Sobey prepares young pacers for upcoming stakes

Stake season for two-year-old harness racing horses kicks off at Century Downs on Saturday (July 21) with the Norm Kennedy Memorial and the Emerald Filly Pace.

Eight rookie colts & geldings draw into the $50,000 Norm Kennedy Memorial and will go to battle in the fifth race of the afternoon.  Only a couple of them have made a prior start other than a qualifying mile heading into the big race. Nathan Sobey’s entry, Ima Rum Runner (Captain Deo) is one of those and he will have a tough test coming from the eight hole. He finished third in his race debut and posted a mile time of 1:58.1. The young gelding also qualified in a 2:00.3 and finished the mile strong with a 28.1 last quarter.

“It’s a full field of colts that are still learning” said Sobey. “Most of them are making their first or second start so it’s going to be a toss-up of a race. Sure, it would be nice to get the job done out of the eight-hole but we are just going to see how the race sets up.

“He is a nice colt as he is big and strong. However, the eight-hole at a track like Century Downs can be hard to overcome for veteran horses let alone two-year-olds.”

The morning line favourite, Momas Work Of Art (Outrageous Art) qualified in 1:59 last week after a 2:00.4 mile on his previous attempt. Both times he paced the last quarter of a mile in 29 seconds or faster so the colt will likely be one of the toughest to beat in the field. Serge Masse will be making only his fifth driving appearance in 2024 when he teams up with Momas Work Of Art.

11 fillies were split into two $25,000 divisions for the Emerald Filly Pace. Sobey has one filly drawing into the first division in race six. The odds maker gave Captains Hideaway (Captain Deo) 3-2 morning line odds, likely due to being the only one in the field with a sub-2:00 line. She has only made one start which was a fourth-place finish clocked at 1:59.1. She qualified earlier in the month and posted a mile time of 2:02.1.

Sobey recognized that two-year-old races are far from guaranteed but feels his filly has a good shot in there.

“I quite like her, and she wants to be a racehorse” added Sobey. “She has come a long way as she started in my lower group of babies and worked her way up to the top group. She started showing that she was going to be a legit racehorse.

“We all know anything can happen in the two-year-old races early in the year. You’re never sure what everyone else is capable of based on only a qualifying mile but I like her chances in a five-horse field.”

Sobey has two from his stable meeting up in the second division which is slated for race eight. Both Custard The Dragon sired, Urtherockinmyroll and Highclass Custard are making their racing debuts.  Both are seen as longshots according to the morning lines but that doesn’t stop Sobey from believing either has a chance.

“They are a little immature at this point and are still learning. I get they are considered long shots on the board but the morning line odds do not mean much in races like this” Sobey laughed. “I know Starkewski’s filly in there is no slouch. We will just follow along and see what happens. I do think both of these fillies will turn into good racehorses by the end of the season”

Sobey mentions Hot Shot Shark (Smart Shark) who is coming off a debut mile in 1:57. Also, the rail horse, Blowing Inthe Wind (Winds Of Change) finished second just behind Hot Shot Shark by only half a length.

Sobey also has Icy Blue Scooter (Blue Burner) going in the $12,500 Preferred. The 11-year-old gelding has won against this class once already this year on June 1. He beat couple of familiar faces like Samba Beat and Bonus Round. However, Ice Blue Scooter and the others will be trying to figure out how to slow down western Canada’s faster pacer, Shark Week (Vertical Horizon). He made his return to the track last week and clocked the mile at 1:51.3 which is still over two seconds slower than his historical 1:49.2 lifetime mark. 

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

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by Trey Colbeck, for Harnesslink