Two-year-old pacing filly Blue Star Beauty lowered the freshman track record with her 1:54.4 romp in the third and final $18,767 Alberta Sires Stakes Starlet division on the Sunday afternoon program at Alberta Downs
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Driver Bill Tainsh Jr. sent Blue Star Beauty to the top from the outside Post 6 and led every step of the way from that point forward. The daughter of As Promised-Whitesand Secret carved out fractions of :27.2, :56.2 and 1:26.2 en route to the two length victory.
Blue Star Beauty lowered Im Sheila’s track record for freshman pacing fillies by two full seconds. The mark also bested the colt record set yesterday by Wrangler Betonme by one full second.
Popcorn (Jamie Gray) finished two lengths behind in second and Releasethecracken (Jim Marino) rounded out the top three, finishing 19 lengths in arrears.
Blue Star Beauty paid $2.90 to win as the bettor’s choice. She is now a perfect three-for-three in her young career with over $24,000 banked. Douglas Stout trains the filly, who was a $2,000 ASHA Yearling Sale purchase by Derek Stout of Camrose, Alta.
The other two divisions went to a pair of homebred, maiden-breaking fillies.
Sent postward as the longest shot on the board at odds of 11-1, Brendons No Fly rallied home from the backfield with a :27.4 final frame to upset favourite Cloud Nine (Keith Clark) in an earlier $18,767 division. The Allamerican Merlin-Banter filly prevailed by a neck over the pacesetter in 1:58.1 with Clinton Warrington Jr. in the bike. Pocket-sitter Cool One (Don Monkman Jr.) finished third.
Brendons No Fly paid $25.90 for the upset. The win was her first in five starts and lifted her earnings to over $9,500 for trainer Glenn Lutz and owner-breeders Donald and Brenda McNeil of Priddis, Alta.
G I Joan advanced first over and wore down pacesetter Outlaw Pot Of Gold (Connie Kolthammer) to win her $19,076 division by one and a half lengths in 2:00.1 for driver Jim Marino and trainer Harold Haining. Outlaw Pot Of Gold was second and Favourite Comeshomeearly (Keith Clark) finished third off a two-hole trip.
G I Joan paid $13.50 to win as the 5-1 fourth choice. The homebred As Promised-Xanadu filly is owned by Donald Richardson of Cochrane, Alta. The win was also her first in five outings and put her lifetime earnings over $10,000.
For results from Sunday's harness racing card, click on the following link: Sunday Results - Alberta Downs.