The four-year-old Badlands Hanover gelding Outlaw Badlands cruised to an 8-1 upset in the $30,000 British Columbia-bred Stakes Final at Fraser Downs on Sunday (Feb. 23).
Sitting pocket to pacesetter Mr Saturday Night past a :28.1 first quarter, driver Connie Kolthammer circled Outlaw Badlands to the lead and took the field past a :56.4 half. The top two gained separation on the rest of the field up the backside, with six lengths separating the leaders from the rest of the field approaching three-quarters in 1:25.4. Outlaw Badlands turned into the stretch with a two-length lead and strolled to the finish one-and-a-half lengths in front of Mr Saturday Night in a 1:56.1 mile with Kootenay Lager finishing six lengths farther behind in third.
Owned by Outlaw West Stable, Outlaw Badlands won his fifth race from 28 starts, earning $36,834. Jim Mohorich trains the $17.00 winner, who was a $20,000 B.C. Yearling Sale purchase from Shirley Klassen.
Trainer Kelly Hoerdt collected three victories on the 11-race card. He won back-to-back races midway through the card with Go Nine O ($3.10) and Queen Of Thrones ($2.70), then capped the card with a victory in the $10,800 Open Pace with Kneedeep N Custard.
Clearing control heading to a :27.2 first quarter, Kneedeep N Custard faced little challenge on the front. Past a :57.2 half, stablemate Iwontdothatagain mounted the lone challenge after the pacesetter from first over but sat two lengths off the leader nearing three-quarters in 1:25.1. Through the stretch Kneedeep N Custard coasted to a 1:54.1 victory, finishing one length in front of Iwontdothatagain with Boiling Oar finishing third.
Co-owned by Hoerdt with Blair Corbeil and Fred Gilbert, Kneedeep N Custard won his 15th race from 23 starts, earning $207,402. The four-year-old Custard The Dragon gelding paid $8.60 to win.
To view Sunday's harness racing results, click on the following link: Sunday Results - Fraser Downs.