The penultimate night of the Fraser Downs meet on Thursday, May 1 featured a pair of $50,000 stakes races, with Hands Off Harry and Threecurtaincalls taking home the big cheques.
The stakes kicked off in race seven with the Ray Gemmill Memorial for three-year-old male pacers, with Hands Off Harry winning at 9-1 for owner/trainer/driver Nathan Sobey of Sturgeon County, Alta.
After taking the early lead, Hands Off Harry gave way to 3-5 favourite Fubar Bundy (Rod Therres) just after the 27-second opening quarter, graciously accepting the pocket trip. A :29.1 second panel tempted 7-5 second choice Captain Keys (Phil Giesbrecht), who pulled from third to challenge the leader. The field of six moved past three-quarters in 1:24.3, but it wasn’t until the homestretch when Hands Off Harry dove to the lightning lane to retake the top spot, holding on for a 2-1/2-length victory in a time of 1:52.4, handing second-place Captain Keys his first loss in six starts this year. Fubar Bundy rounded out the top three.
Hands Off Harry, an All Bets Off-Hands Off Hanover gelding, paid $21 to win and is now two-for-five in his career, upping his lifetime earnings to $36,675.
Next up was the Penny Bath Memorial Stakes for the fillies in race nine, where 4-5 favourite Threecurtaincalls and driver Phil Giesbrecht overcame a first-over trip to nip 45-1 longshot Snowdragon (Kelly Hoerdt) at the line by a head in 1:55.1 for trainer Jim Marino and owner J J J Stables of North Vancouver, B.C.
Kootenay Leia (Glenn White) blasted out of the gate to a :26.2 opening quarter, but a 30-second breather was not enough to hang on to the top spot. Threecurtaincalls went first over from fifth as the field of nine passed the stands for the first time, eventually picking up a bit of cover from Crunch N Munch (David Kelly) as they reached three-quarters in 1:25. Threecurtaincalls found daylight in the final turn when Crunch N Munch became rough gaited, setting up a sprint home between Threecurtaincalls on the outside and Snowdragon in the passing lane, with Crunch N Munch recovering to finish third.
Threecurtaincalls, a daughter of Huntsville out of Encore Deo, paid $3.90 to win while recording her fifth victory in seven lifetime starts, bringing her earnings to $56,375.
On the undercard, 5-2 second choice Grey Sea and driver John Abbott stormed the winner's circle in the Fillies and Mares Open Handicap Pace, besting 4-5 favourite Kootenay Cocoa (Nathan Sobey) and third-place finishing Outlaw Spiced Rum (Rod Therres) in the stretch to take the win in 1:52.3. After getting away last in a shortened field of five going for a purse of $10,000, Abbott and Grey Sea tipped to the outside after the half, steadily making up ground all the way through the wire. A 56-second final half and :28.2 final quarter proved to be more than enough for the six-year-old Custard The Dragon-Preference mare to put the field away, bringing her career win total to 24 races and lifetime earnings to $202,250 for trainer Gord Abbott and owner Seaspray Stables Ltd. of Nanaimo, B.C.
Live harness racing will resume at 7 p.m. (PDT) on Friday, May 2 with the final card of the Fraser Downs meet.
To view Thursday's harness racing results, click the following link: Thursday Results – Fraser Downs.
(Standardbred Canada)