Kelly Hoerdt trainee circled by confusion at the top of the stretch to win the $61,875 Keith Linton Memorial at Fraser Downs on Sunday (May 8).
Hoerdt sat fifth with the Custard The Dragon colt to a :26.3 first quarter where his stablemate Lets Tie One On raced parked and pressed pacesetter Joe Rich. The two continued to trade blows into a :55.4 half and to three-quarters in 1:24.2, where Hoerdt hustled Joe Dimagio three wide from third over into the final turn. But Lets Tie One On broke stride between horses coming into the stretch, interfering with Itll Be Fine and dumping driver Scott Knight from the bike. Joe Dimagio, meanwhile, scooted clear to win by two lengths over A Dudes Promise and Joe Rich in 1:54.1.
Knight received medical attention after the race but track officials reported he just sustained cuts and scrapes from the incident, and booked off his remaining drives on the day.
Joe Dimagio won his third race from five starts this season and his fifth from 13 overall. Hoerdt co-owns the winner of $65,126 with Blair Corbeil. He paid $5.40 to win.
Shoot The Whiskey strolled to a wire-to-wire win in the co-featured $56,250 Penny Bath Memorial. Driver Brandon Campbell put the Shadow Play filly on the point and withstood first-over pressure from Memum Knowsnothing through a hot clip of :26.3 and :54.3 before that rival started to backtrack to three-quarters in 1:23.4. The Jim Marino trainee then finished the job while drawing away from her competition to win by 6-1/4 lengths in 1:54 over Shes Bodacious. River Boat Rosie finished third and Million Reasons took fourth.
Co-owned by Marino with J J J Stables, Shoot The Whiskey remains unbeaten from four starts this year while winning her eighth from 12 overall. She has earned $77,425 and paid $2.30 to win.
To view Sunday’s harness racing results, click the following link: Sunday Results – Fraser Downs.