Kelly Hoerdt entered Friday night's harness racing card at Fraser Downs just two wins shy of a driving milestone and the veteran horseman got right down to business. Winning his first two drives of the night, Hoerdt reached 3,000 career wins.
After winning the opener with his own two-year-old trainee Wash N Wax ($11.40), Hoerdt picked up the catch-drive on the Rick Lancaster stable's Holiday Shadow ($3.30) in the fourth race and sent the popular sophomore pacer down the road to win in 1:57.3 for his milestone moment. The gelding is owned by Leslie Godlien, Tom Wood and Wild Dunes Stables.
Hoerdt didn't stop there though as he later won the featured ninth race, the $10,000 Preferred Pace, driving favourite West Coast Beach ($3.90) to his third straight win for trainer Rebecca Kanak and co-owner Timothy Gordon. Relinquishing the lead after a :27.1 first quarter tussle through the rain with Itll Be Fine, Hoerdt and the seven-year-old Sunshine Beach-Village Janus gelding bided their time in the pocket position through middle splits of :57.1 and 1:25.2 before blowing by in the stretch for the 1:54.2 score by 2-1/4 lengths. A first-up Rum N Raisins finished second while Pureform Mr Toffee shot between rivals to nab third-place over Itll Be Fine.
That victory put Hoerdt on the road to his next career milestone as he approaches $20 million in driver earnings.
The 58-year-old Beaumont, Alta. horseman, who drove winners of 247 races and more than $1.6 million in purses during a career-year in 2019, has topped the 100-win mark the last seven consecutive years in addition to back-to-back seasons in 2000 and 2001.
The two-time O'Brien Award of Horsemanship winner also boasts 2,552 training victories in his career spanning nearly four decades.
In other Friday night action, full siblings Outlawstaythcourse ($5.30) and Outlaw C My Shadow ($16.40) won back-to-back races during the back-half of the 10-race card, both closing through the passing lane to prevail in photo finishes. Connie Kolthammer trains and co-owns the homebreds sired by Shadow Play out of the Artsplace mare Grand Slam Woman with Jim Mohorich as the Outlaw West Stable. Western Canada Pacing Derby runner-up Outlawstaythcourse, a three-year-old driven by Blaine Chappell, earned his seventh career win and took a new lifetime mark of 1:54.3 while his seven-year-old brother Outlaw C My Shadow, driven by Tyson Jacoby, earned his 23rd career victory in a 1:55.1 mile.
To view Friday's harness racing results, click the following link: Friday Results - Fraser Downs.
(Standardbred Canada)