A second over trip led Steve O straight to the winner's circle to celebrate victory in $15,000 Wendell Smith Memorial Stake on Friday night at Fraser Downs
. The stake is for three-year-old B.C. owned, bred or sired colts that are non-winners of $12,000 lifetime as of March 1, 2012.
Steve O's entrymate Watch And Pray (J.F. Gagne) was the early pacemaker, laying down fractions of :26.2 and :54.4 with Bobbysslackkeystar (Serge Masse) parked out.
Down the backstretch, I Hear Voices (Keith Clark) advanced up and around the fading Bobbysslackkeystar from fifth with Steve O on his tail and was just heads apart from Watch And Pray by the 1:24.1 third quarter mark.
I Hear Voices put away elimination winner Watch And Pray in the stretch, but couldn't handle the pressure from Steve O and trainer-driver Jim Marino, who rallied three-wide around the final turn and prevailed by over one length in 1:54.1, shaving two full seconds off his lifetime mark. Pocket-sitter Procrastinatinpeat (David Hudon) finished four lengths behind in third. Hector Protector, the other elimination winner, broke stride early on taking himself out of contention.
Steve O paid $3 to win as part of the 1-2 favoured Marino entry. The Village Jiffy-R Wayout West Lo colt, now with a 4-3-0 record in seven lifetime starts, is owned by the Western Glory Stable of Wetaskiwin, Alta. The lion's share of the purse boosted his bankroll to $20,475.
To view Friday's harness racing results, click on the following link: Friday Results - Fraser Downs.