The Manitoba Great Western Harness Racing Circuit kicked off its 2016 season on Saturday, July 2 with last year's leading driver Don Howlett and trainer Trevor Williams picking up where they left off.
Howlett and Williams opened the season with back-to-back wins, courtesy of the debuting three-year-old filly Cordees Whitesocks and the four-year-old gelding Small But Fierce. They also teamed up for victories in the fifth race with seven-year-old Alberta invader Location Baran and the seventh race finale with the three-year-old maiden-breaking filly Garde Hebert.
Driver Marc Fillion and trainer Kevin Hildebrandt won a pair of races, including the $1,700 Fillies & Mares Open with Smoky Moon, who went wire-to-wire in 2:04.3 with Gold Star Sonata finishing three lengths behind for the Howlett-Williams duo. The seven-year-old Fort Apache mare, who had top-three finishes in six of her nine Open starts on the Manitoba circuit last year, is owned by Hildebrandt and Allan Drader.
Live harness racing continues at Morris on Sunday, with first race post time set for 1:30 p.m., and then moves to Glenboro next weekend.
To view Saturday's harness racing results, click on the following link: Saturday Results - Morris.