Yeah Norton continues to impress as he makes his mark on
the Stakes scene at Fraser Downs.
The three-year-old son by Scruffy Hanover out of Dal Reo
Cando, who is handled by the Abbotsford combination of
owner Wes Waardenburg, trainer Carol St Amand and driver
Daniel St Amand, captured one elimination leg of the Pat
Brennan Memorial last Saturday at the Downs.
In getting his fifth win in nine career starts, Yeah
Norton paced to victory by 5 1/2 lengths in a new
lifetime mark of 1:59.1 for the mile. Norton, a 1-5
favourite, was fourth at the half and moved into the
lead on the outside at the three-quarter mark. He then
avoided trouble that beset others and paced the last
quarter in 29.4 seconds.
C Lec Machine, a 19-1 shot owned and trained by Ed
Lechner, and driven by Scott Knight, finished a strong
second but was taken down for interference and placed
last in the six-horse field. Bo Magnolia, trained by
Heather Burke and driven by Glenn White, a 35-1 shot was
third placed second and Freddybgood, fourth, placed
third.
Goplayoutside, the 7-2 second choice, raced gate-to-wire
to take the other elimination leg. Trained and driven by
Bill Davis for owner Robert Murphy, the four-year-old
son of Make A Deal out of Armbro Primrose, won by half a
length in 1:59.2.
Goplayoutside is a relative newcomer to the Downs,
making five starts since Jan. 5 and winning three with a
second and third.
Dealmeahos, trained by Rick Lancaster and driven by Dave
Hudon, was second and 8-5 favourite Witching Hour was
third.
The final for the Brennan Memorial will be Saturday.
Brennan was a well-known member of the harness racing
community in B.C. for many years.
QUICK RETURN: The mixed sale held each year by
the B.C. Standardbred Breeders Society is considered by
some to be much like a fire sale with a buyer-beware
tag.
But there is always hope and a quick example came about
last Friday, just 11 days after the sale.
At the Feb. 10 sale, Leslie Godlien and Rick Lancaster
had the winning bid of $500 on a horse named
Scruffysbeachgirl. She is an once-raced three-year-old
daughter by Scruffy Hanover out of Hillsboro Beach who
was consigned by Glenn White and Peter Jokinen.
Trainer Lancaster decided to get right to the quick and
put her in a qualifier on Feb. 17. She did not set the
racing world on its ear but she did qualify. Then last
Friday she was entered in a $6,000 claimer for maidens.
By now you have probably guessed -- she won. At odds of
16-1 with Jim Marino in the bike, Scruffysbeachgirl won
by 1 1/2 lengths in 2:07.3 on a slow track and picked up
$1,200 of the purse money.
Rick was smiling, Leslie was a-jumping after Beachgirl's
win. But the celebrating didn't stop there.
Lancaster has a "hot" barn and last weekend was a huge
example. In addition to the aforementioned victory,
Lancaster had five other horses in on the weekend. Three
others -- Odds R Even, Stepbackandreload and Dal Reo
Treasure -- also won while Dealmeahos was second and
Satin Penny third.
"My feet still haven't touched the ground," Leslie said
Sunday night.
A WEEKEND HANDFUL FOR MARINO: Jim Marino stole
much of the show in the driver derby last weekend.
Marino had three victories Friday and one each on
Saturday and Sunday for one of his best performances of
the meet. He now has 35 for the meet, good for seventh
among the sulky steerers. Bill Davis, meanwhile, led as
usual with six -- three each Saturday and Sunday -- and
leads overall with 138. Rick White, Scott Knight and Rod
Therres had three wins each.
Davis led the trainers with five triumphs, one more than
Rick Lancaster, while Mike Glover had three.
Meanwhile, some of the Alberta trainer contingent headed
home where racing resumed Friday in Edmonton. Joining
the deep freeze are Mike Hennessy and Brad Watt while
Bobby Clark will return after this weekend. Ed Tracey
makes all kind of sense when he says he will stay here
for awhile until it warms up on the prairie.
AWARDS AND MUNCHIES: Don't forget the B.C.
harness racing industry's annual awards banquet will be
held Saturday.
The event, sponsored by the B.C. Standardbred Breeders
Society and the B.C. Standardbred Association, is once
again set for Newlands Golf Club in Langley. The banquet
and the awards honour the best in B.C. standardbred
racing in 2002.
WIN FOUR TO RETURN: Win Four wagering will be
returning to Fraser Downs and other Canadian tracks
within the next month according to Canada’s wagering
regulators.
The Canadian Pari-Mutuel Agency halted all Pick Six, Win
Four and Superfecta wagering following the Breeders Cup
Pick Six scandal in the United States. The agency feared
that Canadian pools might be susceptible to manipulation
as in the U.S. case. The CPMA quickly returned
Superfecta wagering to the country’s tracks, while Win
Four wagering was allowed on a limited basis. Now Win
Four and Pick Six, for those that have it, will be back
soon.
The issue centres around the information transfer on
multi-legged wagers. The computers utilized by the
country’s major tote companies are unable to process the
massive volumes of information generated by wagers
involving multiple legs. The CPMA has said that before
the wagers are returned, it must be assured that all
tote information arrives at the host track prior to the
conclusion of the wager’s first leg.
