THIS SPIDER HAS BITE
Along came a Spider…..
Spider M captured a tremendous stretch
battle with Bre X to win last Friday’s Invite at Fraser
Downs. The five-year-old son of Deamons Bell out of Sabrina
Legacy covered the mile in a new lifetime mark of 1:54 to
win by a length.
Bre X had captured the Invite on
opening weekend (with Spider third) and was a 2-5 favorite
last Friday. Ricardo Hall went to the front early but Spider
M, who started from the two-hole as the 4-1 second betting
choice, was just a neck back at the 28.1 first quarter.
Driver Tim Brown slid the Spider to the
front where he had a 1½-length lead at the half. Bre X, with
Bill Davis in the bike, was fourth at that point – 4½
lengths back – but used a big move on the backstretch to
capture the lead on the outside by a neck over Spider M.
The two then waged a furious battle all
the way to the wire.
Spider M, who is owned by Ken Dorman
and Janice Wheeler, and trained by Dorman, now has been
first or third in his last seven starts and has eight
triumphs in 22 starts in 2004. He has pocketed more than
$45,000 in earnings in 2004.
Sucha Smooth Deal was third, another
7¼-lengths back, in the field of eight.
Red Star Justice and Red Star Admiral,
both former track record holders, qualified Monday, setting
the stage for even more tough battles in the Invite.
WHITE IS THE COLOR: Opening
weekend the color was White; last weekend the color was
Brown.
That’s Brown as in driver/trainer Tim
Brown, who dominated the stats as Rick White had done the
weekend before. Brown led all drivers with five victories
and tied White among all trainers with three visits to the
winner’s enclosure in the two days last weekend.
Bill Davis, Jim Burke and Gord Abbott
each had three wins as a driver while Dave McKellar and
Terry Kaufman had two apiece.
On the conditioner side, following
Brown and White, were Wayne Isbister and Bob Merschback with
two victories each.
FAST TRACKIN: Downs’ track super
Darcy Perdue had the track in top order last weekend and,
with some pleasant weather, times were fast and faster. Only
one race (the 11th Saturday) of 26 over the two days was
slower than two minutes.
Some of the top clockings among the
several new lifetime marks were Rick White’s three-year-old
gelding Band On The Run with a 1:54.4 (two seconds faster)
in the second race Saturday and Ann Cooper’s three-year-old
gelding Madigan with 1:57.3 (2.1 seconds faster) in the
seventh race Friday.
THANKING ALL: Bill Turner,
program director for the Winners Foundation of B.C., would
like to give a big THANK YOU to Super Soil in Cloverdale and
Port Kells Nursery for their generous support of Fraser
Downs’ new backstretch Community Garden.
Super Soil provided and delivered a
substantial amount of quality soil for the community garden
project completely free of charge. Port Kells Nursery
provided all shrubs at substantial savings as well as all
plants for the annual yearling sale.
Turner would also like to say thanks to
Chuck Keeling, general manager of Fraser Downs, for his
sincere support of all community development in the
backstretch.
NEW YEAR’S DATE: The
construction work has made things a little difficult around
the Downs these but it hasn’t dampened the enthusiasm of
some of the patrons. Sharalyn Hovey, group sales manager,
reports that the Clubhouse buffet for Jan.1, 2006 has
already sold out. (Construction has necessitated the closing
of the buffet area for next Jan. 1).
Historically, it is the first day in
the buffet to sell out at the beginning of each season, but
to sell out 15 months in advance of the date is pretty
amazing.
GATE ON THE WAY: Fraser Downs
has purchased a new to here, and newer than what is here
now, starting gate from a dealer in Ohio.
It is believed the 1993 Cadillac and
eight-horse gate was previously used at Freehold or the
Meadowlands race tracks.
The gate is designed for either a
straight start (what the Downs has now) or a staggered start
where the gate can be aligned to have the outside wing moved
ahead.
The unit is expected to arrive at the
Downs in two to three weeks. It has been reconditioned by a
75-year-old man in the eastern U.S. who first designed and
built (about 40 years ago) the gate that is used on the
majority of tracks in North America.
Downs’ director of racing Keith Quinlan
said the Downs would keep two of its present starting
vehicles (Lincoln and Crown Victoria) as back-up with a
third kept as possible part replacements.
“It costs more than $100,000 for a new
car and gate,” Quinlan said, explaining the need to buy
pre-owned and keep replacement parts.
CISCO KID MAKES MARK: The Cisco
Kid, also known as Scott Cisco, rode into town three weeks
ago and quickly was in the sulky, competing in the early
action at the Downs meet.
However, it was a busman’s holiday and
he is today back in the U.S. of A.
The young driver/trainer from
California has returned to the Eastern States to rejoin the
stable of Serge Masse. Cisco and Masse had most recently
been competing at Rockingham Park but the season has ended
at the New Hampshire track.
“When I left Serge was thinking of
moving on to Colonial Downs after he took a holiday too,”
The Kid said last weekend, “but there could be a change of
plans and we could go to Freehold.”
Cisco left Monday by plane to Boston
and then on to New Hampshire where Masse has five racehorses
and five “babies.”
Cisco did admit that he is considering
the possibility of returning to the Downs later in the meet
(an affair of the heart also strongly draws him to the
area).
“I also have to get home (California)
soon,” Cisco said. “I haven’t seen my mom and other family
for quite awhile. I also would like to compete there
although the wagering for the opening day was not very good
and who knows how things will be.”
Cisco also admitted that he had a
career highlight this year when he drove Magic Pal, a
$20,000US claimer at The Meadowlands.
Cisco picked up several drives while he
was here and got a win with Ken Dorman’s Kaiser Black.
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