All but rivals agree, it's
Betterformbehind
Can anyone beat the undefeated racing machine named
Betterfrombehind?
After agreeing to the adage that in a horse race anything
can happen, most will soon say the answer is no.
Betterfrombehind, a daughter of Kents On Nuke, made it 10
wins in 10 lifetime starts when she captured an elimination
leg of the Stallion Stakes for three year olds last weekend.
She won by 7 1/2 lengths over a field of six in a time of
1:57.2.
She now has won such stakes as the Breeders, Sales and Delta
en route to lifetime earnings of more than $87,000.
Betterfrombehind, who is owned by J J J Stables and Alan and
Mark Anderson trained by Al Anderson, will be a prohibitive
favorite to win the $99,270 B.C. Stallion Stakes on
Saturday. She has drawn the highly-prized four hole on the
gate.
Wild Dunes Diamond from the Wild Dunes Stables captured the
second of the two eliminations for fillies.
However, her story is much different from Betterfrombehind.
Wild Dunes Diamond, a daughter of Scruffy Ben, 3-1 won only
the second race of her career in a lifetime mark of 1:59.2
as she held on for a neck decision. She will start from the
six spot.
The others set to battle are Red Star Toodles (7), Millbanks
Arrow (2), Dal Reo Tiarra (9), Freedom Whisper (3), Dal Reo
Indy (5) and the entry of Porkchops Buddy (8) and Sparkling
Puddles (1).
The winners last weekend on the colt and gelding side were
both from the dominant J J J and Anderson stable.
One was Active Pass, making his first start at the Downs.
The son of Kents On Nuke was impressive as he stretched his
unbeaten career streak to three and set a life mark of
1:56.4. He will make a strong entry with Namedbyfreaks who
won the other elim in 1:57.3. They will start from the seven
and three holes respectively.
Planning to try for a share of the close to $100,000 purse
are Lunar TKO (6), Fast Lane Fusion (5) , Vai Con Dio (4),
Whaturmoneybought (9), Red Star Yogi (8), Skippy Blue Shoe
(2) and Wikiwiki Hyakutake (1).
While the three-year-olds had to battle last weekend to
reach the final, the four-year-olds - eight of each gender -
were resting up for their stakes collisions Saturday.
As the name suggests, equine competitors in the Stallion
Stakes have to be B.C. sired. For the layman the dad is paid
into the list of the B.C. stallions.
The rule limits the entrants to some degree and for the
four-year-olds, who are after purses of $25,000, the result
was fields of eight.
On the mares side the list includes one former stakes winner
- the Stallion Stake of a year ago - Miss St Labush, who got
the five-hole.
Others in the field include Red Star Cowgirl (2),
Itsallaboutthemoney (7), Meadowlands Fool (3), Red Star
Madeline (4), Tahuya Adara (6), Chateau Flea (8) and Rooibos
Tea (1).
On the horse and gelding side, Red Star Dusty is a double
stakes winner - Sales Stake as a two-year-old and Stallion
at three - and that commands some attention. He will start
from six.
But others in the field, which includes Dal Reo Revolt (5)
and entry-mate Ballistic Ben (7), Rich Camelot (4), Madigan
(2), Fast Lane Stridin (3), Meekos Trucker (8) and Sail The
Sevenseas (1), have perhaps been sharper over the past few
months.
ADMIRAL IS RED HOT: Some like it hot. That could be
the case for the big equine battleship Red Star Admiral.
On a day when the temperature climbed into the 20s and was
still 19 degrees at race time, Admiral showed some of his
class form as he captured the winners over event last Friday
at the Downs.
The eight-year-old gelded son of Storm Prince won only his
second of 12 starts in 2005 but he did it impressively. He
covered the mile in 1:53.1, just one second off the track
record, and he equaled his lifetime best.
He flew through the last quarter in 28.4 seconds as he
pulled away for a 6 1/2-length margin of victory.
