Sophomores were intended to get the headlines on Saturday, July 13 at Century Downs but Shark Week wanted to make a statement in his return to action on the undercard.
Trainer Rod Hennessy sent out three winners on the afternoon card, picking up a stakes win thanks to pacing filly Byby Baby Byby (pictured above) as the cherry on top of his Saturday sundae. All three of Rod's winners were guided to victory by his son, Mike.
Team Hennessy picked up their biggest win of the day in the $54,200 Alberta Marquis for Alberta-sired three-year-old pacing fillies as Byby Baby Byby took no prisoners en route to victory.
With a slew of fillies vying for early position, the speed came from the outside of the gate as Over Ice (Brandon Campbell) got to the front from post seven and then yielded to Byby Baby Byby and Mike Hennessy. That front-end position was crucial for Hennessy, with favoured Outlawguns N Roses (Dave Kelly) on his back around that first turn.
Byby Baby Byby fronted the field through a :27.2 opener and then offered the coldest shoulder to a challenging Outlawguns N Roses, not allowing her to clear. After a sharp :55.3 half, Outlawguns N Roses couldn't keep up that overland journey and started to shorten her strides. With three-quarters reached in 1:24.1, Byby Baby Byby had every reason to start coming back to her rivals but the pacing filly remained strong on the lead and tripped the timer three lengths the best in a time of 1:54.2. Ultralongshot Foothills Magic (Phil Giesbrecht) rallied for a second at 91-1 odds with Over Ice there for show.
Owned by Bryan Brook of Leduc and Diane Hennessy of Strathmore, Alta., Byby Baby Byby (Vertical Horizon - Ba Bye Ceia Later) picked up her second win of the season and sixth lifetime. The win lifts her career bankroll to $178,385. She returned $12.90 on a $2 win wager.
YYC On The Horizon avoided all the turmoil in the $53,600 Alberta Maverick final for Alberta-sired three-year-old male pacers and powered away for the 16-1 upset victory in 1:56.1.
The favourites were involved early, with One Hot Minute (Mike Hennessy) clearing public choice and stablemate Grey Horizon (Brandon Campbell) before the opening quarter. There was no room for Come On Santanna (Jamie Gray) to find a spot on the pylons, so Gray forged forward with the second betting choice through a :28.4 opening quarter before landing on the lead at the three-eighths mark.
After a :57.2 half, Grey Horizon moved first up from third but made a break while advancing as Come On Santanna caused confusion on the lead. As a result, Grey Horizon locked wheels with his pocket-sitting stablemate to take both horses out of contention.
David Kelly had started to follow Grey Horizon's outer flow move with YYC On The Horizon and made a quick right line tug to get his contender around the troubled twosome. That move proved to be the winning one, as Come On Santanna got leg-weary on the lead. YYC On The Horizon took dead aim at his pacesetting stablemate and cleared easily by the 1:27 third station. None of the other contenders could get to Kelly's wheels and he eased away to a 1:56.1 decision by more than five lengths. Rum N Custard (Kelly Hoerdt) and Matteuse (Nathan Sobey) completed the top trio.
A son of Vertical Horizon - Divas Dragonfly, YYC On The Horizon is owned by trainer Jamie Gray along with Wild Dunes Stables of Delta, B.C. Unraced at two, YYC On The Horizon now sports three wins in nine career starts with earnings of $41,909. He paid $35.20 to win.
If there was any doubt about the fitness of 2023 Alberta Horse of the Year Shark Week, the six-year-old pacer silenced all critics with open-length smackdown of his top class rivals in the $12,500 Preferred Pace.
Making his first pari-mutuel start since late April, Shark Week cleared before the opening turn and then said so long to his competition. After fractions of :26.3, :56.2 and 1:24.2, Shark Week found another gear and powered home in :27.1 to trip the timer in 1:51.3 all by himself at the wire. Bonus Round (Dave Kelly) was nearly nine lengths in arrears to finish second with Samba Beat (Giesbrecht) next best in third.
That win was the 42nd of Shark Week's career, lifting the six-year-old Vertical Horizon gelding's earnings to $357,725 for owners Rod Hennessy and Lorne Duffield of Edmonton.
Hennessy's first winner of the day was second race conqueror Rememberthecustard (1:57; $4.60). After today's haul, the veteran conditioner now sports 2,241 lifetime victories with more than $16.7 million in earnings.
An incident in the first race involved Mademechangemymind, who stumbled and fell as Nathan Sobey attempted to avoid a breaking Dont Shoot Luke in front of him. Captain Captain and driver Harold Haining were unable to avoid the fallen horse. Reports from Century indicate that no serious injuries occurred with horses and drivers walking away from the spill.
For the full results from Saturday's card of harness racing, click the following link: Saturday Results - Century Downs.
(Standardbred Canada)