A pair of $6,000 second-leg divisions of the Alberta Snowflake for provincial-sired juvenile pacers was the order of the day on Sunday (Dec. 2) at Century Downs. Much to the chagrin of the horsepeople in participation, Mother Nature took the stakes moniker literally.
Although the track was listed as ‘snow covered,’ an allowance in time was not allotted. Snowflake starters trained by Harold Haining didn’t seem to mind the conditions at all.
After a Post 3 start in the split for fillies (Race 3), pilot Brandon Campbell utilized a second-over trip to perfection and went on to post a three-quarters-of-one-length victory with the Haining-trained Bim Bam Boom ($4.80) in 2:05.
Bim Bam Boom, who is a bay daughter of Mystery Chase, was sent postward as the even-money favourite. Campbell had his mount positioned fourth as June Morning (who was driven by Rod Hennessey) cut the opening fractions in :30.3 and 1:01.3.
Bim Bam Boom was second-over in third as Emily H (Mike Hennessy) led the overland charge and tripped the three-quarters clock in 1:32.3.
Campbell and Bim Bam Boom were up by a half length at the head of the lane and held at the wire. Emily H finished second, and Rapid Reaction, who had been given a third-over steer by David Kelly, finished third.
Bim Bam Boom, who is owned by Donald Richardson of Cochrane, Alberta, has now won two of her ten juvenile assignments. Both of her wins have come in the Alberta Snowflake preliminaries.
The second of the afternoon’s preliminary splits (Race 8, for freshman colts and geldings) saw the Haining-trained and Mike Hennessey-driven HF Thegreatpumpkin ($2.40) go gate to wire from Post 5 for a convincing 1:59.2 win.
Hennessey opted to put the public’s choice (who was sent off at odds of 1-5) on the point and carve out the speed in :28.4, :59.1 and 1:29.2. The Pang Shui colt finished his mile up well, as he posted an open-lengths victory over the James Junquist-driven Trump The Dragon, who had raced in the two-hoe spot after a Post 2 start. Thunder Alley (Phil Giesbrecht) closed late and was able to secure the show spot.
HF Thegreatpumpkin, who had also captured his series prelim last week, has now won four of his 13 career starts for Harold and Colleen Haining, of Clive, Alberta.
Trainer Dave Kelly collected a triple on the day. He won the opener with Amysterytome ($4.40) going wire to wire in 1:59.1, a $6,200 conditioned pace with Whiskey Throttle ($9.00) reeling a fading pacesetter to win in 1:58 and following that with an off-the-pace brush by Explainnotcomplain ($5.30) to take a $4,100 conditioned pace in 2:01.
To view the harness racing results for Sunday at Century, click the following link: Sunday Results – Century Downs.