Open pacing mare Prairie Illusion returned to racing action on Sunday after four months off and found herself right back where she left off...in the Fraser Downs winner's circle.
The four-year-old Mach Three mare won the $10,500 Fillies & Mares Open back on May 3 in a career-best 1:52.4 and matched that mark in Sunday's feature event with another dominating score.
Jim Marino, who won four races on the card, sent the favourite to the lead from post five and never looked back through fractions of :27.4, :56.4 and 1:25.2 en route to the six and three-quarter length victory. The winning time was just two-fifths of a second off Furious Five's track record for aged pacing mares.
Early trailers Phone Terror (Serge Masse) and Jans Rich Girl (Scott Knight) finished second and third.
Prairie Illusion has now won all three of her starts since being claimed by trainer William Young in mid-April for $30,000. She is now six-for-12 this season and has yet to miss a paycheque throughout her four-year-old campaign.
While Prairie Illusion missed the track record for her age and sex, the Fraser debuting Need You So Bad established one for two-year-old geldings with a 1:56.2 three length romp for trainer/driver Bill Davis. The son of American Ideal was two-fifths of a second faster than the former record-holder Nobody Can. The J J J Stables owns the Horizon Pace champion who is undefeated in three pari-mutuel starts.
To view Sunday's harness racing results, click on the following link: Sunday Results - Fraser Downs.