BC’s best to clash on Sunday and Monday

Fraser Downs will host the next round of harness racing stakes for two- and three-year-old pacers on Sunday (Oct. 23) and Monday night.

On Sunday evening Fraser Downs hosts the third leg of the Robert Millbank Memorial for two-year-old colts and geldings and the third leg of the Betty Millbank Memorial for two-year-old fillies. Three-year-old pacers will be in action Monday night for the third leg of the Robert and Mary Murphy memorials. Post time on Sunday will be at 3:00 PM Pacific while Monday’s card will begin at 7:00 PM.

Sunday

Robert Millbank Memorial 3rd Leg Division 1 (Race 5)

Two-year-old colts and geldings will be the first to compete for their chance at earning a piece of the $15,000 purse. The morning line favourite, Mickie Mantle (Custard The Dragon) drew post position five and he’s looking to capture his third straight win. Kelly Hoerdt is scheduled to be in the bike and the duo will be looking to make a new lifetime mark which is currently at 1:57.1. Sunday night will be the young colt’s sixth lifetime start and he will be hoping to make his third visit to the winner’s circle.

One obstacle standing in Mickie Mantle’s way goes by the name of Lukes Proclamation (Captive Audience). This young gelding was unfortunately scratched last time for the second leg. He was able to win in the first leg of the Robert Millbank Memorial in which he also tied his lifetime mark at 1:57.1. In five lifetime starts, Lukes Proclamation has three wins and has not finished outside the top three.

Robert Millbank Memorial 3rd Leg Division 2 (Race 6)

Pops N Like Pez (Custard The Dragon) will look to pick up his first win since August. The young colt won his first two lifetime starts earlier in the summer but has not been able to find the winner’s circle since.

The Rod Therres-owned and -trained colt Domi (Living It Up) will be looking to continue his young career with potentially his second lifetime win. In four starts, he may only have one win, but he has three second place finishes.

The other Rod Therres trained entry, Son of a Beach (Sunshine Beach) has also not finished outside the top three in his first four starts. He will be looking for his third lifetime win, and it could be potentially his second win in a row.

Betty Millbank Memorial 3rd Leg (Race 8)

The big standout in this round of the Betty Millbank Memorial is Custard Or Nothing (Custard The Dragon). Rod Therres trains and will drive the young filly as they look to win their third race in a row. In four starts, the tandem team of Therres and Custard Or Nothing visited the winner’s circle on three occasions, and they have the fastest mile time of 1:57.2.

Snowpeak (Artspeak) draws the inside post position and could cause some problems. In four lifetime starts, she has won only once but has had two consecutive second place finishes in the prior Betty Millbank Memorials. Snowpeak is in the Jim Marino barn, and he is currently sitting at 83 wins this year as a trainer. He’s only six wins away from matching his career high wins in a year and he has not only Snowpeak but two other entries racing in this race.

He also had Center Piece (Bettarthancheddar) and Side Piece (Shadow Play) competing for the $20,000 in potential purse winnings.

Open Pace (Race 10)

Although this is not a stake race, it is however an intriguing race to look at and handicap. The current more line favourite sitting at 6-5 is the Kelly Hoerdt owned and trained, Armycaptin Hanover (Captaintreacherous). The six-year-old gelding is looking for what could be his fourth straight win and could be his fifth win in his last six starts.

Sitting at 3-1 morning line odds is Tiempo Hanover (Western Ideal). This eight-year-old gelding has finished twice now second place just behind Armycaptin Hanover in the Open class at Fraser Downs. The last time Tiempo Hanover was able to get a picture in the winner’s circle was early this year in April and strangely enough, just beat out Armycaptin Hanover in that race. Armycaptin Hanover and Tiempo Hanover with six other paces will battle over the $10,000 available for the Fraser Downs Open class.

