It was a cool, overcast, and breezy fall day. But it was a terrific way to celebrate the best of Alberta Standardbred racing. And the stars put on quite a show on Hallowe’en at Century Downs. It was a day to salute the breeders and owners for their investments in the industry; the individual stables for the hard work the staff puts in to prepare their horses, and the horses themselves for the quality racing they provided to an enthusiastic public.
Veteran driver-trainer, Kelly Hoerdt, emerged the big winner on the day with three victories. Hot Time won the consolation final for 3 year old fillies in 2:00.1. He shares ownership of the pacer with Blair Corbeil, who was on his way back from the Harrisburg yearling sale and was waiting for a plane at Pearson Airport in Toronto at the time the race was being run. Hoerdt also won a couple of the Super Final championship races. Wrangler Cash was three wide in the stretch before rallying to win the 2 year old colt-gelding race in 1:58. He shares ownership in the colt with Corbeil and with breeder, Dr. Maurice Stewart. And he won the 3 year old colts and geldings final with Cool Cowboy in 1:57.1. Again, Hoerdt and Corbeil are partners in the horse along with long-time owner, Peter Morris.
“I’ve got some great people working in my barn,” Hoerdt told me. “I always commend them. My staff works hard to have the horses ready for the big days in racing. They deserve this, at least as much as I do.”
While the big stables like Hoerdt’s and Travis Cullen, enjoyed a good day, it was also a special day for a smaller outfit. Carl Archibald’s Meadowlark Stables, sent out two pacers and came home with two wins. Burning Prospect took the consolation final for 3 year old colts and geldings in 1:58.2. Divas Dragonfly came back from a month of not feeling well to win the 2 year old fillies’ championship final in 1:59. She now has a 5-3-1 record in 10 starts and earnings to date of nearly $80,000, which should be good enough to claim the ASHA award as the best of her class.
“I couldn’t ask for anything more from her,” Archibald told me. “Her mother (Midnight Diva) was good to us and Diva’s been really good to us all season. “I saw her relaxed during the race today, where she hasn’t raced relaxed in some of her other starts. I brought the two of them down here last Wednesday and trained them good. It worked out very well.”
Veteran conditioner, Rod Hennessy, got Super Finals off to a rousing start with a win in the consolation final of the 2 year old filly division. Ba Bye Ceia Later, owned by Bryan Brook and Diane Harries, won it in 2 minutes flat, on a day where the thermometer read 7 degrees Celsius. Ryan Grundy followed with another 2 minute mile behind Archie Bunker in the 2 year old colts and geldings consolation. He shares ownership of the horse with Trevor Williams of Winnipeg.
The other championship race went to the 3 year old filly, Fire Watch, in 1:59.1. She too has had some sickness late in the meet, but shook off the doubting punters to pay $13.00 to win for those who backed her. In the process, she put an authoritative stamp on Travis Cullen’s dominant season at Century Downs. He’ll win both the drivers’ and the trainers’ awards and cement his position as one of the best in Canada in both categories.
“We weren’t sure we did the right thing, racing her with a bit of a temperature the last couple of starts,” Cullen told me. “But she showed us she’s a tough mare. I thought the pace was really slow going down the backstretch, so I felt I had to move her and went three wide. She did it the tough way today and I’m very happy with her. And, as of right now, she’ll go to the Northlands Filly Pace in Edmonton.”
The horses which raced in the consolation and championship finals had to qualify through their performances in a series of races over the summer. “It’s the culmination of a long year,” ASHA executive director, Fred Gillis, told me. “You can’t control it but it’s what we always hope for, that everybody gets a share.”
With the discussion about racing dates for 2016 still in progress, this event is likely to be staged at Northlands Park in Edmonton in the fall of next year. Century Downs will continue to make the Ralph Klein and Brad Gunn 3 year old events the centerpiece of its summer season and, perhaps, add something else to make the package even more noticeable. But it will be hard to do any better than the celebration of Alberta Standardbred racing we were served on this day.
Veteran driver-trainer, Kelly Hoerdt, emerged the big winner on the day with three victories. Hot Time won the consolation final for 3 year old fillies in 2:00.1. He shares ownership of the pacer with Blair Corbeil, who was on his way back from the Harrisburg yearling sale and was waiting for a plane at Pearson Airport in Toronto at the time the race was being run. Hoerdt also won a couple of the Super Final championship races. Wrangler Cash was three wide in the stretch before rallying to win the 2 year old colt-gelding race in 1:58. He shares ownership in the colt with Corbeil and with breeder, Dr. Maurice Stewart. And he won the 3 year old colts and geldings final with Cool Cowboy in 1:57.1. Again, Hoerdt and Corbeil are partners in the horse along with long-time owner, Peter Morris.
“I’ve got some great people working in my barn,” Hoerdt told me. “I always commend them. My staff works hard to have the horses ready for the big days in racing. They deserve this, at least as much as I do.”
While the big stables like Hoerdt’s and Travis Cullen, enjoyed a good day, it was also a special day for a smaller outfit. Carl Archibald’s Meadowlark Stables, sent out two pacers and came home with two wins. Burning Prospect took the consolation final for 3 year old colts and geldings in 1:58.2. Divas Dragonfly came back from a month of not feeling well to win the 2 year old fillies’ championship final in 1:59. She now has a 5-3-1 record in 10 starts and earnings to date of nearly $80,000, which should be good enough to claim the ASHA award as the best of her class.
“I couldn’t ask for anything more from her,” Archibald told me. “Her mother (Midnight Diva) was good to us and Diva’s been really good to us all season. “I saw her relaxed during the race today, where she hasn’t raced relaxed in some of her other starts. I brought the two of them down here last Wednesday and trained them good. It worked out very well.”
Veteran conditioner, Rod Hennessy, got Super Finals off to a rousing start with a win in the consolation final of the 2 year old filly division. Ba Bye Ceia Later, owned by Bryan Brook and Diane Harries, won it in 2 minutes flat, on a day where the thermometer read 7 degrees Celsius. Ryan Grundy followed with another 2 minute mile behind Archie Bunker in the 2 year old colts and geldings consolation. He shares ownership of the horse with Trevor Williams of Winnipeg.
The other championship race went to the 3 year old filly, Fire Watch, in 1:59.1. She too has had some sickness late in the meet, but shook off the doubting punters to pay $13.00 to win for those who backed her. In the process, she put an authoritative stamp on Travis Cullen’s dominant season at Century Downs. He’ll win both the drivers’ and the trainers’ awards and cement his position as one of the best in Canada in both categories.
“We weren’t sure we did the right thing, racing her with a bit of a temperature the last couple of starts,” Cullen told me. “But she showed us she’s a tough mare. I thought the pace was really slow going down the backstretch, so I felt I had to move her and went three wide. She did it the tough way today and I’m very happy with her. And, as of right now, she’ll go to the Northlands Filly Pace in Edmonton.”
The horses which raced in the consolation and championship finals had to qualify through their performances in a series of races over the summer. “It’s the culmination of a long year,” ASHA executive director, Fred Gillis, told me. “You can’t control it but it’s what we always hope for, that everybody gets a share.”
With the discussion about racing dates for 2016 still in progress, this event is likely to be staged at Northlands Park in Edmonton in the fall of next year. Century Downs will continue to make the Ralph Klein and Brad Gunn 3 year old events the centerpiece of its summer season and, perhaps, add something else to make the package even more noticeable. But it will be hard to do any better than the celebration of Alberta Standardbred racing we were served on this day.
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