Jolt Of Whiskey and D On Sanders proved the front end was the place to be on Friday night as they went wire-to-wire for a pair of maiden-breaking wins in their respective $7,500 Wendell Smith Memorial Stake eliminations at Fraser Downs.
The $15,000 Wendell Smith final, which is for three-year-old pacing colts and geldings that are B.C owned, bred or sired and non-winners of $15,000 lifetime (no allowances) as of February 1, will be held next Friday, April 19.
John Hudon sent Jolt Of Whiskey to the lead from post three in the first elimination and the 2-1 second choice cruised through fractions of :30, 1:00, and 1:28.4 en route to his first career win in 1:58.1 over the sloppy surface. Worth Watching (Serge Masse) finished three-quarters of a length behind while the popular pocket-sitter, Lildudepurrfection (Scott Knight), rounded out the top three finishers nearly fourth lengths back.
The Village Jolt-Swirly gelding, who was a runner-up to Big N Bad in the Keith Linton Final on March 31, is owned and trained by Steven Hudon of Langley, B.C. He now has six top three finishes in eight starts during his debut season.
Also leaving from post three in his division, 7-1 fourth choice D On Sanders took the lead for driver Jim Marino and carved out panels of :29, :59.3, and 1:29.3 before halting the teletimer in 1:59.1 for his first career win. Imn Seventh Heaven (Keith Clark) and Red Star Boytoy (Dave Hudon) finished two lengths behind in second and third.
Casandra Uppal trains and co-owns the Jennas Beach Boy-Natural Gift gelding with Elaine Lerner of Blaine, Washington. D On Sanders has hit the board in half of his 10 career starts.
Prior to the stakes action, the Masse family's Phone Terror defeated last week's Mares Open winner Jans Rich Girl (Knight) by half a length in 1:55.3 in this week's $12,500 affair. She rallied wide from the backfield to notch her 20th career victory. Prairie Illusion (Clark) finished third for her fourth start in a row.
To view Friday's harness racing results, click on the following link: Friday Results - Fraser Downs.