Popular three-year-old pacing fillies Blue Star Texas and Fire Watch delivered winning performances in their respective $10,000 Alberta Sires Stakes eliminations for the Alberta Diamond leg on Saturday at Century Downs.
The opening leg Princess champion, Blue Star Texas, and runner-up, Fire Watch, will face off in the $50,000 (added) Diamond final, which is set for Saturday, September 5 at Century Downs.
Trainer/driver Keith Clark sent 1-5 favourite Blue Star Texas to the lead from post six in their Diamond elimination and carved out fractions of :28.2, 1:00.1 and 1:28.1 en route to the 1:58.3 triumph. My Camalina (Kelly Hoerdt) tipped out from third down the stretch and got past the pocket-sitting Getter Queen Flush (Rod Hennessy) to finish second, closing within one length of the winner.
Blue Star Texas notched her sixth win of the season from 11 starts and now has $97,236 in sophomore earnings. The Brandons Cowboy-Movin Uptown filly is owned by Doris McDougall and Robert Jones.
In the second Diamond elimination, 1-5 favourite Fire Watch and trainer/driver Travis Cullen got away sixth through a :28-second quarter and flushed out My Villas On Fire as they chased after early leader Beauty Of Nature (Gerry Hudon) past the half-mile mark in :58.3. My Villas On Fire (Jamie Gray) took over the lead down the backstretch and reached three-quarters in 1:26.1 with Fire Watch looming first over and then rushing by to score a three and a half length victory in 1:56.3. My Villas On Fire stayed for second and Take On Da Boys (Rod Hennessy) came on for third.
Cullen, his father Ron, and Dwayne Taylor co-own Fire Watch, who won the Ralph Klein Stakes in her last start on August 8. The Camystic-Raging Red Head now has three wins in nine starts this year and seasonal earnings totalling $68,622.
Earlier on the card, Clark and Jones' Open mare Rummys Command inherited the victory in this week's $11,500 top distaff class after chasing 2-5 favourite Sing Like An Angel and Cullen across the finish line. Following an inquiry, unofficial race winner Sing Like An Angel was placed back to fifth as judges ruled she caused confusion to the rest of the field when backing down the pace during a :31.2 second panel. Rummys Command's mile time was 1:55.2 and the victory was her second in a row following four straight runner-up finishes to rival Sing Like An Angel. Nighttraintovegas (Brandon Campbell) and American Passion (Gerry Hudon) were bumped to second and third-place, respectively.
Despite missing out on the Open victory, Cullen still led all trainers for wins on the 11-race card with four.
To view Saturday's harness racing results, click on the following link: Saturday Results - Century Downs.