Monday

Robert Murphy Memorial 3rd Leg Division 1 (Race 3)

The current favourite in this group of glamour boys is Lets Tie One On (Vertical Horizon). The three-year-old colt drew the fifth post position and but that should be no issue as he’s won his two starts from more difficult positions. Lets Tie One On’s was able to set a new lifetime mark of 1:52.4 last time out on the track. This will be his thirteenth start of 2022 and he along with driver Scott Knight will look to pick up win number six on the year.

Joe Dimagio (Custard The Dragon) will look to play spoiler in this one and will have the potential edge with the inside draw. He is looking for his sixth win of 2022 and will do so with his trainer, Kelly Hoerdt climbing aboard. Joe Dimagio’s lifetime mark is currently at 1:54.1 but maybe having the inside post will balance things out over the mile pace.

Robert Murphy Memorial 3rd Leg Division 2 (Race 4)

Kelly Hoerdt will look to sweep both three-year-old colt and gelding divisions with the 9-5 morning line odds favourite, Chuck You Farlie (Custard The Dragon). The duo won last time in the second leg but did only finish fifth in running of the first leg.

Richard Lancaster trains and will drive Itll Be Fine (Hes Watching) who is sitting at morning line odds at 2-1 and they will also be looking to win their second race in a row together. The last time these two stepped onto a track together it was just for a non-winner of five class with claimers mixed in. Before that, Itll Be Fine recorded two straight second place finishes in the first and second leg of the Robert Murphy Memorial.

Joe Rich (Custard The dragon) could provide a minor upset coming into the race with 3-1 morning line odds. The Jim Marino trained horse was able to get the win in the first leg of the event but could not find the same level of success in the second round and finished fourth.

Mary Murphy Memorial 3rd Leg Division 1 (Race 8)

John Vukelich and his entry, Gotta Wear Shades (Custard The Dragon) will be the team to beat in this one. Coming in at morning line odds at 8-5, this duo is the only one in this race coming in on a two-win streak. They also get the inside post position and will look to pick up win number seven on the year. The time of 1:55.0 is the time to beat as well if Gotta Wear Shades wants to post a new lifetime mark.

The filly with the next best lifetime mark is Shes Bodacious (Custard The Dragon) with a clocking of 1:56.3. She will be looking to upset the morning line favourite and pick up her third win of the year, maybe improving her lifetime mark in the process.

Mary Murphy Memorial 3rd Leg Division 2 (Race 9)

The Saskatchewan-bred Shoot The Whiskey (Shadow Play) earned the morning line favourite spot currently sitting at 6-5 odds. Driver Brandon Campbell will be charged with the task of helping earn the young filly’s third straight win. Both previous wins came in the first two legs of the event.

Tin Foil Hat (Custard The Dragon) draws the inside and will look to finish the mile first for the first time since September 8th. However, she did get placed first in the first leg after finishing second.

Another filly to keep in mind while handicapping this race would be Angelsonthehorizon (Vertical Horizon). The David Hudon trained filly has finished in the top three every time in her last four starts.

Fillies and Mares Open (Race 10)

We cannot forget about including the fillies and mares Open as six of the top female pacers will go to post to fight over the $10,000 purse. The morning line favourite at 2-1 odds, Moosette (Hes Watching) is looking to win this class back-to-back times. In her last three starts, she has one win and two second place finishes, and she has only lost to Century Mach (JK Royal) over that time.

Century Mach will lineup in this Open in post position six and will look to overcome the outside draw. Over her last six starts, she has had four wins, all coming in the fillies and mares Open class.

Pirate Booty (Captaintreacherous) will make her debut in the fillies and mares Open and comes in as the third favourite at 7-2 morning line odds. In her 15 starts this year, she has only finished outside the top three once which came earlier in the month of October. Other than that, she has been performing well with eight wins, five seconds and one third place finish.

For complete Sunday race entries, click here.

For complete Monday race entries, click here.

by Trey Colbeck, for Harnesslink