Sunshine Boy shines again

Sunshine Boy (Sunshine Beach) captured his second straight harness racing Preferred at Fraser Downs on Friday (Apr. 19), extending his streak of top-two finishes to 10.

The gelding led uncontested for Scott Knight through fractions of :27.3, :56, and 1:23.1. Armycaptin Hanover (Allan Molloy) went nowhere first-over, and Itll Be Fine (Dave Hudon) came up empty from the pocket as Sunshine Boy cruised to victory in 1:51.2. Itll Be Fine was a length-and-a-half back in second, two lengths from Armycaptin Hanover in third.

SUNSHINE BOY REPLAY

Sunshine Boy now has six wins in nine starts on the year and has missed the board once since November 2023. The six-year-old has racked up 29 wins and $284,628 in 77 lifetime appearances. Jim Marino conditions the gelding and co-owns him with JJJ Stables of Prince George and Paul Sanders of Surrey.

Also on the card, 2023 Robert Millbank Memorial champion Buddy Knocks (Betterthancheddar) bounced back from his first career loss with a neck victory in the third. Scott Knight piloted the gelding to the front-end score, battling challengers throughout to prevail in 1:55.3.

BUDDY KNOCKS REPLAY

Buddy Knocks went undefeated at two, including a sweep of the Robert Millbank Memorial, and is now six-for-seven with $80,750 in earnings. Veikko Pajunen of Vancouver owns the gelding; Rod Therres trains.

Also on the card, trainer Stuart Boschman recorded his first training victory in 24 years. Boschman, who had no starts since 2000, sent out Play Misty For Me (Vertical Horizon, Molloy), and the mare grinded out a 1:59.1 win. Boschman racked up a career win rate of 20.3 per cent and earnings of $1.1 million from 1992-2000. He now owns Play Misty For Me, who is five-for-43 lifetime.

PLAY MISTY FOR ME REPLAY

Racing continues at Fraser Downs on Thursday, Apr. 25 to begin its penultimate race week of the meet.

For complete race results, click here.

by Nicholas Barnsdale, for Harnesslink