The Robert Murphy B.C. Breeders Stakes kicked off on Saturday night at Fraser Downs with three-year-old pacers Ideal Art and Kootenay Positive capturing their respective $7,500 first leg divisions.
Ideal Art opened the Saturday night card of harness racing with a wire-to-wire victory in the first division for the father-son team of trainer Gord and driver John Abbott.
Leaving from outside his four rivals, the season-debuting Ideal Art carved out fractions of :28.4, :59 and 1:28 en route to the four length victory in a career-best 1:56.2 over favourite D On Sanders (David McKellar) and Make Mine Five (Mike Short).
The lightly raced American Ideal-Athenas Art colt is owned by Seaspray Stables Ltd. of Nanaimo, B.C.
Kootenay Positive converted off a pocket trip to win the following division for trainer Kyle Chadwick and owner Barbara Chadwick of Surrey, B.C.
The Allamerican Cobalt-Kootenay Finale gelding followed favourite Now Playing (Jim Marino), last season's Robert Millbank Breeders Stakes champion, through opening splits of :28.1 and :59. Why We Were Chosen (Rod Therres) swept from third to first at the 1:28.1 third quarter mark, but Kootenay Positive powered home to score the two and a half length victory in 1:58.1. Why We Were Chosen followed in second while longshot Imn Seventh Heaven (James Burke) came on for third.
The win was Kootenay Positive's first in four sophomore starts.
The three-year-old pacing colts will compete in their second leg of the B.C. Breeders Stakes next Sunday, August 25 at Fraser Downs.
To view Saturday's harness racing results, click on the following link: Saturday Results - Fraser Downs