Western Canadian harness racing update

As we near the end of April, this is a perfect time to recap everything harness racing going on in western Canada.

Upcoming

Fraser Downs:

Fraser Downs in Surrey, British Columbia, only has four more race days left on the schedule until they shut down for the summer. Live racing will go on April 27, April 28, May 4 and May 5. Post time is set as the usual 7:00 p.m. PDT. However, the final day of racing on May 5 is scheduled for 6:00 p.m. according to Fraser Down’s schedule.

The Penny Bath Memorial and Keith Linton Memorial eliminations are set to go Friday evening (April 28). The Penny Bath Memorial is for 3-year-old fillies Open, and the elimination purses are set at $8,000. The Keith Linton Memorial is for 3-year-old colts and geldings Open, which also has elimination purses set at $8,000. Once the entries are written in ink, Harnesslink will have a full preview of all the elimination races plus the finals. Both finals will go the following Friday (May 5), and both will have a purse of $50,000.

Century Downs:

With Fraser Downs winding down, Century Downs is about to start heating up. Live racing will begin being held twice a week at the five-eighths-of-a-mile track on the outskirts of Calgary, Alberta. The Saturday afternoon card will continue at 1:15 p.m. MDT and the addition of a Friday evening card is this Friday (April 28). The post time for the Friday card is 5:15 p.m. MDT.

Century Downs will also host their pair of stake races in the coming weeks. If necessary, eliminations for the Bev Sears Memorial and the Ed Tracey Memorial will take place on Saturday (April 29). The finals will be one week after, and they each have a guaranteed $30,000 up for grabs. The Ed Tracy Memorial is for four-year-old colts and geldings that are non-winners of $30,000 as of December 1, 2022. The Bev Sears Memorial has the same conditions for four-year-old fillies and mares. Harnesslink will have a preview for both stake races as well.

Drivers

Brandon Campbell:

Campbell is continuing where he left off last year. So far this year, he has made 323 starts and has won 112 times. That is a winning average of around 0.347, far better than most batting averages for Major League Baseball players. He is shy of $600,000 in earnings as a driver and could easily pass that this upcoming weekend with all the racing in British Columbia and Alberta. Campbell hit 2500 lifetime wins as a driver and has $15,925,226 in lifetime earnings. At this rate, he could easily shatter his last year’s totals, but plenty of other drivers are out there trying to prevent that.

Kelly Hoerdt: 

Hoerdt would be the next driver to watch out for in western Canada but is unfortunately sidelined for the next few weeks. This opens the door for others to catch up to him, but he will likely return to his top form when he can get back in the sulky. Before his injury, Hoerdt had 43 wins in 230 starts in 2023. He has earned $264,622 in purse winnings so far. Missing out on the upcoming stake races won’t put too much of a dent into his yearend totals. Hoerdt’s been in the game for some time and has over 17,000 lifetime drives. He has 2817 career driving wins and has earned over $18,000,000 while sitting in the sulky. In three of the last four years, Hoerdt has earned over $1,000,000 and is still poised to do it again.

The Rest:

After Campbell and Hoerdt, the battle is on amongst the drivers out west for the next top spot. Sobey has an excellent start to the year and has already earned over $125,000 in winnings in 111 starts. David Kelly has made a bit more and is currently sitting at $133,023, but he has 131 starts this year. Kelly has 24 wins in 2023, while Sobey has 18. Logan Gillis and Michael Hennessy already have over $100,000 in earnings this year. So plenty of driving talent is out at Century Downs and will be fully displayed this summer.

Horses

Shark Week:

Shark Week (Vertical Horizon) has been the apex predator stalking prey at Century Downs. The five-year-old gelding has five wins already in 2023. He has only finished outside the top three once in his eight starts. Shark Week’s last 20 starts have been something to marvel at. He has visited the winner’s circle 14 times during that stretch and only has one blemish, finishing seventh. Rodney Hennessy trains Shark Week while Michael Hennessy sits in the sulky. He achieved his best mile time of the year of 1:53.0, his last time out. His lifetime mark of 1:51.1 was earned last September when this hot streak began.

Outlaw C My Shadow:

Outlaw C My Shadow (Shadow Play) has recently been the Open class champion at Fraser Downs. The six-year-old gelding has won 11 straight races dating back to last November. Nothing seems to slow him down, as his previous win was paced in the time of 1:51.2. He’s trained by Constance Kolthammer, who currently sits at a training Udrs of 0.699. Brandon Campbell has overseen driving during the lengthy winning streak. With Fraser Downs wrapping up the spring meet in the coming weeks, it will be interesting to see where Outlaw C My Shadow ends. Could he be heading for a head-to-head collision with Shark Week in Alberta?

by Trey Colbeck, for Harnesslink