Hall of Fame horseman Keith Clark's promising two-year-old pacing colt First Class Horse streaked to his fifth straight victory during Sunday's stakes action at Alberta Downs.
Sunday's card featured two $10,000 ASHA Colt Stakes for two-year-old pacers as well as a pair of $10,000 Alberta Sires Stakes Maverick eliminations for three-year-olds.
First Class Horse won the opening ASHA division, sweeping around early leaver Urcutoff (Brandon Campbell) after the opening quarter and going on to score in 1:55.2 with his final quarter clocked in :28.4. Urcutoff finished two and a half lengths behind and Cool Cowboy (Gerry Hudon) rounded out the top three finishers over nine lengths back.
Clark trains and owns the Western Terror-Susurrus colt, now five-for-six with $23,145 in the bank, with partners Robert Jones of Slave Lake, Alta. and Doris McDougall of Cochrane, Alta.
"He's a really nice horse," Clark told Trot Insider. "He's the nicest two-year-old I've had in quite some time. I was looking for a Western Terror for a while, and I was able to go down to Kentucky and buy him. He'll stay here as a two-year-old. We'll train him down in the spring and aim for the Pennsylvania Sires Stakes."
After sweeping the Alberta Marquis eliminations for the sophomore fillies on Saturday, Jamie Gray's productive weekend continued as he won the other division of the ASHA Colt Stakes with Redheadfred and an Alberta Maverick elimination with Sotally Tober.
Redheadfred advanced first over from fourth to wear down the front-striding Withflyingcolours (Keith Clark) into the stretch and drew off to a five and three-quarter length victory in 1:57.4. Pablos First (J.F. Gagne) and Vow To Win (Gerry Hudon) came on for second and third, respectively.
The Brandons Cowboy-Four Starzzz Peach gelding earned his first stakes win and third victory in eight career starts to bump his bankroll to $18,181 for owners Alice, Fred and Derek Gilbert, all of Brandon, M.B.
Gray's sophomore pacer Sotally Tober overcame an outside post eight start and went wire-to-wire in his Maverick elimination, stopping the clock in 1:55.2. Outlaw Last Chance (Jim Marino) finished three and three-quarter lengths behind while Cigar Party (Philip Giesbrecht) came in third.
Gray co-owns the As Promised-Rain Drop Hanover gelding with Edmonton's Diane Bertrand and Robert Gilhespy. Sotally Tober, winner of the Plainsman Final in June, now has four victories in 12 starts this year and earnings of $61,837.
The other Maverick elimination was won by Blue Eyed Cowboy with Bill Tainsh Jr. driving for owner/trainer Rod Starkewski.
Blue Eyed Cowboy brushed to the top from fifth at the quarter with Get Thereovernight (Keith Clark) hot on his heels and clearing down the backstretch. The leader tried to get away on his foes entering the stretch, but Blue Eyed Cowboy sprinted his final quarter in :26.3 to prevail by two lengths in 1:54.2. Comes Home First (Jim Marino) came through to finish second and Outlaw Gunpowder (Phil Giesbrecht) was third.
Blue Eyed Cowboy, who swept the Marksman leg and won his ASHA Colt Stakes, is now a six-time winner this year from 15 races and has banked $65,312.
In other action, Premium Attaction was victorious in the $7,400 Armbro Dublin Retirement Pace, flipping off cover to score by five and a half lengths in 1:53.4 for trainer/driver Gerry Hudon and Calgary co-owner Donald McDougall.
The race was named in honour of the 11-year-old pacing gelding Armbro Dublin, who has won 62 races and $560,548 in purses during his career.
To view Sunday's harness racing results, click on the following link: Sunday Results - Alberta Downs.