With Dave McKellar in the sulky, Admiral, the 7-5 favorite,
started from the three hole in the field of seven. He stayed
there until past the quarter before coming first up and
holding second, outside by half a length, at the half. He
continued to roll in his unmistakable style, leading by two
at the three-quarter pole and powering on to his 38th
lifetime win.
C Lec Machine, a 6-1 choice, rallied from seventh at the
half to take second and Coyote Hanover was third. Haras
Colta Cola and Nuclear Dew, who dueled for the lead through
most of the 56.2 second half, were fourth and seventh
respectively.
Admiral, who is owned by Robert Murphy and trained by Bob
Merschback, has two wins and five seconds in 2005. His
winning share of the purse pushed his lifetime earnings to
less than $4,000 away from $300,000.
DAVIS ON TOP: A victory in the last race on Saturday
night gave Bill Davis the Downs' driver honors on the
weekend.
Davis finished the night with three wins and the weekend
with five. Jim Marino and Jim Burke each had four wins while
Tim Brown and Barry Treen had three apiece and Gord Abbott
two.
Davis also led all trainers with five triuumphs. Bob
Merschback and Treen had three each and Ann Cooper two.
Davis, who leads the meet by a bunch, now also leads
Marino by one, 83-82, in 2005.
CLOSE BUT NO VEGAS: Jim Marino won’t be taking an
all-expence trip to Vegas.
Marino, a top driver at Fraser Downs, had been competing -
well - in a Texas Hold' Em poker tournament in the Lower
Mainland. The top players from five competing locations
battled on April 18 and Marino dad to settle for spot No.
40.
"I just couldn’t get any cards, "Marino said. "I lasted a
fairly long time and played well."
"It was a good tournament, there were some really good
players."
Marino plans to play in more Texas Hold 'Em events.
FAST TRACKING: On Saturday, April 16, six horses set
lifetime marks at the Downs.
Last Friday, the trend continued full tilt as seven more
marks fell -- several by a lot -- one mark was equaled and
another missed by one-fifth of a second.
Red Star Dreamglo went the mile in 1:58.3, 3.3 seconds
faster, Shales Maverick in 1:57, three seconds quicker and
Mattswhereitsat, in 1:55.4, just under three seconds better.
Others changing their history were Wikiwiki Hyakutake in
1:57.3, Hot News in 1:57.4, Preferred Share in 1:57.1 and
Hollywood Best in 1:55.3. Note also that the latter did so
while picking up his fourth straight victory.
Red Star Admiral equaled his lifetime best of 1:53.1 and
Sinful Sally missed her 1:57.3 by this much.
TOUGH DAY: Several horses recently shipped from
Fraser Downs to Northland Park in Edmonton collided in a
condition/optional claiming event for a purse of $15,000
last Saturday.
Infinite Dreams, owned by Bill Boden and trained by Dave
Hudon fared the best, finishing second. Infinite Dreams held
the lead for a short while but was caught in the stretch by
24-1 longshot Prairie Storm. Time of the race was 1:55.2.
Armbro Blacktie was fourth, The Bruster fifth, Duke Is
Duke sixth and Armbro Bach ninth.
Bach, the 2-1 favorite, had to work from the four hole to
get the lead by the quarter but had to be shut down later
with broken equipment.
In another race on the card, Red Star Senator, owned by
B.C.'s Robert Murphy, was impressive as he paced to victory
in 1:55.1.
CRUISER FOURTH: Seven Seas Cruiser was dropped a
notch in class, was the favorite, but finished fourth last
Saturday at Woodbine in a race for a purse of $18,000.
Cruiser did not get away strongly, falling to sixth at the
quarter from the three hole. He narrowly missed finishing
second, a quarter length back of that spot and 3 1/4 behind
the winner Quick And Deadly.
Former Downs trainers Casie Coleman and Jim Koelln each had
a horse in the race. Coleman's Stranger was fifth and
Koelln's Turolas Shark was seventh.
Rich Cam and Witching Hour, former B.C. competitors, were
ninth and third respectively in other races on the card
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