Kelly Hoerdt braved the -20 temperatures for a six-win performance at Century Mile on Friday, Dec. 12.
Hoerdt's half a dozen winners at the Edmonton, Alta. mile oval included a pair from his own stable, with sophomore colt Mister Itunes ($8.10) drawing into the third race from the Also Eligible list following a slew of weather-related scratches to score and four-year-old mare Y V Larceny ($10.30) circling a shortened field of six in the 10th dash. Both clocked 2:03 miles over the snowy track with a three-second variant.
Hoerdt's winning crusade started out in the opener with a catch-drive in rein to the maiden-breaking Boomski ($2.50) as the freshman colt made a successful Alberta debut for trainer Jacques Lambert. Hoerdt also teamed up with Lambert to win the sixth race with five-year-old claiming mare Red N Ready ($5).
His other wins on the 12-race card were courtesy of claimers Chaseminkifyoudare ($19.50) in the fourth dash for trainer Travis Tracey and Carro P Picasso ($7.80) in the ninth for the Nicholas Sass stable.
The 59-year-old Beaumont, Alta. horseman has earned 43 of his 119 driving victories this year at Century Mile, where he currently ranks third in the standings. Hoerdt has topped the 100-win mark in a single season for the past eight straight years and a total of 10 times over the course of his driving career. A two-time O'Brien Award of Horsemanship recipient, he's driven winners of 3,150 races lifetime and more than $21 million in purses.
To view Friday's harness racing results, click the following link: Friday Results - Century Mile.
(Standardbred Canada; photo of Mister Itunes winning on Dec. 12)