Returning to action after a month-long layoff, trainer Rod Hennessy's star pacer Shark Week continued his win streak at the Century Mile fall meet with another dominant performance.
Hennessy's son Mike had Shark Week right on the gate and Century Mile's track record holder quickly crossed in front of his four rivals to lead way in the $12,500 Preferred Handicap. He set fractions of :27, :55.4 and 1:24.1 over the 'good' track before leaving the rest of the field in his wake to score in 1:52.1 for his sixth straight victory. Samba Beat (Phil Giesbrecht) finished 4-1/4 lengths behind in second while his stablemate from the Gerry Hudon barn, Blast Of Sunshine (Jamie Gray), had the edge in a show photo a dozen lengths in arrears.
Sent postward as the overwhelming 1-9 favourite, Shark Week paid $2.20 to win. The six-year-old gelded son of Vertical Horizon and Shark Gone Bad hasn't lost a race since April and is now eight-for-nine on the season. He's won 48 of his 83 starts lifetime and boasts a career bankroll of $407,725 for his trainer, who co-owns with Lorne Duffield.
The Nathan Sobey stable dominated all day long on Saturday, winning five of the afternoon's 12 races. Sobey drove the maiden-breaking Hands Off Harry ($7.90), repeat winner Amped Up Annie ($2.70), longshot Opulent Dragon ($37.30) and six-figure earner Matts A Mystician ($8.60) while Dave Kelly was aboard sophomore colt Nevada Dragon ($25.90) for the stable's Saturday successes. Sobey's other two starters also hit the board in their respective assignments.
To view Saturday's harness racing results, click the following link: Saturday Results - Century Mile.
(Standardbred Canada)