.
A winner of 16 of 20 outings including the recent Century Casino Filly Pace when she somehow escaped being boxed in, Custard Dolce has already won $374,725 for trainer/breeder Jamie Gray and co-owners Jackson Wittup, Max Gibb, Derek Wilson.
Custard Dolce’s only losses came in her first career start last year, the Shirley McClellan Breeders Stakes -- by inches to Mademechangemymind, who once again poses the biggest threat -- and the ABSS Princess elimination and final when Custard Dolce wasn’t 100 per cent.
Otherwise, perfection.
“You dream about horses like this,” said regular driver Phil Giesbrecht of the extremely talented three-year-old filly. “I’m so excited and fortunate to drive her.”
Prior to the McClellan on June 21, Mademechangemymind’s trainer/owner Nathan Sobey said, “It would take a perfect trip or catch [Custard Dolce] on an off day to beat her.”
Sure enough, that’s exactly what happened when, on another very windy day, Mademechangemymind drafted behind Custard Dolce -- blocking the wind -- to just nose her out.
It will probably take another perfect race scenario for Mademechangemymind to post another upset.
“Custard Dolce is a tremendous animal. If I finish second to her and I’m close, I’m happy,” Sobey also said before the McClellan. “Custard Dolce has proven that she can do it any way she wants: cut it, come from behind… She’s a very versatile horse. A very talented, special, versatile horse. Custard Dolce is in a class of her own. She’s everything you want a racehorse to be.”
Mademechangemymind is hardly a slouch. Second in the Century Casino Filly Pace, Mademechangemymind has been first or second in 15 of her 20 races.
The three-year-old boys race appears wide open with the likes of Outlawminutbyminut and Momas Work Of Art expected to have their say.
Trained by Logan Gillis, Outlawminutbyminut was a solid runner-up to Ontario-sired Hands Off Harry in the recent Western Canada Pacing Derby and won the ABSS Marksman and Maverick finals.
Momas Work Of Art was third in the Derby and won the $118,400 Ralph Klein Memorial for trainer Shelly Arsenault.
The two-year-old fillies race is also a toss up.
Blue Star Strike served notice in this past Friday's Brad Gunn going wire-to-wire. Trained by Mathew Howlett and owned by his father, Donald, Blue Star Strike won by 2-3/4 lengths. She was second in divisions of the ABSS Starburst and Stardust at Century Mile and the Emerald Stakes at Century Downs - the latter in just her second lifetime start.
B A Dragon, the probable favourite with McNair catch-driving, won four in a row before finishing second in the Brad Gunn -- where she was the favourite -- making up a lot of ground in the stretch after drawing the outside seven post. Her wins include divisions of the ABSS Stardust, Starburst and Starlet. Owned by J J J Stables, Paul Sanders and trainer Jamie Gray, B A Dragon was the odds-on-favourite in all three of those races and didn’t disappoint with convincing front-end victories.
The other Gray trainee, Lovemymockingbird, can’t be discounted either. She drew an outside post in her division of the Brad Gunn where she finished sixth -- a result which can probably be ignored. She was a handy winner of her division of the Starburst and was second in the Stardust.
Also looming dangerous at a price is Terrible Custard, who rolled past Lovemymockingbird in her division of the Stardust in her last appearance. In the Starburst before that race, she was a strong second to B A Dragon at 37-1 for the father-son, trainer-driver team of Rod and Mike Hennessy.
Whatever happens, the loaded Super Finals card is bound to be a great evening of racing. Post time is 6:15 p.m. at Century Mile.
To view Saturday's harness racing entries, click the following link: Saturday Entries - Century Mile.
(With files from Curtis Stock / thehorses.com)