Custard Or Nothing repeats in Betty Millbank

Custard Or Nothing (Custard The Dragon) doubled her tally in the Betty Millbank Memorial for two-year-old pacing fillies, winning the second leg on Wednesday (Oct. 5) at Fraser Downs.

Rod Therres slipped the filly into the pocket behind Snowpeak (David Kelly) and held position through :28.3 and :59.1 first-half fractions. Custard Or Nothing slid out on the backstretch and went to work as the field hit three-quarters in 1:28.3.

Custard Or Nothing cut into the lead gradually as they swung for home and put away Snowpeak in deep-stretch to score in a career-best 1:57.2.

Snowpeak held on for second over the closing Westcoast Captive (Blaine Chappell).

CUSTARD OR NOTHING REPLAY

Therres takes the training duties for the Vancouver-based ownership group of himself, Blair Miller, Dairen Edwards, and Veikko Pajunen. The filly, a $29,000 ASHA Yearling Sale purchase, is three-for-four with $23,520 in earnings so far. She won the first leg of the series on Sep. 28.

The fillies’ male peers competed in a pair of divisions of the second leg of the Robert Millbank Memorial.

Mickie Mantle (Custard The Dragon, Kelly Hoerdt) also doubled up in the series, taking over just past three-quarters and striding to a length-and-a-quarter victory in the first division in 1:57.1. Dillon James (Therres) was a clear second-best. Rum N Raisins (Brandon Campbell) finished third.

MICKIE MANTLE REPLAY

Mickie Mantle’s two wins to date have both come in the Robert Millbank Memorial; he was winless through three prior to Sep. 28. Wednesday’s clocking bettered his mark by a fifth of a second. Christopher Lancaster conditions the colt for Fred Gilbert of Brandon and Hoerdt, a resident of Beaumont. The $27,000 ASHA Yearling Sale purchase has earned $23,098.

Son Of A Beach (Sunshine Beach, John Abbott) withstood the challenge of even-money favourite Domi (Therres) to take the second division in 1:57.4, a new mark. The latter missed by a head after a long grinding effort. Speakdollarsncents (Richard Lancaster) gained late at the pylons but was held to a third-place cheque.

SON OF A BEACH REPLAY

The winner finished third in the first leg and is two-for-four with $13,080 in earnings. Therres trains the colt for Wild Dunes Stables of Delta.

The three-year-olds get their turn on Fraser Downs’s next card with divisions of the Robert Murphy Memorial and Mary Murphy. The 11-race slate is set for 7:00 p.m. PDT on Thursday, Oct. 6.

For complete race results, click here.

by Nicholas Barnsdale, for Harnesslink