Yearling sale, Hudon tops and more

The annual B.C. Standardbred Breeders Society yearling sale is set for Monday, Nov. 18 at the Agriplex. Ninety-five yearlings (48 fillies) will be up for sale in the event which gets under way at 6:30 p.m.(sharp).

As this is being written it is not yet definite as to whether there will again also be the sale of broodmares brought in from eastern climes.

HUDON JOINS BROWN AS TOP DRIVER: For the second straight week Dave Hudon led the driver derby with four wins last Friday, adding to the three he had on Sept. 20. Hudon now has nine for the meet, the same as Tim Brown, the early leader who was blanked last Friday. Dave Jungquist had two driving victories while Craig Senay drove Carolyn Holmes N to victory Friday for his first triumph of 2002.

No trainer had more than one win on the 15-race card but trainer John Lorkowski, a new arrival on the scene from Alberta, quickly got into the act, winning with Precious Jewel W in the final race last Friday.

MISTER WILL DID: The IGA Market Place horse of the month award will not begin until October but if there had been one for September it would likely have gone to Terry Kaufman's Mister Will N. The five-year-old New Zealand bred won all of his three starts starting with a $4,000 claimer and then moving up to $5,000 and $7,000.

SAMANTHA STILL STRONG: Samantha Square came up with another strong performance in Ontario Saturday but had to settle for fourth in the $308,000 Milton Stake at Mohawk Raceway.

Starting from the 11-hole, Samantha, a four-year-old daughter of Albert Albert, was 10th through the quarter, half and three quarters (13 1/4 lengths back), moved to eighth at the head of the stretch and then finished strongly, five lengths back of winner Eternal Camnation.

Samantha, owned by Rick White of Surrey and June and John Kauffman of Woodinville, Wash., covered the last quarter in a rapid 27.2 seconds and won more than $24,000. Cathedra Dot Com and betting favourite Bunny Lake were second and third respectively in the mile won in 1:51.1.

SUNDAY DATES ADDED: Fraser Downs has added two Sunday dates (1:15 post times) on Oct. 27 and Nov. 3. The meet now includes 88 days running into late April. The Downs will also change the post time for the first race for some Saturday cards in October and November. Changing to 7:20 p.m. will be tonight, Oct. 12, 19 and 26 and Nov. 2.

ERNIE IN, MIKE OUT: There has been a couple of personnel changes within the Robert Murphy-owned Red Star Stable. Veteran Ernie Arsenault, part of the highly active standardbred racing family which includes Andy, Mike and Paul, is now part of the large training crew for Murphy. Also, Mike Bourgeois, who has been on the Downs scene for many years, has left as one of Murphy's trainers specializing in the breaking and early training of horses, to move to work in the eastern U.S.

SET SOCIAL CALENDAR FOR MARCH 1: The B.C. harness racing industry's annual awards banquet will be held Saturday, March 1.

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.

The evening will be held in conjunction with a big card of racing at Fraser Downs which will feature the Drivers' Challenge pitting Team Ontario against Team B.C. Stay tuned for further details.

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