Brown, Davis get six packs
Tim Brown led the way in the driver win
derby last weekend, chalking up seven triumphs, six of them
on Saturday. On Friday, meet leader Bill Davis also had six
wins but he sat out a one-day suspension Saturday.
(Ironically none of Brown’s wins Saturday and only one for
Davis came on horses they train).
Grant Hollingsworth was next with three
victories on the weekend while Dave McKellar, Dave Hudon,
Terry Kaufman and Rick White had two each.
Wayne Isbister, Ray Gemmill and Bob
Merschback shared the trainer honors with three wins apiece.
Merschback has rejoined the Robert Murphy stable after a
two-year hiatus in other jurisdictions. John Currie and
Kaufman had two wins each.
THREE STRAIGHT FOR BRE X:
Despite being slowed by an off track and the outside post,
Bre X made it three wins in a row last Friday. The
six-year-old gelding, who had lowered the track record to
1:53.2 in the second of his previous wins, covered the mile
in 1:55.4 with Haras Colta Cola second.
Nazko Promise, who held a share of the
former record, qualified Saturday in a time of 1:58, good
enough to be entered this Friday against the other Invite
contenders. Bre X will take this weekend off.
But it was Red Star Justice, who moved
down from the Invite last week and stole the show,
illustrating that he is ready again for the big boys. The
five-year-old free-legged pacer powered around the Downs
oval in a flashy 1:54 Saturday for trainer/driver Dave
Hudon. It was a new lifetime mark for the son of Just
Camelot.
BIG BIG: For the third
successive week there was another nice payoff for Downs
punters. Red Star Sal, trained and driven by Scott Knight,
captured the fifth race on Friday, paying $191.80 for a $2
win wager. It led to an $899.40 exactor, $3,930.50 triactor
and $6,712.80 superfecta.
MORE INFO FOR PUNTERS: Beginning
this Friday, Fraser Downs will add a much-requested new line
of information to each horse’s form in the program. The line
will contain the amount of money won by that horse in its
last six starts and has been added between the trainer’s
name and percentage and the lifetime mark. Many tracks in
North America have already been including such information.
WE HAVE A RECALL: Last week’s
TrackMarks made a m-m-m, er false start, in quoting Chuck
Keeling, general manager of Fraser Downs, as saying that
when the Downs starts 4 p.m. Sunday racing there would be
eight races. Chuck said “10.” The 10 races should still end
around 7 p.m. Beginning the first Sunday in December the
post time will be 1:15 p.m.
GET YOUR RAFFLE TIX: The annual
B.C. Standardbred Breeders Society Yearling Sale will once
again include its popular raffle for a credit, which can be
used at the sale. One lucky person will receive a $2,500
credit and another a $1,500 voucher. Tickets for the raffle
are on sale at the SA and SBS office.
A record number of horses have been
entered for the sale on Nov. 18, starting at 6:30 p.m., at
the Agriplex. Bev Mohorich, office manager for the BCSBS,
reports that 136 horses have been listed.
LOTSA SLOT REVENUE: By Oct. 17,
Innisfil, Ont. —the home of Georgian Downs—had received $6.8
million in gaming revenue, with the track averaging more
than 2,900 patrons daily, since slots opened at Georgian
Downs on Nov. 27, 2001.
The municipality’s Q2 (June to
September) share of slots revenue from Georgian Downs this
year is $1,053,544, according to a press release put out by
the Ontario Lottery and Gaming Corporation.
In total, the OLGC has issued more than
$17 million in Q2 non-tax gaming revenue to 20 host
communities of slots-at-racetracks and charity casinos.
Since these programs were launched the
OLGC has distributed more than $225 million to host
municipalities of gaming facilities.
According to the press release, each
municipality that hosts a track with slots receives five per
cent of the facility’s gross slot revenue for the first 450
machines, and two per cent for any above that. Twenty per
cent of gross slot revenue is split evenly between tracks
and their horse people.
EARLY KO: Lennix Lewes, owned by
Garden Gate Stables of Victoria, Comstat Stable of Langley
and Mary Jane Wiggins of Surrey, returned to the winner’s
circle for the first time in more than a month, winning one
of two $13,500 eliminations of the Black Gold Stake for
three-year-old pacing colts at Calgary’s Stampede Park last
Saturday.
With trainer Donald Monkman Jr. in the
sulky, the son of Arts Card Shark registered a 3 1/2-length
win in a lifetime best 1:55. The win was Lennix Lewes’ ninth
in 21 starts this season and the gelding has now earned
nearly $60,000.
TRACK
BUILDERS SOUGHT: Horse Racing Alberta has issued another
request for proposal for parties interested in applying for
a licence to conduct horse racing in the Calgary market area
in the year 2006 and beyond.
This is the second such RFP
issued for the Calgary area in the last two years. HRA
received a number of applications during the first round and
had narrowed down the list to two, the current operator,
Stampede Park and the Calgary Racing Entertainment Group (CREG).
However, it was decided to grant Stampede Park a short-term
licence to operate and re-issue another RFP. Stampede Park
is currently licensed to conduct racing by the HRA through
to the end of 2005.
The deadline for proposals to be
submitted to HRA is Oct. 30.
TRIPLE
CROWN KING: No Pan Intended became harness racing’s 10th
pacer to capture the Triple Crown by winning the $270,000
Messenger Stakes at the Meadows, near Pittsburgh on Oct. 18.
The sophomore son of Pacific Fella
cruised home to his 10th straight victory in 1:52.4. The
Globe finished second while Whatanartist was third.
Owned by the Peter Pan Stable of Pepper
Pike, Ohio, No Pan Intended will go down in history as the
first New Jersey-bred colt to ever win the Triple Crown. The
Ivan Sugg trained pacer won the Cane Pace – the first Triple
Crown jewel – on Sept. 1. Less than two weeks later the colt
captured the second jewel of the crown, the Little Brown
Jug.
"I'm numb," owner Bob Glazer said
following the race. "I broke into tears. It's been a great
ride. He's a professional. He does what he has to do to get
the job done."
The win was No Pan Intended’s 14th in
17 starts this season, boosting his career earnings to more
than $1 million.
No Pan Intended takes over from
Blissful Hall as the most recent Triple Crown winner.
Blissful Hall captured the title in 1999.
MAINMAN’S MOONSHOT: Last week
our choice, Mark My Wits, finished fourth despite making a
break before the start. This week we will go with Papas
Reflection, a 12-1 shot, in the 10th race Friday.
- 30 -
