Trainer Earl Watts sent three two-year-old pacers to Woodstock Connell Park for the Milton Downey Memorial Stakes on Sunday, Aug. 2 and all three returned home winners.
Watts teamed up with driver Adam Merner to sweep the two $10,700 colt divisions with the favourites Malicious Benny ($4.30) and Ryder Roo ($2.70).
Already a two-time Atlantic Sires Stakes winner in his first three starts, Malicious Benny added a Downey division to his record with a gate-to-wire romp in 2:00. A homebred for owner Wade Peconi of Stanchel, P.EI., the Malicious-Howmacs Princess gelding led the field of six through fractions of :29.3, 1:01.1 and 1:31.2 before sprinting away by 5-1/2 lengths in a :28.3 final frame. Pour Me Another (Keith Legge) advanced first-up into second and This Guns For Hire (Ryan Desroche) hit the board after making a three-wide move on the backside.
Ryder Roo took a different route to victory lane, going from last to first in a 2:01 mile. The homebred Cattlewash-Lovineveryminute gelding earned his first stakes win and improved his rookie record to two-for-three for owners Windemere Farms of Springvale, P.E.I., and Brian & Ira Wallach Racing of Closter, New Jersey. After trailing the field of five through the first quarter, Ryder Roo tracked the cover of Lukeys Boy (Legge) in the middle half then circled three-wide with a quarter-mile to go and defeated that foe in a sprint to the finish, winning by three-quarters of a length. Saulsbrook Andy (Desroche), who got the shuffle to the back in the middle stages, came back on for third.
Earlier on the card, Starship Daisy ($2.60) kicked off what would be a perfect three-for-three stakes day for Watts, winning the first filly division with driver Mark Haig sending the favourite down the road to a 6-1/4-length victory ahead of the Merner-trained and reined Howmac Derry. Starship Daisy cruised through panels of :29.3, 1:01.1 and 1:30.4 en route to a new lifetime mark of 2:00.1. The Somewhere Fancy-Romance In Camelot improved to two-for-three in her career for owner Francis Poirier of Havre-Aux-Maisons, Que. Dancin Lady Lou (Mike McGuigan) advanced from the back of the five-pack to push ahead of pocket-pursuer Howmac Derry but made a miscue in the final turn and ended up third.
Merner trained and drove the fastest Downey division winner as Woodmere Twigs ($3.90) prevailed in 1:59.3 off a pocket trip in the other filly event. The Blood Money-Very Ideal Hanover miss overtook the slightly favoured front-ender, Country Rhythm (Myles Heffernan), after following through fractions of :29.2, :59.3 and 1:29.2. It turned into a two-horse race with the top pair less than a length apart at the wire and the trailing two nowhere in sight. Maritime Select (Bernard McCallum) was the third-place finisher more than 17 lengths back after making a break at three-quarters. An Atlantic Sires Stakes winner in her career debut, Woodmere Twigs now has two victories in her first three starts for owner Runningonempty of Stanhope, P.E.I.
To view Sunday's harness racing results, click the following link: Sunday Results - Woodstock Connell Park.
(Standardbred Canada; photo of Malicious Benny winning on Aug. 2)