Shark Week breaks another record

On a Saturday (Oct. 14) night that saw Virtual Horizon’s streak end, Shark Week (Vertical Horizon) won his 11th consecutive harness racing contest and broke the track record at Century Mile.

The gelding, who previously also held the track record for an aged pacing stallion, was never headed in the wire-to-wire Preferred-winning effort. He fired through the first quarter for regular d in :26.1 and lifted off the gas slightly to the half in :54.4.

Ernesto Delacruz (Jean-Francois Gagne) made a move from third as they hit three-quarters in 1:23.2 and loomed behind the leader on the final turn. The closer came within two lengths in mid-stretch, but Shark Week unleashed his remaining pace and exploded to a :27.1 final quarter that got him home in 1:50.3.

He left Ernesto Delacruz five-and-three-quarter lengths behind in second. Matts A Mystician (Nathan Sobey) was third.

Shark Week’s time unseated the 1:51.1 mile paced by Jewels Dragon as a sophomore pacing gelding in 2019 as the overall track record.

SHARK WEEK REPLAY

Shark Week has won 11 Preferred-level events in a row in a dominant season. He has taken 16 victories in 2023 and became the first horse in Western Canada history to break the 1:50 barrier. Trained by Rodney Hennesy, he is now 36-for-70 lifetime and has earned $313,475. The conditioner co-owns the five-year-old with Lorne Duffield of Edmonton. Shark Week now holds the overall track record at both Century tracks as his 1:49.2 came at the Century Downs oval in June.

The card also contained two divisions each of the Alberta Sires Stakes Starburst and Lone Star and the Western Canada Pacing Derby eliminations. To read about the stakes contests and view the replays, click here.

For complete race results, click here.

by Nicholas Barnsdale, for Harnesslink