It's not every day that a connection to Katy Perry makes headlines in harness racing, but today is that day.
How exactly is Katy Perry tied into Standardbreds, you may ask? Well, in 2012 Harness Racing New Zealand approved the registration of Katy Perry a daughter of Bettors Delight bred in New Zealand by Breckon Bloodstock Ltd., born on Oct. 28, 2011. The more popular Katy Perry, the one linked to former Canadian Prime Minister and friend of harness racing Justin Trudeau, celebrates her birthday on October 25.
The equine Katy Perry posted a 23-7-7 summary from 59 starts and more than $550,000 in purse earnings...not quite as successful as her namesake, but nothing to scoff at either. After retiring from racing, Katy Perry transitioned to the broodmare ranks. Her most prolific foal is seven-year-old Major Perry N, a son of Art Major now competing in Canada after a 28-start career downunder with eight wins, 16 top-three finishes and more than $201,000 in purse earnings.
There were only two rivals for Major Perry N in his North American debut on Saturday, Dec. 13 at Woodbine Mohawk Park, so there were no fireworks likely in terms of activity during that qualifying effort, but the dark horse of the field emerged victorious after roaring home with the fastest final quarter and quickest overall mile time of the five-dash session.
National Tier (Anthony Haughan) fronted the pacing trio in the fifth qualifier, cutting fractions of :31.1, 1:00.2 and 1:29.1 ahead of Sugar Pie Honey (James MacDonald) and Major Perry N (Jason Ryan). In the stretch, both trailing horses were angled out to attack the pacesetter and Major Perry N proved he was more hot than cold. Closing in :28.3 in the sub-zero conditions, Major Perry N tripped the timer in 1:58.2 to best Sugar Pie Honey by a length.
Jacques Dupont trains Major Perry N for Ecurie CSL of Sorel-Tracy, Que.
The full video stream is available below.
For results from the qualifying session, click the following link: Saturday Results - Woodbine Mohawk Park (Qualifiers).
(Standardbred Canada)