Barona Ice and Clintons Escape proved to be too hot for the competition to handle in their respective $14,900 Alberta Plainsman eliminations at Alberta Downs
on Sunday afternoon.
Clintons Escape took the opening split for trainer/driver Keith Clark, and his 1:53.4 performance knocked a full second off his own track record for three-year-old pacing geldings.
The son of Clintons Cigar-Emotionaliscape enjoyed a pocket trip to the quarter pole before Clark sent him into attack mode. The pacer sprinted to the top in the second quarter and proceeded to roll the field through panels of :55.4 and 1:25.1 before finishing off the competition with a :28.3 final frame.
Senga San Tome enjoyed a two-hole ride for most of the mile, but he couldn’t stay with the eventual winner in the late stages of the mile. He wound up more than four lengths in arrears, with Pop Gun rallying to finish a distant third in the eight-horse affair.
Clark shares ownership on the nine-time winner with fellow Calgarians, Allan Neurauter and George Young. The victory was the pacer’s fourth consecutive tally and it improved his 2010 record to 6-1-0 in seven assignments. He has banked in excess of $70,000 to date.
Just two races later, Barona Ice matched the track record with a 1:53.4 triumph of his own for driver Bill Tainsh, Jr. and trainer Douglas Stout.
The son of Freedoms Pass-Vanessa Hall battled with Mighty Dynamo to the quarter pole in :26.4 before getting that rival into the pocket and laying down remaining panels of :56.1 and 1:24. He finished off his foes with a :29.4 final frame en route to the 1:53.4 decision.
Campasser, who was still sitting last at the top of the stretch, uncorked a :28-second final quarter of his own to finish a hard-closing second. Jafeica Again, who was parked every step of the mile, grabbed third prize.
The Barona Yearlings’ homebred extended his win streak to three-in-a-row with the victory, and he improved his overall record to 5-1-1 in 12 trips postward. He has banked just shy of $34,000 to date.
Earlier on the card in a $4,700 conditioned event, True Mystic lowered the track record for three-year-old pacing colts when he toured the oval in 1:58. The performance erased the former mark of 1:59.1 set by Promised Rocket.
Trainer/driver Gerry Hudon worked out pocket trip for the son of Camystic-True To Life, who popped out late and drew off to win by more than a pair of lengths in 1:58 for Hudon and partners Monica Hudon and Bill Boden.
Catch A Dragon shaved one-fifth of a second off the track standard for older pacing mares when she stormed home in :26.3 to take a $7,300 conditioned event in 1:54.2 for trainer Glenn Lutz. The four-year-old daughter of Dragon Again-Dream Catcher, who was driven to victory by co-owner Brent Grundy, erased the former mark of 1:54.3 set by Willyourememberme and KG Mist.
Grundy shares ownership on the seven-time winner with Diane Bertrand of Edmonton, AB. She has banked $30,996 to date.
Hilldrop Shady also took one-fifth of a second off the track record for older pacing geldings when he circled the Alberta Downs’ oval in 1:53.3. The performance did away with the former mark of 1:53.4 set by Early Winner.
The four-year-old son of Shady Character-Grecian Formula, who is now a six-time winner this season, laid down most of the speed en route to the 3-1/2 length score for trainer Ken Read and driver Brent Grundy. The eight-time winner, who is just shy of $30,000 in lifetime earnings, is owned by Wally McKay of Millet, AB.
To view Sunday’s results, click here.