Sophomore finals set for Saturday at the Loop

With only two days of harness racing left in the inaugural meet at the Loop, it is time to conclude the 2023 Manitoba stake season. The Golden Boy and the Silk Lace finals will be featured on the nine-dash card. The Golden Boy is for three-year-old colts & geldings, while the Silk Lace is for three-year-old fillies.

RACE 1: SILK LACE STAKE FINAL – $12,228 

1. Ak Black Badger (2-1)
2. Pixie Chick (6-1)
3. Littlebittybaylor (7-1)
4. Ak Nite Lady (3-1)
5. Maching Millions (4-1)
6. Shirley Scooter (5-1)

Although she comes in at 3-1 morning line odds, I think Ak Nite Lady (Andreoli Hanover) should be the one to watch out for the most in this race. She won the second leg last week in 2:01.2 and picked up her third win of the year. She has only finished outside the top three once this year, and it came back in July during the Miami Fair meet.

Ak Black Badger (Andreoli Hanover) draws the rail again and comes into the final as the 2-1 morning line favourite. She is the stable mate of Ak Nite Lady, and both are in the care of trainer Marc Fillion. Fillion will be in the bike with Ak Black Badger when she looks for her 2nd career win. She finished second place last time in the second leg and will be in the hunt again on Saturday.

Maching Millions (Andreoli Hanover) has been quiet lately, but she can show up big on Saturday. She won the first leg back on Sep. 2 but has not won. She rallied late and finished third last week in the second leg but will have her work cut out if she wants to improve. Maching Millions will likely receive a good chuck of the wagers because she will be with the top driver in Manitoba this year, Blake Piwniuk on Saturday.

My Picks: 4-1-5

RACE 9: GOLDEN BOY STAKE FINAL – $11,644 

1. Braxtons Boy (2-1)
2. Irish Luke (3-1)
3. Supa Fast (6-1)
4. Baylor Bobby (4-1)
5. Fan C That (5-1)

Braxtons Boy (Whosurboy) has been competing well all summer and has only finished outside the top three once. That was back in the first leg of the Golden Boy, but he has been improving since. He won last week in the second leg in 2:02.1 and will likely need to match that time to have another chance of winning. Braxtons Boy does draw the rail, which could be helpful as he has proven he can win wire-to-wire in the past.

Baylor Bobby (Armbro Baylor) rallied to claim second place last week in the event’s second leg. He did finish several lengths back of Braxtons Boy but was firmly ahead of the rest. He has only one win this year, and it came back on the opening day of the Loop in August. He paced that mile in 2:05 but has shown speed in his racelines since.

Irish Luke (Youshouldseemenow) has been fighting through some issues which have made it difficult for him to keep his top form. At one point this year, he won four times in five starts but has trouble returning to the winner’s circle.

My Picks: 1-4-2

The first race at the Loop kicks off at 1:00 p.m. CDT.

For complete race entries, click here.

by Trey Colbeck, for Harnesslink