The 2025 Atlantic Sires Stakes season kicked off with the three-year-old pacing fillies in action on an abbreviated Friday, June 6 card at Truro Raceway.
The scheduled 15-race card was cut short with the last three races cancelled due to an issue with the track lighting, but not before the first Sires Stakes leg was complete.
Trainer William Lanigan's Badgirl Bridgette ($3.90) was the fastest of the three 'A' division winners in her Truro debut, taking her $10,420 split in a career-best 1:56.3. Jason Hughes guided the 4-5 favourite through fractions of :29.2, :59.4 and 1:28.1 en route to a 3-3/4-length tally with her final frame in :28.2. Elm Grove Talia (David Dowling) advanced into second with the early pocket-sitter breaking stride down the backstretch the final time while Woodmere Ohdoya (Clare MacDonald) rounded out the top three.
Badgirl Bridgette has been nothing but good. After going six-for-seven as a freshman and missing by just a nose in her sophomore debut in the P.E.I. Colt Stakes, the Stonebridge Terror-Whatabadgirl filly boosted her career bankroll to $43,222 with this Sires Stakes victory.
Badgirl Bridgette gave Hughes a stakes double following an earlier 'A' division win with Howmac Maleficent ($5.80), who tracked 7-5 favourite Never Shui Never (Gilles Barrieau) from the pocket through panels of :28.3, :59 and 1:28 before handing last year's Maritime Breeders Stakes champion her first career loss on the line. The Joe Baxter trainee took a new mark of 1:57.2, winning by a quarter of a length. Starship Laska (Marc Campbell) rallied three-wide off cover turning for home to finish third.
Howmac Maleficent is two-for-two to start her sophomore season after putting together a rookie record of 4-3-1 from nine starts last year. The Malicious-General Luckypercy filly, now a career winner of $52,364, is owned by Peter Garnet Gilby of Lantz, N.S.
Baxter also watched his own filly Saulsbrook Lynn ($6.80) score a maiden-breaking victory in a $6,000 'B' division, with a three-wide rally and :28.2 last quarter to defeat 3-4 favourite Windemere Classie (Marc Campbell) in 1:57. Ryan Desroche worked out the winning trip for the daughter of Malicious and Southwind Oasis.
Saulsbrook Inferno (Gilles Barrieau) and Muchtooyoungforyou (Marc Campbell) gave trainer Earl Watts a 1-2 finish in the other 'A' division. Saulsbrook Inferno trailed the field of six with a quarter-mile to go and fired three-wide from the back to catch her Atlantic Breeders Crown champion stablemate, who had put up panels of :27.2, :58.2 and 1:27.4. Saulsbrook Inferno prevailed by three-quarters of a length in a career-best 1:58.1 and paid $11.70 for the mild upset. Wisemoon (Ryan Desroche) was third.
Saulsbrook Inferno made her second start of the season a winning one and now sports a career record reading 6-3-1 from 15 starts with $72,437 in earnings. A daughter of Flameproof Hanover out of Ainsleynoelle, Saulsbrook Inferno is owned by Prince Edward Islands' Windemere Farms of Springvale, Hollis Newson of Cornwall, Sterling Buchanan of Bonshaw and Jack Quinn of Charlottetown.
Windemereontheline ($3.50) and driver Myles Heffernan Sr. gave Watts another victory, as the popular Windemere Farms homebred took a 'B' division in a career-best 1:58.4. The filly by Flameproof Hanover out of Windemere Nancy held off Blue Jean Baby (Marc Campbell) by a neck.
The three-year-old pacing fillies will meet again in their second leg of the Atlantic Sires Stakes on July 18 at Summerside Raceway.
Only one of the two scheduled Phil Pinkney Stakes Memorial divisions for three-year-old pacing colts went to post on Friday's shortened program, with Philthy Phil ($23.70) scoring a maiden-breaking victory in 1:57.4 in the $9,220 contest for driver Redmond Doucet and trainer Lennan MacIsaac. The Shanghail Phil-CMR Maybe Loaded colt prevailed by neck over Onions Te Go (David Dowling) in what developed into a two-horse race after the favourites made miscues.
To view Friday's harness racing results, click the following link: Friday Results - Truro Raceway.
(Standardbred Canada; photo of Badgirl Bridgette winning on June 6)