Outlaw Sharktastic kicked off her 2024 Century Downs campaign last month with back-to-back victories in the Fillies & Mares Preferred Pace and returned to her winning ways in the $12,500 top distaff class on Friday, May 17.
With the inside draw working out to their advantage, trainer/driver Nathan Sobey got the six-year-old daughter of Smart Shark back on the front-end as they pocketed If Only Id Known (Phil Giesbrecht) off the gate and led through fractions of :28.3, :57.1 and 1:26.4 en route to a 1:55.2 victory over the 'good' track. If Only Id Known popped the pocket down the stretch but was racing for place, finishing one length behind the winner, while Daisy Corvette (Logan Gillis) was unable to improve position with a first-over bid on the backstretch and followed more than three lengths back in third. In High Cotton, the favourite and winner of last week's Mares Preferred, finished fourth this time out for Kelly Hoerdt.
Outlaw Sharktastic returned $11.20 to win as the 9-2 third choice in the field of a half dozen distaffers.
She is now three-for-seven on the year with 14 career triumphs and $147,086 banked in purse earnings. Sobey also shares ownership of the mare with his Alberta partners, Glenda Winkleman of Edmonton and Glenn Pinel of Calgary.
Travis Ellis doubled up with Suellen Hanover ($4.50, Mike Hennessy) and Airline Pilot ($5.40, Phil Giesbrecht) winning the next two races then later scored again with Outlaw Allie Oops ($13.80, Giesbrecht) dropping from the Mares Preferred level to complete a training triple for the Nova Scotia horseman during the 11-race card.
Ellis, who also had three training wins during last Saturday's program, is coming off a career-best year in 2023 when he won 79 races and his stable earned more than $400,000. With his Friday triple, he now has 16 wins at Century Downs this year and pulled out of a three-way tie atop the meet's leaderboard with 13-time winners Rod Hennessy and David Kelly.
To view Friday's harness racing results, click the following link: Friday Results - Century Downs.
(Standardbred Canada)