After a blowout victory in last week’s ABSS Alberta Marksman elimination, Smooth Criminal returned to Alberta Downs and eked out a half-length score in Sunday’s $56,900 final for driver Bill Tainsh, Jr.
The three-year-old son of Blue Burner-Gunslingin Gal was parked by Outlaw Beacon past the quarter-pole in :27.2 before working his way to the lead. Smooth Criminal got things his own way in the second quarter, and as a result he had the field at his mercy at the mid-way point in :57.2.
Tainsh turned on the jets in third quarter, however, as the gelding blazed by the three-quarter marker in 1:24.4. The favourite was confronted by the pocket-sitting Outlaw Beacon in the late stages of the mile, but he rebuffed that challenge and held on to win over that rival by a half-length margin in 1:53.3. Cowboy Caper was a distant third.
Douglas Stout trains the eight-time winner for Willie Wychopen of St. Paul and Walter Moroz of Edmonton, AB. The pacer, who went 4-for-9 as a freshman, now owns a 4-1-2 record from 10 trips postward this season. The $28,450 lion’s share of Sunday’s purse lifted the sophomore’s cash stash to $126,148.
To view results for Sunday's card of harness racing, click the following link: Sunday Results – Alberta Downs.