With nearly $400,000 in purses up for grabs, B.C. Breeders Classic Day is set for a special Thursday afternoon of harness racing this week at Fraser Downs.
Post time is scheduled for 1 p.m. (PST) and the 10-race card will feature four $75,000 B.C. Breeders Stakes finals along with the $35,000 Jim Vinnell Memorial and companion Lady Elements Stakes for older horses.
Two-year-old pacing colts and geldings will kick off the B.C. Breeders Stakes action in the final of the Robert Millbank Memorial.
Joe Rich will attempt to complete a sweep of the Robert Millbank after winning his three preliminary divisions for Fraser's top driver Brandon Campbell and leading trainer Jim Marino, who shares ownership with J J J Stables and Paul Saunders. The Custard The Dragon-Cant Stop Rocking colt broke his maiden at first asking in late-August at Century Downs and is now four-for-seven lifetime. He will have to overcome post position eight.
With the inside draw, Jimmyachance is one of his main threats after winning a pair of preliminary divisions for trainer Dennis Johnston and co-owner William Pambrun. A four-time winner, the Big Jim-Color Me Happy gelding has hit the board in all six of his starts. He'll pick up the services of O'Brien Award-winning reinsman Doug McNair, who will make his annual appearance at Fraser Downs for B.C. Breeders Classic day.
The field of nine also includes Alberta Super Final champion Ladner Lad, who has the trailing tier post position for trainer/driver Rod Therres and owner/breeder Wild Dunes Stables. The Mystician-Rollin In Paris colt is the richest rookie of the bunch with $52,425 banked already from a 2-4-2 record through eight starts.
The final of the Betty Millbank Memorial features a trio of two-year-old fillies that were no worse than second through the preliminary rounds while each winning two legs. Hazels Wildling, the top money-earner with $27,170 banked thus far in her career, will leave from post three for driver Tyler Redwood and trainer Darren Callaghan. Starting to her outside, Memum Knowsnothing will look to carry her winning momentum into the final after posting back-to-back victories in rein to Glenn White for trainer/co-owner Rick White. The tandem of Campbell and Marino will have another promising B.C. Breeders Stakes contender in Shoot The Whiskey, who has drawn the trailing post nine.
Robert Chadwick's defending champion Kootenay Santanna headlines the Robert Murphy Memorial final for three-year-old colts and geldings after a perfect run in the preliminaries that pushed his earnings to $81,538. Kyle Chadwick trains the Santanna Blue Chip-Kootenay Mystic gelding, who will start from post nine with Rod Therres in the sulky.
Drawing post eight, Like A Shadow is riding a six-race win streak into the Robert Murphy final, including victories in all three preliminary legs. He has earned seven of his eight wins this season while boosting his bankroll to $72,195 for RT Entreprises Ltd. and Wild Dunes Stables. Campbell will drive the Shadow Play-Magic Number gelding, who is one of four sophomores in the field trained by Rick Lancaster.
Leaving from post three, Alberta stakes winner Codename Cigar Box will be looking to add to his six-figure bankroll for trainer/driver Kelly Hoerdt.
The Mary Murphy Memorial for three-year-old pacing fillies stars Exotic Dragon, who enters the final off consecutive victories in the last two legs that followed a runner-up finish in the Alberta Super Final. After making just one start as a two-year-old, the Custard The Dragon-Accentuate filly has banked $117,402 with eight wins and seven other top three finishes from 16 starts this year. Among her wins are the Shirley McClellan Breeders' Stakes and Alberta Sires Stakes Diamond elimination and final. Nathan Sobey will drive his trainee, who is in the care of Gord Abbott while racing in B.C. for owner Robert Jones.
Defending champion Custard Smoothie, who set a track record prior to winning the two-year-old title in rein to McNair, will start from post six for Marino and the J J J Stables. Another daughter of Custard The Dragon, the filly out of Artists Rendition picked up one of her two sophomore wins in the opening round of the Mary Murphy Memorial.
The Marino-Campbell connection will partner on post nine starter If Only Id Known, who has never finished worse than second in the B.C. Breeders Stakes throughout her two and three-year-old seasons.
The Vinnell Memorial features seven top older pacers headlined by elimination winners Icy Blue Scooter (post two) for trainer/driver Sobey and Dontpokethedragon (post five), hailing from the Marino stable with McNair listed to drive.
Eliminations were not necessary for the Lady Elements, with five mares set to face off in the final. It could be another match up of Moosette (post five), conditioned by Marino, and the Therres-trained Rockin Mystery (post two), who finished 1-2 the last two weeks in the Mares Open.
To view complete entries for Thursday's harness racing card at Fraser Downs, click on the following links: Thursday Entries - Program Pages (courtesy TrackIT)