Playbook and trainer/driver Keith Clark turned a textbook pocket trip into a comfortable score in Sunday’s feature race at Fraser Downs.
Sterling Cooper shot to the lead from Post 1 and chopped out fractions of :27.3, :56.3 and 1:25.1 in the $10,500 affair, with Playbook perfectly positioned in the two-hole awaiting his cue to ‘go’. Clark gave that order to the gelding in the late stages of the mile, and the five-year-old son of Camcracker-Incognito Miss responded with a final quarter clocked in a :29-second clip. He drew clear to win by 1-1/4 lengths over Sterling Cooper, with Big N Bad tagging along to grab the show dough.
Sent off as the 9-5 favourite, Playbook won for the 19th time in his career for Clark and partners Laurence Swalm, Verne Rea and Doris McDougall. They’ve watched the pacer stash away earnings in excess of $165,000.
Sunday’s program also featured two divisions of the Abbetross Claiming Series. The $5,000 divisions for $5,500 claimers went to Mr Prospector (1:56.2) and Western Nitro (1:57.3).
To view results for Sunday's card of harness racing, click the following link: Sunday Results – Fraser Downs.