Following a disqualification of first-place finisher Better Watch Out, Cheddar Jack inherited victory in the $125,000 second heat for the Ralph Klein Memorial at Century Downs on Monday, Aug. 6.
Cheddar Jack jolted for the lead with Freedoms Rescue getting away second through a :29 opening quarter. The field remained strung out as Cheddar Jack paced to the half in :57.4. Better Watch Out, positioned fourth, paced half in half out before committing first over into the backstretch.
Freedoms Rescue made his move after the leader approaching three-quarters. Forcing the tempo to quicken, Freedoms Rescue pressured Cheddar Jack through a 1:25.2 third-quarter as Better Watch Out, stalled midway in the backstretch, swept into the pocket and Ready N Steady progressed three wide.
Better Watch Out angled off the rail moving into the stretch but collided with Freedoms Rescue as he faltered, forcing the latter to lose stride into the lane. Cheddar Jack clung to command as Better Watch Out lunged late to get a nose up on the pacesetter while Custards Laststand, flying from fourth over, finished third and Ready N Steady held fourth.
David Kelly, driver of Freedoms Rescue, launched an objection as a result of the interference at the head of the stretch. The stewards upheld the objection and disqualified Better Watch Out from first to ninth.
“I knew he probably got beat at the wire from where I was standing,” trainer Rod Hennessy said. “Then the inquiry came up and I wondered where Serge [Masse on Better Watch Out] came from—he was well caught in. Then they showed the replay and I thought there was a pretty good chance we’d get placed up. But that’s fortune in horse racing: I got lucky and someone else didn’t.”
A gelding by Betterthancheddar from the Artsplace mare Bababababarbarapan, Cheddar Jack won his seventh race in 14 starts this season and his ninth in 22 overall, earning $119,851. Paul Davies drove for owners Lorne Duffield and Diane Hennessy. Cheddar Jack's win price was unavailable at the time of reporting due to a tote delay.
“He showed a lot of heart and toughness today because that horse [Freedoms Rescue] almost went by him in the backside,” Davies said after the race. “They’re all tired; it’s their second race of the day but he fought on and got us across the wire.”
“The horse was fighting a bit of a virus; my whole barn has lately and I think yesterday was a pretty stressful day for my help just because I was on them trying to keep [Cheddar Jack] healthy,” Hennessy also said. “Then we had a 24-hour retention barn so we couldn’t do anything. We were pretty worried about him but [then] I warmed him up an extra trip to blow it out of him. I wasn’t worried about a second trip with this horse. He’s a big, big tough horse—I thought it wouldn’t affect him one bit because he’s trained well all along.
When asked if the plan was always to go to the front, Hennessy said “When I saw the draw, I told Paul [Davies] there’s only one place you’re going and I paid $4,000 to find it.”
Trainer Kelly Hoerdt swept the top two spots in the $125,000 Gord & Illa Rumpel Memorial, conditioning 35-1 winner Hot Kiss and steering the runner-up Blue Grotto in 1:54.1 mile.
Hot Kiss set a swift pace on the lead, pacing to the quarter in :28.1 and the half in :56.4. Scardy Cat, sitting the pocket, attempted to pop pocket moving to the backstretch but quickly moved back to the rail. No Mo Fo Joe was left first over, with Blue Grotto catching that cover, heading to three-quarters as Hot Kiss accelerated to that marker in 1:24.2.
Hot Kiss held an open-length lead into the stretch. Blue Grotto charged into second ahead of No Mo Joe chasing in third ahead of Scardy Cat, the 3-5 favourite, relegated to fourth.
Returning $73.30 to win, Hot Kiss, owned by Hoerdt along with William Andrew, won her fifth race in 11 starts this season and in 17 overall, collecting $104,404 in earnings. Dave Hudon piloted the filly by Vertical Horizon, from the Northern Luck mare Hot Night.
