Two-year-olds made their Alberta Sires Stakes debut on Saturday, Aug. 3 at Century Downs, which also hosted the Ralph Klein Memorial eliminations for the glamour boys.
Trainer/driver Jamie Gray's homebred Custard Dolce (pictured above) kicked off the Alberta Starlet leg for freshman fillies with a career-best 1:56.2 victory and the fastest mile of the day's two-year-old stakes winners.
In the first of three $18,466 Starlet divisions, Custard Dolce handed 1-5 favourite Hot Shot Shark (Logan Gillis) her first loss when she tracked that rival's pocket-popping move at three-quarters in 1:28.1 and sprinted by the front fillies for the 1-1/2-length win with a :27.4 final frame. Hot Shot Shark settled for second and pacesetter Imashipwreck (Brandon Campbell) finished third.
Gray also shares ownership of the Custard The Dragon-Blue Star West filly with Alberta partners Jackson Wittup of Calgary, Max Gibb of Millarville and Derek Wilson of Heritage Pointe. Making her third career start, Custard Dolce followed up her maiden-breaking victory in last month's Emerald Stakes for back-to-back winner's circle appearances at Century Downs. She returned $12.20 to win as the 5-1 second choice.
Following a pair of close runner-up finishes to launch her career, Donald Richardson's homebred filly Blowing Inthe Wind broke her maiden with a 1:57.2 effort in the second Starlet division.
Driver Brandon Campbell sent the Harold Haining-trained Blowing Inthe Wind underway from the back of the five-pack entering the backstretch and blew by the duelling leaders, Phone The Cops (Serge Masse) and Ahoof Ahead (Phil Giesbrecht), after a lively third panel when they turned in front of the grandstand. She won by 1-1/4 lengths over that pair.
Just a neck shy of the aforementioned Hot Shot Shark in the Emerald Stakes last time out, the Winds Of Change-Miss Conduct filly was sent off as the 3-5 favourite and paid $3.40 to win.
Rebounding from a spill in her career debut last month, Mademechangemymind was a wire-to-wire winner in the third Starlet split in 1:58 flat for trainer, driver and owner Nathan Sobey.
With the inside post advantage, Mademechangemymind pocketed the leaving even-money favourite, Eyes Up Here (Dave Kelly), and set sensible fractions before drawing off by five lengths in the stretch. Eyes Up Here followed in second while Utherockinmyroll (Phil Giesbrecht) held third.
A daughter of Winds Of Change and Imjusttaylormade, the first-time winner paid $5.60 as the 9-5 second choice.
Sobey scored a stakes double on the Saturday card with Ima Rum Runner taking the faster of the two $27,400 Alberta Rising Star divisions for the colts and geldings in 1:57.1.
Fresh off his first victory in the Norm Kennedy Memorial Stakes last month, Ima Rum Runner delivered as the 2-5 favourite when he retook the lead after a contested opening quarter and rebuffed the pesky Disco Dancer (Dave Kelly) turning for home to win by two lengths. Discontinued (Brandon Campbell) closed up the inside to snag the runner-up honours from Disco Dancer.
Ima Rum Runner, now two-for-three in his career, paid $2.80 to win. The homebred gelded son of Captain Deo out of 2014 Northlands Filly Pace champion Rummys Command is owned by Hall of Fame horseman Keith Clark of Foothills, Alta., and Robert Jones of Stony Plain, Alta.
The favoured Momas Work Of Art was collared by Ima Rum Runner late in his career debut in the Kennedy Stakes, but lasted on the lead this time out for a 1:58 maiden-breaking score in the Rising Star.
Driven by Serge Masse, Momas Work Of Art was four lengths clear of his opponents at the finish, with pocket-sitter Crime Junkie (Dave Kelly) edging out Rocky Mtn Wine (J.F. Gagne) and Westcoast McCoy (Phil Giesbrecht) in a place photo. He paid $3.20 to win as the 2-5 bettors' choice.
Trainer Shelly Arsenault shares ownership of the Outrageous Art-Rocket Moma colt with breeder Don Monkman Jr. of Sherwood Park, Alta., and co-owner Jackson Wittup.
The second leg of the Alberta Sires Stakes for the two-year-olds will take place on Sept. 15.
In sophomore stakes action, trainer/driver Brandon Campbell swept a pair of $12,500 eliminations for the Ralph Klein Memorial for colts and geldings with One Hot Minute and Grey Horizon.
Despite early interference when the starter to his inside broke stride off the gate, One Hot Minute pulled off a 13-1 upset with a career-best 1:54.4 score in the first elimination.
Campbell moved One Hot Minute from mid-pack after the popular pacesetter Buddy Knocks (Mike Hennessy) and flushed out final turn cover from the two-hole in the form of Downwiththesandman (Dave Kelly). Firing three-wide into the stretch, One Hot Minute forged ahead to score by 1-1/2 lengths over closers Neveda Dragon (Nathan Sobey) and Come On Santana (Jamie Gray), with Downwiththesandman finishing fourth.
Winless in four starts as a freshman, the Westwardho Hanover-One Hot Majorette colt has put together a record reading 2-2-2 from 10 starts this year.
Even-money favourite Grey Horizon, the Moore's Mile champion, romped to a 1:53.3 victory, finishing more than eight lengths on top with Rum N Custard (Kelly Hoerdt), Phone Nine One One (Logan Gillis) and Solar Solution (Phil Giesbrecht) inheriting second through fourth-placings when Matteuse (Nathan Sobey) was striped of second-place and pushed to fifth after causing interference in the stretch.
The striking Vertical Horizon-Panagler roan colt has won half of his 16 career starts while racing mostly in stakes events to go along with six seconds.
Jodi Loftus co-owns both elimination winners -- the homebred One Hot Minute with Timothy Kane of St. Albert, Alta., and Grey Horizon with fellow Calgary residents Raymond Henry and George Rogers.
The six-figure final of the Klein Memorial will be contested next Saturday, Aug. 10.
An eventful Saturday was capped off by Blast Of Sunshine, who upset the field of Preferred 2 pacers in 1:55 flat to take the lion's share of the $11,000 purse. Phil Giesbrecht worked out the winning trip in rein to the 31-1 longshot for trainer Gerry Hudon and Alberta owners Monica Hudon of Sturgeon County, Denise Andrew of Calgary and Jocelyn A Giesbrecht of Fort Saskatchewan.
The five-year-old son of Sunshine Beach and Bridgette Hanover went first-up as the field headed into the backstretch and took command when the front-striding favourite, Rockin Roller (Brandon Campbell), broke stride. Came A Cavalier (Kelly Hoerdt) finished 1-1/2 lengths behind in second with Carro B Bunsen (Logan Gillis) following in third.
To view Saturday's harness racing results, click the following link: Saturday Results - Century Downs.
(Standardbred Canada)