Three-year-old pacing filly Phone Terror overcame the outside post eight to pick up her first victory in Alberta in the $50,000 Ralph Klein Breeders Stake, which was rescheduled for Sunday's card at Alberta Downs following Saturday's cancellation.
Trainer-driver Serge Masse fired the Western Terror-Miss Lex filly to command off the gate and established the lead during a speedy :26.2 opener. Phone Terror continued to front the field through middle splits of :55.2 and 1:22.4 while elimination winner Blue Star Beauty and Bill Tainsh Jr. advanced to apply first over pressure during the third panel.
The top two fillies battled head-to-head around the final bend and into the stretch, but Phone Terror dug in down the lane to prevail in a new lifetime mark of 1:52.4. Blue Star Beauty settled for second one length behind while the popular pocket-sitter Credit Card Junkie and Keith Clark rounded out the top three finishers.
The time of the mile also set a track record for three-year-old pacing fillies, lowering the former mark, held by River Lass and Dewinton Destroyer, by four-fifths of a second.
Phone Terror paid $9.10 to win. After winning all six of her first sophomore starts at British Columbia's Fraser Downs earlier this year, she shipped to Alberta where she finished second to top older mare River Lass in an Open and third behind Ralph Klein Breeders Stake second and third place finishers in her elimination last weekend.
The lion's share of the purse boosted Phone Terror's career bankroll to $77,900 for owners Melissa and Claudine Masse of Edmonton, Alta.
Earlier on the card, River Lass won her seventh straight $8,500 Fillies & Mares Open Pace in wire-to-wire fashion in 1:54.3 for trainer-driver Kelly Hoerdt. The five-year-old As Promised-Brass Buttons mare, owned by Hoerdt and Blair Corbeil of Beaumont, Alta., surpassed the $300,000 earnings mark with her 27th career win. She paid $3.10 to win as the heavy favourite in the five-horse field.
To view Sunday's harness racing results, click on the following link: Sunday Results - Alberta Downs.