A sum of achievements filled the 11-race card at Miami Fair on Saturday (Aug. 20) with stakes action, the feature open, new track records, and notable card victories by driver Blake Piwniuk and trainer Travis Ellis.
The $15,505 Manitoba Great Western Stake Final was contested halfway through the card with Emmetts Buddy winning by a length in 2:01.3. The three-year-old colt never saw the rail through a :29.3 first quarter and 1:00.1 half. Driver Tyler Grundy guided him into the pocket, meeting the three-quarter pole in a time of 1:30.2. At the head of the stretch, they continued in the two-hole until drawing off by a length. This Girl Rules (George Isman) followed up in second with Sassy Libby (Blake Piwniuk) in third.
Emmetts Buddy, by In The Irons and out of the Shark Gesture mare Logicallyinclined, is owned and trained by Arthur Rey. In six lifetime starts, he has had five wins and one third with $16,030 in earnings.
In the $12,952 Manitoba Standardbred Sires and Breeders Association Stake for four-year-olds, Donald Howlett and Cereal Killer made their way to the top after getting parked out to the quarter in :29.1 and kept on going to the wire. The pair found success through fractions of :58.4 and 1:28.3 to the final time of 1:59.3, winning by nine lengths over Chase My Dust (Blake Piwniuk) and Promise Me A Win (Kirk Rogers).
Marc Fillion owns and trains the four-year-old Toucam Sam-Alcars Xit gelding. The victory is the eighth lifetime for Cereal Killer.
The $4,200 feature Open Pace was won by Mystic Dragon and Blake Piwniuk in a wire-to-wire victory in 1:57. It was the 10th lifetime victory for the Travis Ellis trainee, who has accumulated $40,030 in career earnings. Timothy Gordon and Rebecca Kanak own the Mystician-Teacher Hanover gelding.
Blake Piwniuk amassed a total of six driving wins on the card, while Travis Ellis scored five training wins. Besides the feature Open victory with Mystic Dragon, the two teamed up for three other wins with Two To Ten, West Coast Beach and Cartiere.
Blake Piwniuk also drove All Speculation and Blackjack Charlie for trainer Betty Manning for wins five and six.
The fifth win of Travis Ellis was Hf Flower, driven by Trevor Williams, who won in a new track record for three-year-old pacers in 1:58.2. The record replaces the old record of 2:00.1 set by Dontchase Justpace.
Ak Nite Lady, trained by Kevin Hildebrandt and driven by Donald Howlett, broke the previous two-year-old pacing track record in 2:02.3. The former track record was in 2:03 achieved by Just Gracie.
To view Saturday's harness racing results, click the following link: Saturday Results - Miami Fair.