Overcoming early interference from his stablemate at the start, the Tom Weatherbie-trained Louie The Lip and driver Brodie MacPhee made front and kept on rolling to take the $30,880 Atlantic Sires Stakes 'A' division for two-year-old pacing colts and geldings during an action-packed Thursday, Aug. 7 program at Northside Downs.
Leaving from post three in the second leg of the Sire Stakes for this division, Louie The Lip kept his composure when stablemate Oceanview Lou (Ryan Campbell) fumbled the start and swooped around that first-turn breaker to take control from inside leaver Darbies Fancy (Mark Pezzarello) at the quarter pole in :28.4. He continued to lead the field through a rated half in :58.4 and three-quarters in 1:28.1 with 8-5 favourite Bet On Evil (Mike McGuigan) unable to sustain his first-over bid down the backstretch. Around the the final turn, Darbies Fancy second-guessed a pocket-popping move and opted to ride the leader's cover into the stretch with Zero Two Sixty (Danny Gillis) rallying off his back. Still clear on top, Louie The Lip held off the late charge from Zero Two Sixty down the lane to take top honours in 1:58.3 by a length, with Darbies Fancy settling for third three lengths back.
The winning Weatherbie trainee returned $7.90 as the 5-2 third choice while a judges' inquiry into the early miscue by fifth-place finisher Oceanview Lou landed that rookie placed back to eighth for causing interference to four others.
A colt by Somewhere Fancy out of Sapere Hanover, Louie The Lip was a $22,000 Atlantic Classic Yearling Sale purchase and has now won back-to-back races with $19,580 earned through his first three starts for owners David Kennedy of Charlottetown and Ian Smith of Stratford, P.E.I.
The $6,000 'B' division was won by Windemere Barkley as the Somewhere Fancy-Windemere Nancy colt looped to the lead at the third quarter mark and paced back to his 2:02.2 lifetime mark taken in leg one last month at Truro Raceway for trainer/driver Zach Mullins and co-owner Cole Callum. Galway Bay (Monica Sutherland) overtook pacesetter Dirt Track Eddie (Redmond Doucet) in the stretch for the runner-up honours.
The two-year-old pacing colts and geldings will meet again in the third leg of Atlantic Sires Stakes one week from today at Charlottetown Driving Park.
A pair of Phil Pinkney Memorial Stakes for Nova Scotia-foaled or owned horses opened Thursday afternoon's racing program with just a trio of trotters in each split, worth more than $8,000. West River Jet, a gelding sired by E L Rocket out of Kaddys Angel, won the three-year-old division by 6-1/2 lengths in 2:04.1 for the MacDonalds -- driver Kenny, trainer Clare and owner Haley. Miss Gracie Ridge, a maiden-breaking filly by Run Director out of R Rocket Rachel, toured the North Sydney oval unopposed in 2:06.2 to top the two-year-olds with a double-digit win margin for driver, trainer and owner Ambyr Campbell.
Red Rum She Wrote defied the opinion of every bettor at the track in the $1,700 Winners Over Pace, defeating juggernaut Hugh Heff with not a single winning ticket sold on her. Leaving from post two for Martin Bates with a nominal price tag of 99-1, she assumed the pocket behind Big Engine (Evan Wilson) for the first half-mile before pulling out in front of Hugh Heff (Randy Getto) on the final trip down the backstretch. Red Rum She Wrote took the lead on the final turn, dispatched Big Engine in the stretch, and held off Hugh Heff by a half-length for the 1:57.2 victory. Big Engine was third. Red Rum She Wrote won for the fifth time in 13 starts this year for Bates, who trains and owns the eight-year-old daughter of Vintage Master-So Cute Hanover.
To view Thursday's harness racing results, click the following link: Thursday Results - Northside Downs.
(Standardbred Canada)