First Class Horse continued his undefeated sophomore campaign on Sunday afternoon at Century Downs Racetrack and Casino, adding the As Promised Stakes title to his resume.
Bobby Clark opted to race the Western Terror colt from off the pace for the first time this year in the $30,000 final. Assigned post six for his third straight stakes start, First Class Horse settled away back in seventh while the early leavers waged war on the front end through a sizzling first half-mile.
Mysharona Bluechip (Philip Giesbrecht) took the lead from post four and fought off Phanatical Maniac (Nathan Sobey) through a :26.2 opening panel. Mysharona Bluechip continued to sprint to the half in :54.4 while the parked out Phanatical Maniac began to back away.
Down the backstretch, Clark tipped First Class Horse to the outside and was forced to go three-wide when Have Not Read It (Kelly Hoerdt) also made a move in front of him. However, First Class Horse began to pick off rivals quickly on the outside while Have Not Read It ran into road trouble as Phanatical Maniac faded first-over.
First Class Horse blew by the tiring Mysharona Bluechip at three-quarters in 1:24.2 and opened up more than five lengths before cruising home for the 1:55 triumph. Have Not Read It came on for second while Gotta Dream Big (Gerry Hudon), who raced wide outside of the runner-up for the final half-mile, closed to take third-place in a photo finish over a from-last Lisplaced (Rod Therres).
Sent postward as the overwhelming 1-5 favourite for his sixth consecutive win, First Class Horse returned $2.40 to his backers at the betting windows.
The North America Cup eligible colt now boasts 11 wins in 13 career starts and $88,545 in purse earnings for owners Robert Jones of Slave Lake, Alta. and Doris McDougall of Cochrane, Alta. He is trained by Robin Chase.
After seeing his win streak that lasted just short of a year snapped on Monday, Who Doesnt rebounded in the $10,500 Open with a wire-to-wire victory in 1:54 flat. The Travis Cullen trainee prevailed by two and a quarter lengths over Comes Home First (Philip Giesbrecht) and Ghost Pine (Kelly Hoerdt), who had upended his streak. The six-year-old son of Mach Three is owned by Travis, Jeanne, Kenneth and Jodie Cullen.
In other action, Sotally Tober defeated Medicine Hat (Brandon Campbell) off a three-hole trip by three-quarters of a length and in doing so matched his rival's track record for male pacers of 1:53.2. Trainer/driver Jamie Gray shares ownership of the four-year-old As Promised gelding with Diane Bertrand and Robert Gilhespy of Edmonton. Pocket-sitter Gotta Bad Attitude (Gary Clark) finished nearly three lengths behind in third.
To view Sunday's harness racing results, click on the following link: Sunday Results - Century Downs.