Armycaptin Hanover top brass in feature

Harness racing driver Kelly Hoerdt set up Armycaptin Hanover with a pocket trip in the Century Downs feature on Sunday, and the horse made no mistakes as he won going away.

Hoerdt made use of his drive’s rail post to acquire the pocket and allowed Tiempo Hanover (Brandon Campbell) to march to the lead as the starting car pulled away. The latter put up fractional times of :27.3, :55.4, and 1:23.3 with Armycaptin Hanover waiting patiently in second.

Hoerdt angled the gelding to the outside as they turned for home and outpaced Tiempo Hanover in short order for a 14th lifetime victory by open lengths 1:53.1. Tiempo Hanover was a length and a quarter behind in second; I Ama Rocket (Jean Francois Gagne) was best of the remaining four contenders in third. The winner returned $10.

ARMYCAPTIN HANOVER REPLAY

Armycaptin Hanover is now 14-for-57 with more than $80,000 in bankroll. Hoerdt trains and co-owns the five-year-old by Captaintreacherous with Blair Corbeil of Beaumont.

Brandon Campbell appeared in the winner’s circle three times on the day: after the second with Ima Dude (1:54.2), following the fifth with A Private Affair (1:57.2), and after the ninth alongside Jedi Tricks (1:58.4).

Trainer Gordon Empey earned his first parimutuel victory of the year with Cenalta Sunrise (1:58.2), a four-year-old Vertical Horizon mare, in the sixth race. Garry Schedlosky broke his 2021 driving maiden with that win as well. Ryan Grundy celebrated a similar achievement as he drove his six-year-old Vertical Horizon gelding, Hay Hay Alright (1:57.1), to victory in the eighth. It was also his first driving win of 2021. Brent Bodor (1:58.4) took his season’s first with Jedi Tricks, a five-year-old daughter of Wink N Atcha in the ninth. Douglas Stout did the same in the finale with Rocking N Rollin (1:57.4), a four-year-old gelded son of Mystery Chase.

Century Downs returns on Tuesday, Jun. 1 with a 10-race card beginning at 4:15 p.m. MDT.

For full race results, click here.

by Nicholas Barnsdale, for Harnesslink