Midsummer Classic Saturday at Century Downs

Century Downs is set to host the Midsummer Classic, which is the richest day of harness racing on their calendar this Saturday. Two stake race finals headline the card with $295,670 up for grabs over 11 races.

With only seven sophomore fillies entering no eliminations were needed so we jumped right to the $122,200 Gord & Illa Rumpel Memorial Stake Final. 

The Vertical Horizon filly, Byby Baby Byby comes into the final as the 2-1 morning line favourite. In seven starts this year, she has only finished outside the top three once. She also has scored twice already in 2024 with her fastest mile being 1:54.1. Her lifetime mark is a bit faster at 1:52.2 but she achieved that on the bigger track at Century Mile.

With over 14 lifetime starts, Byby Baby Byby has won $179,453 in prize money which makes her the top earner in the field. Her latest win was a wire-to-wire performance in the ABSS Marquis. The Rodney Hennessy-trained filly will likely receive a fair share of the win pool but will have some stiff competition. Michael Hennessy will team up with Byby Baby Byby once again.

BYBY BABY BYBY REPLAY

Byby Baby Byby’s biggest competition will be Outlawguns N Roses (Captive Audience). She is coming off a fifth-place performance in the ABSS Marquis due to her going off stride early. However, before that, she was one of the hottest fillies in Alberta. The Rodney Starkewski-trained filly won five of her first six starts this year and fell to second once. Outlawguns N Roses’ best performance of 2024 was her 1:52.4 mile in the ABSS Diamond. She has earned big cheques throughout her entire career and has amassed $175,400 in winnings. David Kelly has been charged with driving duties of Outlawguns N Roses.

OUTLAWGUNS N ROSES REPLAY

The British Columbia-bred invader, Kootenay Cocoa (Beren Hanover) drew the rail and could be very dangerous in this race. She has won four straight races after finishing second in her debut. However, she is coming off a three-month layoff since her last appearance in which she posted a new lifetime mark of 1:52.3. Kootenay Cocoa’s lone career blemish is the second place earlier this year and has won every other of 11 career starts. This will be her first start outside of Fraser Downs and it will be interesting to see how she fits into the Alberta crowd. Phillip Giesbrecht now trains Kootenay Cocoa and will also be in the bike.

KOOTENAY COCOA REPLAY

Another B.C. invader that’s worth a look is Over Ice (Custard The Dragon). She went perfect five-for-five during her two-year-old campaign but has yet to duplicate that success this year. She has already made some starts at Century Downs and has been doing alright but not firing the same. In seven starts this year, Over Ice has the lone win but six top-three finishes in total. The one win was in the ABSS Diamond elimination, and she finished the mile in a career-best 1:53.3. Brandon Campbell trains and will drive the sophomore filly on Saturday.

OVER ICE REPLAY

After needing eliminations last week, nine colts & geldings remain to battle for the $105,570 Ralph Klein Memorial.

At even odds, Grey Horizon (Vertical Horizon) is the morning line favourite. Over 16 lifetime starts, he has eight wins and 14 top-three finishes. He would have more wins if it wasn’t for a pylon violation and being interfered with in a couple of his appearances.  The Brandon Campbell-trained colt is the top career earner in the field at $153,925. In the last week’s elimination, he paced the mile in 1:53.3 which was just one-fifth of a second slower than her lifetime mark. If Grey Horizon gets to the front early, he will be hard to catch as he consistently paces closing quarter miles in sub-29 seconds.

GREY HORIZON REPLAY

Campbell’s other entry, One Hot Minute (Westwardo Hanover) also has a good chance of scoring. He is coming off a lifetime mark of 1:54.4 in the other elimination. It was only his second career win over 14 lifetime starts. One Hot Minute went winless during his two-year-old campaign and only had one top-three finish. He has tried turning it around this year with the two wins and six top-three finishes in ten 2024 appearances. Campbell will be driving Grey Horizon so Michael Hennessy will be aboard One Hot Minute in the finals.

ONE HOT MINUTE REPLAY

Another colt to keep an eye on is the Custard The Dragon sired- Rum N Custard. Although he only has two wins, he has finished in the top three in all but one of his 12 lifetime starts. His last win was in the Moores Mile elimination when was placed first over Grey Horizon due to the pylon violation. He earned his lifetime mark of 1:54.3 but his lone mile where he crossed the finish line first was in 1:55.1. Kelly Hoerdt trains and drives the three-year-old gelding.

RUM N CUSTARD REPLAY

A free program can be found here.

The first race kicks off at 3:45 p.m. EST.

by Trey Colbeck, for Harnesslink