She had been close in recent starts, but Pickpocketprincess had been unable to defeat her rivals in the top class at Exhibition Park Raceway through the first five starts of her four-year-old campaign. Her luck changed on Saturday (July 18).
Reunited with former regular reinsman Todd Trites in Saturday's $1,200 Winners Over feature, Pickpocketprincess and Trites settled into third as the field paced through the opening half in post order. Father Ofthe Year (Dr. Mitch Downey) handled the heavy lifting through a :30.2 first panel and 1:01 half, and then was confronted viciously by Pickpocketprincess down the backside. Those two paced as a tandem through a 1:30.2 third station and together around the final turn before Pickpocketprincess finally edged in front around the last turn. Father Ofthe Yeat fought valiantly in the stretch, but Pickpocketprincess was the best on this occasion by a quarter of a length in 1:59.
Downey filed a claim of objection against Trites for interference around the final turn but the APHRC judges found no violations, allowing the order of finish to stand.
Wayne Hubbard trains and owns four-year-old Pickpocketprincess (Varadero Hanover - Julie Gilmore), now a three-time winner in six seasonal starts and 12-time winner in 26 career outings.
To view the results from Exhibition Park's Saturday card, click the following link: Saturday Results - Exhibition Park Raceway.