Johnny Gun pulled off a 10-1 upset victory in the $55,400 Alberta Sires Stakes Plainsman Final for three-year-old pacing colts on Sunday afternoon at Century Downs Racetrack and Casino.
Trained by Harold Haining for owner Donald Richardson of Cochrane, Alta., Johnny Gun rallied home off cover to win for the first time this season and take a new lifetime mark of 1:56 flat. He paid $22.80 to win.
The Brandons Cowboy-Jerrys Girl colt was driven to victory by Jim Marino, who recently returned to action after recovering from injuries in a racing accident early this year.
After getting away second-to-last, Marino moved Johnny Gun to the outside on the back of the parked out Pablos First (Philip Giesbrecht) on the front stretch and tracked the cover while Urcutoff (Brandon Campbell) led through opening fractions of :27.3 and :57.1. The 10-1 shot was towed up into third-place by the 1:25.4 third quarter mark as Pablos First edged ahead of Urcutoff. However, Pablo First was unable to clear Urcutoff, who had overcome his outside post eight at the start for the leading role, prompting Marino to send Johnny Gun three-wide. Johnny Gun stormed by the top pair coming off the final turn and then drew off by three and a quarter lengths down the stretch. Withflyingcolours (Keith Clark) followed the winner's cover and came on for second-place while Hollywood Redneck (Gerry Hudon) finished third.
As a freshman, Johnny Gun swept all three legs of the Alberta Sires Stakes and also won a division of the Horizon Pace. Sunday's Alberta Plainsman victory was his first win in seven sophomore starts and boosted his career bankroll to $81,429.
This week's $11,500 Open went to four-year-old pacer Ghost Pine, who converted off a pocket trip and opened up four and half lengths en route to a 1:53.3 victory for trainer/driver Kelly Hoerdt and co-owner Blair Corbeil.
Ghost Pine paid $7 to win as the 5-2 second choice. This marked the third time this season that he defeated favourite Who Doesnt (Travis Cullen), who came three-wide to close for second-place this time out while 68-1 longshot Comes Home First (Jim Marino) finished third.
Ghost Pine lowered his own track record for aged stallions by one-fifth of a second and came within one second of the all-age (and gelding) record held by his main rival, Who Doesnt.
Century Downs' leading horseman Travis Cullen had four driving wins on the 11-race card, including three with his own trainees.
To view Sunday's harness racing results, click on the following link: Sunday Results - Century Downs.