“[Kelly Hoerdt] said: ‘Leave!’,” Hudon said after the race. “[I] never drove this one before. I thought there’d be more challengers; I thought I’d have to get into a battle. But, when I looked over and the first quarter was a little cheap, I said ‘Well, if I can get another one cheap, we’ll go all we can go then.”
Kicking off cover around the final turn, Custards Laststand surged past late leader and 3-5 favourite Better Watch Out to win the first $10,000 elimination of the Ralph Klein Memorial by a nose in 1:54.
Cheddar Jack swept to the lead from the outermost post while Screen Test got away second and Workin Them Angels third. Better Watch Out paced fourth through a :27.3 opening quarter and stayed put towards the rail heading to the half.
Workin Them Angels flushed first over to the half in :57.2, supplying cover to Better Watch Out and Custards Laststand from third over. Clearing control to three-quarters, Workin Them Angels quickly faced pressure from Better Watch Out in 1:25.2 while Custards Laststand mounted a three-wide bid into the turn.
Better Watch Out held a narrow lead into the stretch but Custards Laststand edged past at the wire to win. Cheddar Jack and Workin Them Angels also qualified for the final finishing third and fourth and Yankee Up finished fifth.
Trained and driven by Kelly Hoerdt, who co-owns the colt by Custard The Dragon from the Matts Scooter mare The Mattican with Blair Corbeil, Custards Laststand won his fifth race in 13 starts this season and his ninth in 21 overall, earning $131,903. He paid $10.00 to win.
“I thought the horse to beat was Serge [Masse]’s horse [Better Watch Out] so I was just looking to follow him,” Hoerdt said after the race. “However I had to place myself to be on his back was the way I wanted it to work out. And that’s how it worked out.”
Ready N Steady rallied off soft fractions to post an 18-1 upset in the second $10,000 Ralph Klein Memorial elimination, besting even-money favourite Boiling Oar in 1:55.3.
Freedoms Rescue pushed for the top while Canadian Pharoh yielded for the pocket heading to the quarter. Through a :29 first panel, Boiling Oar pulled first over from fifth as Freedoms Rescue continued with soft fractions on the lead through a :58.2 half.
Boiling Oar drew closer to Freedoms Rescue heading to three-quarters and took the lead following the 1:26.2 clocking. Ready N Steady found room to angle from the rail and sat second over moving into the stretch as Boiling Oar slid to the lead. Trainer-driver Jamie Gray tipped off his cover through the stretch and stuck a neck in front at the wire while Outlaw True Grit held third from Freedoms Rescue.
Returning $39.60 to win, Ready N Steady, a gelding by American Ideal from the Bettors Delight mare Yankee Lacey, won his third race in 14 starts this season and his eighth in 24 overall, earning $47,160 for owner Wild Dunes Stables.
“My colt had some issues the last couple of weeks and we got him straightened around and he was good today,” Gray said.
Popping from third past the half, 8-5 favourite I Ama Rocket shot to the lead mid-stretch to win the first $22,500 division of the Century Bets Stakes in 1:56.4.
Rock N Roll Dragon moved for the lead with Crash Dive taking second. Passing the quarter in :28.2, Rock N Roll Dragon remained unchallenged through a :58.2 half. Trainer-driver J. F. Gagne made his bid for the top with I Ama Rocket heading to three-quarters with Crackle N Burn tracking second over.
Drawing within a length of the lead through a 1:27.1 third-quarter, I Ama Rocket progressed to the inside of Crackle N Burn gaining ground three wide around the final turn. I Ama Rocket fired through to the inside of Crackle N Burn heading to the wire while Chase Me Forever, following third over, took third.
Owned by J. F. Gagne with partners Albert Russell Branham and Archie Melnyk, I Ama Rocket, a gelding by Custard The Dragon from the Mach Three mare Machs Rocket, broke his maiden in his second start of the season, earning $11,250 and paying $5.50 to win.
Outlawgrabbingears went wire to wire as the even-money favourite in the second $22,500 Century Bets Stakes division in 1:55.2.
