With Fraser Downs' most recent Open Pace winner Clintons Escape scratched in this week's $12,500 edition, his entrymate was left to hold down the fort for the Keith Clark stable and Western Olympian did just that
.
When the wings of the gate folded, Mr Vancouver champion Gramrun Jake (Tim Brown) made a dirty break and Stop Calling (John Hudon) jumped it off due to broken equipment. That left five horses jockeying for early position with Nobody Can (Jim Marino) taking the lead with the inside post advantage. Killean Cut Kid (John Abbott), Hollywood Warrior (Dave Hudon), Western Olympian (Clark) and At Last (Kevin Anderson) settled in behind and followed the leader past early fractions of :28.1 and :57.3.
Down the backstretch, Hollywood Warrior advanced first up with Western Olympian picking up a perfect second over tow. Hollywood Warrior edged out in front of the leader by the 1:26.3 three-quarters mark, but Nobody Can fought back around the final bend. Meanwhile, Western Olympian began to fan three-wide.
As the field began to close in on the pacesetter down the lane, Western Olympian blew by them all on the far outside to win his Open debut by three lengths in 1:55.4 over a 'good' track rated one second slow. Killean Cut Kid edged out Hollywood Warrior in a photo for place while At Last got up for fourth over Nobody Can.
Western Olympian has won half of his four seasonal starts and today's triumph nearly doubled his 2012 earnings, which now total $12,962. Lifetime, the four-year-old has won 13 races while banking more than $70,000. Clark shares ownership of the Western Hanover-Mai Katie gelding with Robert Jones of Slave Lake and Peter Giannakopoulos of Edmonton, Alta.
Western Olympian paid $4.70 to win as the favourite. Stop Calling was refunded for having broken equipment before the start of the race.
The David McKellar-trained and driven Intrepid Kate ($6.60) and Pretty Promised ($7.20), trained by Ty O’Neill and driven by Jim Marino, front-stepped their way to a pair of matching 1:57.2 victories in the second leg of the $7,500 BBs Mirage Claiming Series for $10,500 claiming mares. Both mares earned their first wins of the year and were claimed out of the second leg.
In other action, six-year-old Cams Dream Girl provided her trainer, Heather Burke, with a unique birthday gift as she romped to a nine and a half length victory in 1:57.3 in the seventh race $6,000 claiming event.
To view Sunday’s harness racing results, click on the following link: Sunday Results – Fraser Downs.