Grey Sea got up in the final strides to defeat favourite Stash The Cookies and capture the $16,000 Fillies and Mares Preferred Pace at Century Downs on Wednesday, Aug. 6.
Stash The Cookies (Dave Kelly) overpowered Grey Sea from post two to take command and put up panels of :27.1, :56.1, and 1:24.4 on the lead. As the field came off the final turn, Kelly Hoerdt pulled Grey Sea off the rail, and she gunned down Stash The Cookies to win in 1:53. Stash The Cookies was beaten a half-length in second. Bares All (Logan Gillis) completed the triactor. The win price was $6.30.
Grey Sea’s win was her fourth of the year in 18 attempts for trainer Gordon Abbott. The homebred mare is 27-for-78 lifetime with $241,970 in earnings. Seaspray Stables Ltd. of Nanaimo, B.C. owns and bred the six-year-old daughter of Custard The Dragon-Preference.
Grey Sea won the feature, but driver Mike Hennessy took the spotlight as he won six of the day’s eight races. He kicked off proceedings by driving Wheres Papi ($2.10) to the gelding's third straight win in the opener, then made it a natural hat trick as he won the second race with Byby Baby Byby ($4.90) and the third with Wicked Feeling ($7.40). After missing the winner’s circle in Races 4 and 5, Hennessy won three straight to complete the card, scoring with Yenoh Who ($6.60), Amped Up Annie ($13), and Major Cussing ($3.50).
Hennessy, on pace for his fourth straight year with more than 100 wins and $1 million in earnings, improved his seasonal tally to 83 wins in 435 starts. The Lacombe, Alta.-based driver is winning at a 19.1 per cent rate this year and sits second in the Century Downs drivers’ standings.
Racing will resume at Century Downs on Thursday, Aug. 7 at 6:15 p.m. (MDT) with no racing this week on Saturday, Aug. 9.
To view Wednesday’s harness racing results, click the following link: Wednesday Results – Century Downs.
(Standardbred Canada)