Leading through a :28.2 opening quarter, Outlawgrabbingears held control from Thunder Alley in second and Loaded Deck in third. Bad Moon Rising, trailing the six-horse field, edged first over past the half in :58.1 and ranged into third as Outlawgrabbingears passed three-quarters in 1:26.4. The favourite remained on the front into the stretch and opened his lead while pursued by Bad Moon Rising taking second to the outside of Thunder Alley at the rail in third.
Trained and driven by Paul Davies, who co-owns with Nicole Cecchin and Deborah Pinel, Outlawgrabbingears won his first race in her second start career. Earning $12,500, the colt by Smart Shark, from the Artsplace mare Grand Slam Woman, paid $4.00 to win.
Sent the 1-5 favourite, Lady Neigh Neigh sent for the lead and fought to maintain it while advancing to a 1:56.1 victory in the $22,500 first division of the Emerald Filly Stakes.
In control through a :28.1 opening quarter, Lady Neigh Neigh faced a first-over challenge from Raging Chihuahua, who parked attempting to float for position around the first turn. Raging Chihuahua stuck her neck in front heading to the half but Lady Neigh Neigh shot back to the top moving into the second turn, leaving Raging Chihuahua to tuck into a pocket by the half in :57.
Gin Twist tipped wide from third moving into the backstretch and circled into second while Raging Chihuahua chased from third. Lady Neigh Neigh remained on the lead by three-quarters in 1:26 and held command from Gin Twist chasing in second through the stretch while Raging Chihuahua held third.
By Bettors Delight from The Panderosa mare Santinos Rosa, Lady Neigh Neigh competes for owners Christopher Lambie and conditioner Christopher Lancaster. J. Brandon Campbell piloted the $2.70 winner to her second victory in three starts career. She has earned $14,350.
“I didn’t want to get her started up, and I raced her a little harder to the half than I wanted, but she’s all horse and came up with it,” Campbell said after the race. We’ve been teaching her how to race the back half and she was in [today] with a bunch [that don’t have] a lot of experience.
“I thought after [winning last week in 1:56.2], nobody would be silly enough to [come at her],” Campbell also said. “I shut her right down—I had that much confidence in her that I could shut her down and she’d start back up and, when I asked her, she did. I was a little worried off the fractions at first.”
Lady Neigh Neigh’s 1:56.1 mile was one-fifth of a second off the track record.
“If things were done the other way, she definitely has one in her. If she gets in with some of the better fillies and the fractions are set up for her properly, I don’t think a track record is out of the question. She’s a much better follower than cutting it out—following she feels so much more powerful."
Mrs Suhwiggins shot for the front in her career debut and went on to wire her competition in the $22,500 second division of the Emerald Filly Stakes in 1:59.3.
Sent at 16-1, Mrs Suhwiggins cleared control from Western Summit leaving for second from post seven. Pacing to the quarter in :29.3, Mrs Suhwiggins remained unchallenged as the outer flow attempted to develop through a :59.2 half.
Rockin Mystery fanned three wide from the back of the field into the backstretch, circumventing a flow stalled by Stash The Cookies parking first over. Maxsamian, the 7-5 favourite, followed suit while Mrs Suhwiggins continued on a two-length lead by three-quarters in 1:28.1. The Jim Marino trainee turned into the stretch maintaining her advantage over Maxsamian closing to take second while Western Summit, off a pocket trip, held third.
Paying $34.20 to win, Mrs Suhwiggins, a filly by Custard The Dragon from the Cams Card Shark mare Michelles Fury, competes for the J J J Stables. Paul Davies was in the sulky.
“She’s pretty handy and good gaited and I helped train her down in the spring, so I had faith that she could get [to the front] or get spotted,” Davies said after the race. “And when we got to the front…it was good, too.”
To view Monday's harness racing results, click on the following link: Monday Results - Century Downs.