Alberta-sired freshmen pacing colts Newcrackofdawn, Premium Attaction, and Tatsu shared the spotlight on Sunday afternoon thanks to wins in their respective $18,766 Alberta Lonestar divisions at Alberta Downs.
Favourite Newcrackofdawn ($4.40) kicked off Sunday's Alberta Sires Stakes with a close front-end victory in 2:00.3 for driver Brandon Campbell and trainer Sanford Campbell. The Camcracker-New Edition colt carved out fractions of :28, :58.4, and 1:29.3 while turning back The Express and Garry Schedlosky, and then held off the Kelly Hoerdt-driven Timely Promise in the stretch to win by a neck. Third went to Swing Away and John Chappell, who finished 12 lengths in arrears.
Newcrackofdawn, who was a runner-up in the opening leg of the ABSS on Aug. 12, improved his lifetime record to 2-2-1 in seven starts and lifted his earnings to $18,976 for owner-breeder Steven Robinson of Calgary.
It was a close call for Hoerdt in the first division as he settled for second, but his trainee Premium Attaction ($4.10) was the wide-open winner in the following split. The popular Clintons Cigar-Themaneattacktion colt led the field past fractions of :28, :58.1, and 1:27.3 en route to a seven length score in a career-best 1:57 flat. Blue Star Admiral, driven by Bill Tainsh Jr., recovered from an early miscue to finish second while Cenalta Octane and Ryan Grundy were the best of the rest.
Hoerdt co-owns the $26,824 earner with Blair Corbeil of Beaumont, Alta. Premium Attraction has put together a record reading 3-1-0 in five outings, including a victory in the Horizon Pace and inherited placing in the first leg of the ABSS.
The final division went to another first leg runner-up in Tatsu ($6.10) and trainer-driver Darryl Cutting. The Smart Shark-Full Of Joy colt sat fourth for most of the mile before moving third over and making up a nine length deficit with a :28-second final frame. Tatsu forced Hoerdt to settle for runner-up honours again as he defeated the popular pacesetter Rays Crown Royal by one and a half lengths in a career-best clocking of 1:59.1. Tip Top Tap and Rod Hennessy finished third despite being interfered with and breaking stride early on.
Tatsu now has a 2-1-0 record in four starts and has stashed away $14,174 so far in his career for owners and breeders Leo Frank and Glenn Classen of St. Albert, Alta., and Edmonton's Melinda Smith.
To view Sunday's harness racing results, click on the following link: Sunday Results - Alberta Downs.