After a two-week delay to the start of the 2025 season at Fraser Downs, live harness racing is scheduled to return to the Surrey, B.C. oval this week with the opening card drawn for Thursday, Feb. 27.
Opening week at Fraser Downs will kick off on Thursday evening with an eight-race card followed by more harness racing action on Friday night, with post time for both days at 7 p.m. (PST).
The first card of the season will feature the province's top mares in the $10,000 Fillies & Mares Preferred Handicap Pace, headlined by Seaspray Stables' homebred Grey Sea for the father and son, training and driving team of Gord and John Abbott. Assigned post seven for her season's debut, the grey six-year-old daughter of Custard The Dragon will look to pick up where she left off the last time competing at Fraser on Boxing Day when she won the top distaff class, which marked her ninth victory of the year and 27th top three finish from 33 seasonal starts.
Fraser's 2024 leading reinsman Kelly Hoerdt will be back in British Columbia and pick one of his two trainees to drive in the feature, Ima Beach Diva (post five) or In High Cotton (post six), both regulars in this class last year with the latter seven-year-old Somebeachsomewhere mare winning back-to-back events over Grey Sea in two of their last three match-ups in December.
Top trainer Jim Marino will send out B On The Hunt, the only mare in the field who has seen racing action so far this year after competing at the Century Mile meet. Alberta's Phil Giesbrecht will pick up the catch-drive on the five-year-old mare by Huntsville from post three.
Another serious contender is Outlaw Spiced Rum, a proven winner against B.C.'s best mares. The seven-year-old daughter of Blue Burner was the winningest pacing mare in Canada in 2024 with 20 victories. She hasn't missed the board at Fraser since joining the Rod Therres stable for the fall meet. Outlaw Spiced Rum, racing with a $25,000 claiming tag here, will start from post four with Therres in the sulky.
Rounding out the field from the inside posts are Stonebridge Jade, with Allan Molloy listed to drive for the John Boschman stable, and the Jerome Bouvier-trained Danzig Dharma, with Brandon Campbell in town for the driving assignment among many others over the meet's opening programs.
The 2025 racing schedule at Fraser includes Thursdays and Fridays from Feb. 27 through May 2 as well as most Thursdays and Fridays from Sept. 4 through Dec. 26, with the exception of Friday, Sept. 5 and Thursday, Dec. 25. Post time for all race days is 7 p.m. (PST).
To view Thursday's harness racing entries, click the following link: Thursday Entries - Fraser Downs.
(Standardbred Canada; photo of Grey Sea from a previous win)