Fern Hill General undefeated in four

Fern Hill General missed a track record by a fifth of a second as he won his fourth straight start in the Atlantic Sires Stakes for two-year-old male harness racing pacers on Saturday at Northside Downs.

Starting from post four, he waited for the conclusion of an early battle between Fern Hill Gusto (Marc Campbell) and Alldawaytocardigan (Myles Heffernan Sr.), then circled them both at the quarter mile pole in :29.1. Brodie Macphee set middle fractions of :58.1 and 1:27.4 with Fern Hill General, and the Malicious (PE) gelding turned away a final turn challenge from Fern Hill Gusto to win by two and a half lengths in 1:57.1.

Fern Hill Gusto was second, more than eight lengths clear of third-place finisher Woodmere Bankroll (Michael McGuigan). The winner, paying $2.50, performed as the betting public expected.

FERN HILL GENERAL REPLAY

Fern Hill General is unbeaten in four career starts for trainer Allan Earl Smith. Peter Smith of Stratford and Gerald Morrissey of Vernon River own the gelding.

Stash It Away resisted late attacks and scored in the second Atlantic Sires Stakes division.

Mark Pezzarello pointed the son of Pang Shui (PE) to the front as the race started, and Stash It Away took command easily from post two. His seven opponents allowed him first-half panels of :28 and :58.3 before Rollwithhottytoddy (Ryan Campbell) attacked from the backfield and Check Your Source (McGuigan) popped the pocket while approaching three-quarters in 1:29.1.

Check Your Source and Stash It Away matched strides on the final turn, and Rollwithhottytoddy continued his advance three-wide. Stash It Away clawed back a half-length lead while straightening for home, and he held that advantage to the finish for a 1:59.2 victory. Check Your Source was one-paced in second; Rollywithhottytoddy gained only to mid-stretch but took the show placing.

STASH IT AWAY REPLAY

Kevin Maclean trains Stash It Away for Reginald Mac Pherson of Stratford, who bought the horse for $17,500 from the Atlantic Classic sale. Stash It Away has won two of three to date and has earned $7,729.

Also on the card, Intended Royalty and Redmond Doucet wired the field in the J.A Ferguson Memorial Pace. They defeated Northside stalwarts Soutwind Ricardo (Marc Campbell) and Johnnie Jack (Ryan Campbell) to win the annual race named in honour of J.A. Ferguson, who co-founded the Cape Breton Turf Club and operated the Cape Breton Sports Centre. The contest was held from 1978-2005 and every year since 2010.

Northside Downs will see live racing again on Saturday, Aug. 14.

For full race results, click here.

by Nicholas Barnsdale, for Harnesslink