A determined first-over winner, Pirate Booty stole the spotlight and the lion's share of the $14,000 purse as she caught Saphire Blue at the wire in the featured Fillies & Mares Preferred Pace at Century Downs on Friday evening (May 5).
As the compact field of five distaffers left the gate, there was a three-way tussle for the top spot into the opening turn with Saphire Blue (Phil Giesbrecht) shooting through between rivals to take command. After the :27.2 first quarter, favourite Pirate Booty launched first-over from third for trainer/driver Terry Kaufman and chased the pacesetter through middle splits of :57 and 1:25.3. Blue Saphire continued to lead into the stretch with Pirate Booty closing in and pocket-pursuer Metaki (Jamie Gray) trying to split between those two. The end result was a photo finish with Pirate Booty getting the nod over Saphire Blue for the 1:54.3 victory. Metaki finished three-quarters of a length back in third.
Sent postward as the 4-5 bettors' choice, Pirate Booty returned $3.60 to win.
The victory was her first in seven starts this year after three third-place finishes and boosted her career bankroll to $72,546 for owner Terri Kaufman of Langley, B.C. The five-year-old Captaintreacherous mare has hit the board in 28 of her 35 starts with a dozen wins.
To view Friday's harness racing results, click the following link: Friday Results - Century Downs.