Five straight for Side Piece in BC-bred Stake

Side Piece (Shadow Play) romped in the third leg of the BC-bred Stake Mary Murphy Memorial for three-year-old pacing fillies at Fraser Downs on Thursday (Nov. 16) for her fifth consecutive harness racing victory.

She was first to the lead for Brandon Campbell, let the insistent Crown Princess (John Abbott) take over briefly at the quarter in :27.2, and moved right back to the top in the second panel. Side Piece reached the midway point in :57.2, upped the tempo to three-quarters in 1:26.2 with Red N Ready (Phil Giesbrecht) no threat first-over.

Side Piece erased all doubt as she separated from the field by four lengths on the final turn, and she marched home to a dominant victory in 1:55.1.

Red And Ready legged it out for second in a commendable effort. Heart Of A Dragon (Dave Hudon) was third.

SIDE PIECE REPLAY

Side Piece has now won five straight races and eight of nine this year for owners J J J Stables of Prince George and Jim Marino of Surrey. The filly has earned $239,692 and seen the winner’s circle 12 times in 15 career outings. She is unbeaten in the first three Mary Murphy Memorial preliminary legs and will look to go back-to-back in the BC-Bred Stake. Marino conditions the sophomore.

There were two divisions of the counterpart series for colts and geldings, the Robert Murphy Memorial. Rum N Raisins (Custard The Dragon, Abbott) got every call in the first division and scored by two-and-a-quarter lengths in 1:53.4 over Lukes Proclamation (Giesbrecht) and Domi (Campbell). It was the sixth lifetime win for the gelding, a Richard Lancaster trainee, and it upped his earnings to $53,398. Wild Dunes Stables of Delta owns and bred him.

RUM N RAISINS REPLAY

Mickie Mantle (Custard The Dragon), coming off his win in the Alberta Sires Stakes Super Final, made the lead at three-eighths and held off Speakdollarsncents (Jeff Hunt) by three-quarters-of-a-length to take the second division in 1:55. Chief Is Boss (Dennis Johnston) completed the ticket. Mickie Mantle’s win put his career total into double digits and increased his bankroll to $184,998. Fred Gilbert of Brandon and Kelly Hoerdt of Beaumont have owned the colt for his entire 22-start career. Hoerdt trains the three-year-old.

MICKIE MANTLE REPLAY

Hang On Sloopy (Betterthancheddar) defeated Pirate Booty (Terry Kaufman) for a 5-1 upset in the night’s Fillies and Mares Preferred and gave driver Jeff Hunt his first top-level win since arriving on the West Coast. Hunt pointed the mare to the lead, and she resisted the first-up advance of Pirate Booty through the middle half. The favourite never gave up, but Hang On Sloopy pulled two-and-a-quarter lengths clear down the lane and completed the victory in 1:54.4. Pirate Booty hung on for second over Grey Sea (Abbott).

HANG ON SLOOPY REPLAY

The victory also marked Hang On Sloopy’s first career win in a Preferred/Open event. The five-year-old, a homebred for Reginald Wonnenberg and Gail Brassington of Aldergrove, is now 11-for-78 lifetime and has earned $110,277. Wonnenberg trains the mare.

Fraser Downs holds racing next on Friday, Nov. 17, featuring a Preferred-Handicap. The card will start at 7:00 p.m. PST.

For complete race results, click here.

by Nicholas Barnsdale, for Harnesslink