Four-year-old pacing mares Poker Queen and Frostfire were victorious in a pair of $7,500 eliminations for the Elizabeth Johnson Memorial Pace at The Track On 2 on Sunday afternoon, Sept. 7.
With Ryan Grundy picking up the catch-drive on Poker Queen for her Lacombe debut, the Gerry Hudon trainee took a new mark of 1:53.3 winning the fastest of the two eliminations.
After landing in fourth through a :28.3 first quarter, Poker Queen picked up the pace and swept to command before the :56.4 midway mark but had company from the even-money bettors' choice, Miss Dilly Dali (James Jungquist). Poker Queen was headed as they raced by three-quarters in 1:25 with her favoured rival almost clearing in the final turn but fought back inside through the stretch to win going away by 2-3/4 lengths with a :28.2 finish. Kellys Chase (Thomas Miller) and Captive Mind (Nathan Sobey) came on for second and third, respectively. Miss Dily Dali ended in fourth place just ahead of Outlawelectricblue (Logan Gillis) while early leader Zip Past (David Kelly) completed the order of finish.
Poker Queen earned her fifth victory in 12 seasonal starts to match her win count from her debut campaign last year and hit the $50,000 career earnings mark in the process. Phil Giesbrecht, who has driven the Betting Line-Hedgie Blue Chip mare in all of her previous races, shares ownership with Monica Hudon of Sturgeon County, Alta., and Denise Andrew of Calgary, Alta.
Sent postward as the 3-2 second choice, Poker Queen paid $5.10 to win.
Frostfire followed up a victory in a Track On 2 claiming series final last week with another winning effort in the other Johnson Memorial elimination for trainer/driver Logan Gillis when she sprinted home in :26.4 at the end of a 1:57.2 mile.
In Gillis's first of four winning drives on the nine-race card, he trailed the field of five distaffers in rein to Frostfire as Bet And Watch (J.F. Gagne) and 4-5 favourite Trust Me Alot (Nathan Sobey) traded turns on the lead through first half fractions of :29.4 and 1:00.3. On the move tracking cover through three-quarters in 1:30.1, Frostfire rallied off the David Kelly helmet behind Shes Like The Wind in the stretch and pulled ahead by three-quarters of a length to defeat that rival while Trust Me Alot settled for third as she bested Bet And Watch in a show photo. Ima Fist Fight (James Jungquist) completed the field.
Gillis co-owns the BJs Bequia-Personal Promise mare with Brock MacLellan of Fort McMurray, Alta. Acquired by her current connections last June, Frostfire took her lifetime mark of 1:55.2 in her last outing. She now has three wins in 20 starts this year and five career victories with earnings totalling $34,661.
Frostfire paid $5.70 to win as the 9-5 second choice.
With the top nine finishers from the eliminations advancing, the $25,000 (guaranteed) final of the Johnson Memorial will be co-featured next Sunday, Sept. 14 with the Ron Orr Memorial, which did not require eliminations with only nine male pacers declared to that stakes race. Both events are for non-winners of $50,000 lifetime.
To view Sunday's harness racing results, click the following link: Sunday Results - The Track On 2.
(Standardbred Canada; photo of Poker Queen winning on Sept. 7)