Nighttraintovegas' faithful following hit the jackpot when she posted her first win since her 2014 Alberta Super Final victory as the longest shot on the board in the $11,000 Fillies & Mares Open Handicap Pace on Saturday, March 12 at Century Downs.
Sent postward as the 42-1 longshot, Nighttraintovegas defeated her five foes in this week's distaff pace in 1:54.1 and produced a payoff of $86.50 for a $2 Win ticket.
Assigned the inside post position, Nighttraintovegas secured a pocket trip through soft first half fractions of :29.1 and :59 behind 1-2 favourite Sing Like An Angel, who had crossed to command off the gate from post four. Down the backstretch, Nighttraintovegas made her move and sprinted past the early leader. She reached three-quarters in 1:26.1 and extended her leading margin to five lengths by the top of the stretch to keep her rivals out of contention. Tajmeallover sprinted her final quarter in :26.4 from the backfield, but had too much ground to make up and finished one and three-quarter lengths behind the winner. Sing Like An Angel was third.
Career win number 13 seemed to evade five-year-old Nighttraintovegas with 28 starts since her last victory as a three-year-old. However, the homebred Camystic mare has picked up cheques in all but four of those races and boasts a healthy lifetime bankroll of $227,527.
Twenty-four-year-old horseman Nathan Sobey has taken over the training and driving duties this year for owners Dick Schneider of Sherwood Park, Alta., and Edmonton's David Halmosi.
In other action, Blair Kidd's nine-year-old gelding Rain Gauge extended his win streak to seven in a row in a $7,500 claiming pace for trainer/driver Travis Cullen. The son of Raining Again was a runaway winner, leaving his rivals 13-3/4 lengths in arrears and taking a new lifetime mark of 1:54.2 in the process.
To view Saturday's harness racing results, click on the following link: Saturday Results - Century Downs.