Opening week at Fraser Downs couldn't have been any better for the Rod Therres stable.
Therres won every race he entered over the Thursday and Friday cards to kick off the fall meet with eight training wins.
After his stable went a perfect five-for-five on Thursday, Therres trainees tripled on Friday to give him wins in half of the meet's first 16 races.
He got right down to business winning the Friday opener with his homebred three-year-old pacer Moneybags ($10.10) prevailing by a head in a career-best 1:57.3 in rein to Allan Molloy. Four-year-old pacer Buddyville ($7.80) was up next in the second race for a 1:57 victory over his favoured sophomore stablemate Nothing Bugs Me, who was Therres's only non-winning starter but just a head shy in his 1-2 finish.
In the highlight of the night, Whiplash Smile ($7.20) wore down favourite Sunshine Boy in the final strides to win the featured $10,000 Preferred Handicap Pace by a neck in 1:54.1 over a track downgraded to sloppy due to the rainy weather. Therres also drove the seven-year-old Mystician gelding and shares ownership with KFC Farms.
Therres's next training win will be a milestone one as the Langley, B.C. horseman sits on the cusp of the 1,000-win mark.
To view Friday's harness racing results, click the following link: Friday Results - Fraser Downs.
(Standardbred Canada)