Travis Cullen, who was nominated this week for his second O’Brien Award, scored a training triple for the fourth time in the first five cards of the Northlands Park meet.
Counter Strike ($3.70), Cheat To Win ($3.60) and Phoenician Girl ($6.50) completed Cullen's training triple during the 10-race card on Friday, Dec. 4. Counter Strike made his first start from the Cullen stable a winning one while Cheat To Win was a repeat victor, with stablemate Rain Gauge the runner-up. Phoenician Girl has now won seven of her last nine starts in Alberta for Cullen. The 23-year-old Airdrie, Alta. horseman also drove Rocket Moma ($2.30) to her second consecutive victory for trainer Cory Manning.
Cullen was just named as one of this year's O’Brien Award of Horsemanship finalists yesterday after dominating both the trainer and driver standings at Century Downs' inaugural meet. The other finalists for the national award are Guy Gagnon of Gatineau, Que. and Dr. Ian Moore of Guelph, Ont. Cullen previously won the O’Brien Future Star Award in 2013.
His current training average of 0.521 for 2015 leads all trainers in Canada.
To view Friday's harness racing results, click on the following link: Friday Results - Northlands Park.