A look into opening day at Century Downs

Harness racing returns to Century Downs on Saturday, March 11th, and the day will kick off a spring and summer-long season until the end of August. The opening card will showcase ten dashes, and here are a few things to consider before tuning into all the action that Century Downs has to offer.

Feature Races

Race 5: CLM 19000 (PLUS ALLW) AE: NW 5001 LAST 3 AE: NW 8 OR 52000 LIFE(AB/F 70000) AE: PREFERRED (DRAW OUTSIDE)

This race may have a mile-long condition attached to it, but it also goes for the highest purse amount of the day. A field of six pacers will duel it out for a piece of the $13,500 that is up for grabs. The 2022 ASHA Champion Aged Horse, Shark Week (Vertical Horizon), draws post position five and will look to return to his winning ways. The five-year-old horse has won eight of his last ten starts and now, after a month’s break from racing, should be in a prime position to add to his win total.

Samba Beat (Santanna Blue Chip), who edged out Shark Week last time they were on track together, draws the outside sixth post position. Samba Beat has consistently been around the top three in the previous handful of starts and should be one to watch out for when he steps onto the oval.

Race 8: FILLIES AND MARES PREFERRED 2 HDCP

Seven of the top pacing fillies and mares are entered for their chance to win a slice of the $10,500 purse for this race. Now that Divine Art is no longer racing in Alberta, it is wide open for a new pacing queen to emerge. Saphire Blue (Vertical Horizon) will have Nathan Sobey in the bike, and they drew the outside post position. She has four wins in her last ten starts and qualified in 1:59.4 last week. She hasn’t seen live race action since December last year, but the rest of the field has had similar time off.

Betcha Baby (Bettors Delight) has the most lifetime starts of anyone in the field and will use her experience to her advantage. She has made 116 lifetimes and has the lifetime mark of 1:50.0, which she earned at Woodbine Mohawk Park. Betcha Baby drew post position number six and will be coming from the outside along with Saphire Blue.

Driver Spotlight 

The only driver that is scheduled to make an appearance in every race is Brandon Campbell. He’s already made 125 starts in 2023, and another ten being added to his tally on Saturday should give him a chance to continue the roll he’s been on. He is set to team up with only three morning-line favourites but needs to sleep on what he can do with any horse. Campbell has finished in the top three 91 times in 2023, which makes his top three finish percentage 72.8.%. Those are excellent odds for anyone considering adding a Campbell-driven horse to their betting stub.

Pick 5

The kind folks at Century Downs graciously removed the Jackpot sign that lingered over the Pick 5 wager pool. The Pick 5 wager this Saturday starts in the sixth race and runs through to the final 10th race. The following is a suggested bet idea for the first Pick 5 of the year at Century Downs.

Race 6: 1,3,5

Race 7: 3,4

Race 8: 6,7

Race 9: 3

Race 10: 4,5,6

All the action begins Saturday at 1:15 PM local time.

by Trey Colbeck, for Harnesslink