Get Thereovernight put an end to Outlaw Gunpowder's win streak before it reached double digits, nailing him on the finish line in the $11,000 Open Handicap Pace featured at Century Downs on Sunday afternoon (April 3).
Driven by Bill Tainsh Jr. for trainer and co-owner Kelly Hoerdt, Get Thereovernight established the early lead from the inside post position. After a :28.3 opening quarter, 1-5 favourite Outlaw Gunpowder (Travis Cullen), assigned outside his rivals in the short five-horse affair, began to advance from the back of the pack. With a win streak of nine in a row extending back to mid-December, Outlaw Gunpowder worked to clear Get Thereovernight down the backstretch past the :57.3 half-mile mark and reached three-quarters in 1:24.3. However, Get Thereovernight tipped out of the pocket coming off the turn and defeated Outlaw Gunpowder by a nose in 1:53.2. Audreys Dream (Ed Hensley) followed three lengths behind in third.
Get Thereovernight has been improving with every start since his mid-March return to the races. Sunday's win marked his first Open triumph in three outings this year. The five-year-old pacer had ended his 2015 campaign with three straight Open wins at Northlands Park, pushing his win count to 11 and seasonal earnings over the $100,000 mark. He now has 16 career wins and a bankroll of $157,800.
Hoerdt co-owns the Clintons Cigar-Express Overnite gelding with Peter Giannakopoulos of Edmonton and Blair Corbeil of Beaumont, Alta.
Sent postward at the 5-1 second choice on the toteboard, Get Thereovernight paid $12 to win.
While Cullen had to settle for the runner-up honours in the third race Open, he went on to accumulate five wins throughout the remainder of the 11-race card. Alberta's leading horseman went back-to-back in the next two races with False Advertising ($4.30) and Counter Strike ($2.90), who continued his own win streak (now five in a row) with a 1:54.3 career-best effort. Cullen also won the seventh race with recent newcomer Coliseum Hanover ($3.30) breaking his maiden in a 1:57.4 seven-length romp. He then closed out the program with Who Doesnt ($2.50) dropping out of the Open ranks for his first win of the year and Raging Fingers ($3) going back-to-back to start his 11-year-old campaign.
To view Sunday's harness racing results, click on the following link: Sunday Results - Century Downs.