After his five-race win streak was halted in last week's $10,000 Preferred Handicap Pace, Sunshine Boy reasserted his dominance as the Fraser Downs meet came to a close on Friday, Dec. 15.
Setting out from post five in the Preferred, Sunshine Boy took charge at the quarter pole in :27.4 for driver Scott Knight and clocked middle splits of :57.1 and 1:25 over the 'good' track before opening up an insurmountable five-length lead by the top of the stretch. Waitin Ona River (Kevin Anderson) closed from the backfield through the lane, but was still 1-1/2 lengths off the 1:54.1 winner at the wire. Pocket-pursuer Mach Steady (John Abbott) held on for third over a first-up Mickie Mantle (Kelly Hoerdt).
Sent off as the 1-2 favourite, Sunshine Boy returned $3.10 to win. The five-year-old Sunshine Beach-Betterfrombehind gelding picked up his 10th victory of the season from 26 starts for trainer Jim Marino and partners J J J Stables and Paul Sanders.
Sunshine Boy completed a training triple on the nine-race card for Marino, who also sent out popular winners Rilkoff ($2.90) and Million Reasons ($6.60), both driven by Knight.
Dave Hudon also closed out the meet with a triple on Friday, driving his own trainees Mylittle Gingerman ($4) and Sunset Rider ($11) to back-to-back triumphs then taking the final race of the meet with Angelsonthehorizon ($4.80).
Kelly Hoerdt led all trainers at Fraser Downs in 2023 for victories, with Came A Cavalier ($2.40) capping his stable's local win count at 85. Marino finished second in the trainer standings with 78 victories while Rod Therres rounded out the top three with 46.
Brandon Campbell, who was busy crushing it in Alberta at Century Mile this night, topped Fraser's driver standings with 115 wins while Knight one-upped Hoerdt in the tight race for place with his final three wins on Friday giving him 76 on the year for a one-win advantage.
Live harness racing at Fraser Downs will return in 2024 on Thursday, Feb. 1, with post time at 7 p.m.
To view Friday's harness racing results, click the following link: Friday Results - Fraser Downs.