Sophomores were in the Saint John spotlight on Saturday (May 21) as Exhibition Park Raceway hosted three divisions of the Dr. Ted & Dawn Bremner Memorial Stakes.
The fastest of the Bremner splits came courtesy the single $8,000 filly division. Ultimate Long Shot ($5.10) was sent off as the betting favourite, and she delivered to her backers and connections. Driver David Dowling used his rail starting spot to gain command early and then never look back. After a :28.4 opener and 1:00.4 half, Ultimate Long Shot faced a backside challenge as Woodmere Jazz (Corey MacPherson) popped the pocket to pressure the pacesetter but couldn't get past. Mystical Gal (Dale Spence) angled to the inside down the stretch to create a three-across finish with Ultimate Long Shot a neck the best, reaching the wire in 2:00.
Ultimate Long Shot (Malicious - Troxel Hanover) is trained by Earl Watts for Windemere Farms of Springvale, P.E.I., River Valley Management of Saint John, N.B. and Clive Balderston of Moncton. She's now two-for-two in 2022 and sports a lifetime summary of 5-3-1 from 10 career starts.
Alldawaytocardigan ($13.30) went all the way on the front end in the first $8,000 division for three-year-old male pacers, making every call a winning one for Team Heffernan. Myles Heffernan engineered the winning trip, stealing some soft fractions with a :31 opener and 1:04 half. Alldawaytocardigan picked up the tempo with back-to-back 30-second panels to close his mile and hit the wire two lengths the best with the mile timed in 2:04. Brumby (Adam Merner) was second for that entire 124-second effort, with favoured Soul Assassin (David Dowling) not a factor to finish third.
Jackie Heffernan of Glace Bay, N.S. owns and Myles Heffernan trains Alldawaytocardigan (Tobago Cays - Undine Hanover), who picked up his second lifetime victory and first win since last July.
Stash It Away ($6.40) also made his seasonal debut a winning one, holding off a stubborn Rollwithhottytoddy in the second $8,000 Bremner division for the pacing colts. Corey MacPherson pocketed up behind Rollwithhottytoddy (Heffernan) heading into the first turn but then angled out to clear by the :28.4 opening quarter. After a 1:01.1 half, Stash It Away increased the tempo down the backside but faced a pocket-popping challenge from Rollwithhottytoddy through a 1:31 third panel. Stash It Away gained some separation around the far turn but Rollwithhottytoddy battled back down the stretch. His bid, however, fell a half-length short as Stash It Away tripped the timer in 2:00.1. Favoured Fern Hill General (MacPherson) rounded out the top trio.
Trained by Kevin MacLean for owner Reg MacPherson of Stratford, P.E.I., Stash It Away (Pang Shui - Allamerican Napa) picked up his ninth career victory to push his record to 9-2-0 in 13 attempts with more than $66,000 in his bankroll.
Frontier Cruise ($4.50) found the EPR winner's circle to his liking last week, and made a return there after a repeat in the $2,500 Winners Over top overnight class. Mark Haig had the driving assignment this week, and the tandem took no prisoners and repelled all rivals with a gutsy 2:01.4 score for for trainer Jean Belliveau and co-owner Jean Charles Belliveau. The five-year-old son of Sunshine Beach - Cuzurinittowinit now boasts 12 wins and 21 top-three finishes from 52 career starts with earnings of more than $64,000.
For results from Saturday's card, click the following link: Saturday Results - Exhibition Park Raceway.