Friday night's harness racing card at Fraser Downs began with the elimination rounds for the Keith Linton and Penny Bath Memorial Stakes.
Three-year-old pacing colts and fillies faced off in $10,000 eliminations for the $75,000 stakes finals, which will be contested during the meet's closing weekend next Friday.
Returning to action following his victory in last month's B.C. Sales Stakes, Boiling Oar ($4.30) lowered his lifetime mark to 1:54.2 in the first of two Linton eliminations for the colts.
Boiling Oar, who had just the breaker beat and gapped the rest of the six-horse field early on, launched his attack down the backstretch and reeled in the co-favoured race leader Canadian Pharoh (:27.2, :58 and 1:26.3) to win by half a length with Jim Burke in the sulky.
Trained by Jim Marino, the Shadow Play-Arm In Arm gelding will look to remain undefeated in stakes action as he heads to the Linton final. In addition to the B.C. Sales Stakes, Boiling Oar won the Dan Ingram Memorial in November at Fraser Downs and a division of the Century Bets Stakes last August in Alberta. He boasts an overall four-for-five record with earnings of $45,833 for the J J J Stables, which also owns the elimination's third-place finisher One Small Favour.
Boiling Oar's win was the first of three on the program for Marino and the J J J Stables.
In the second Linton elim, Workin Them Angels ($10.50) swept from third to first after a :28.1 opening quarter and carved out middle splits of :57.2 and 1:26.2 en route to a career-best victory in 1:55. Last year's B.C. Breeders Stakes winner Ron Bakardi and Alberta Sires Stakes champion Custards Laststand passed early leader Its A Great White late to finish second and third, respectively.
Workin Them Angel is now two-for-two to start his sophomore campaign. John Chappell trains and drives the Rock N Roll Heaven-A Ps Money Maker gelding for his partners, breeder Joe Tinelli and co-owner Paul Sanders.
No Mo Fo Joe and Blue Grotto led the fillies in the Bath eliminations.
Owned by Diane Bertrand, No Mo Fo Joe ($5.60) went wire-to-wire with trainer/driver Serge Masse aboard. The Roll With Joe-No More Loving filly cruised through panels of :27, :56 and 1:24.1 before hitting the finish line in a lifetime-best clocking of 1:54.2. Hurried Romance chased one and three-quarter lengths behind in second while Cusdmagicdragon came on for third over multiple-stakes winner Scardy Cat.
Topnotch Stables' Blue Grotto ($3.30) followed You Talk To Much through fractions of :28.4, :59.1 and 1:27.4 before pacing by in the stretch to score a 1:56.3 victory. Kelly Hoerdt trains and drives the Art Major-Capri Hanover filly, who defeated her foes by one and a quarter lengths. Custard Lite rallied from the backfield to finish second and Roaring Home finished third ahead of You Talk Too Much.
To view Friday's harness racing results, click on the following link: Friday Results - Fraser Downs.