The future was on display at Century Mile Saturday night with six divisions of two-year-old stakes races - three for colts and geldings and three for fillies.
Somebody Save Me won a four-horse photo in the first division of the Stardust for fillies.
Captain Tahiti impressively took the second division.
And, Dixieland Delight continued her great season winning the third.
For colts, Somewhat Tipsy cruised home in the first division of the Shooting Star in 1:54 3/5.
Strait Up N Down snuck up the rail to win the second division of the Shooting Star.
And, Y V Michters made it three in a row taking the third division.
As impressive as anyone on the card, Y V Michters, a tall two-year-old, was the easiest of winners. Sitting third behind Dusty Dragon in a gapped, strung-out, single file race, Y V Michters’s driver Dave Kelly pulled past a half in :57 seconds when Hanmore, who was sitting second, got rough gaited.
That was pretty much the ball game as Y V Michters swooped easily past Dusty Dragon in the stretch pulling away effortlessly to win by six and three-quarter lengths.
Y V Michters paid $2.50 to win and got the mile in 1:56.
While Y V Michters was extending his lead, Dusty Dragon and the on-rushing 50-1 longshot CF Beat The Rain hooked wheels right at the finish line spilling Dusty Dragon’s driver Phil Giesbrecht, who was able to get up and drive in the next race.
Wheels connected, CF Beat The Rain took the photo for second over Dusty Dragon.
Also the winner of the ASHA Colt Pace Final and the Rising Star Y V Michters appears to just be finding his A game with the $90,000 Super Finals program coming up next Saturday, October 31 with four stakes for two- and three-year-olds.
“He came back good,” said trainer Rod Starkewski, who also owns the two-year-old son of Captain Deo with breeder Christopher Lambie.
“He’s really sharp.
“I figured he’d like the bigger track at Century Mile.
“I hope we get a decent draw for the Super Finals and we’ll leave it up to the drivers,” said Starkewski, who said Kelly will fly back from his now-Ontario based home to pilot Y V Michters, who has been regularly pacing his last half-miles in :55 and change.
“Having Dave drive him again is a big plus for us,” said Starkewski, who noted that Y V Michters was off six weeks between his wins in the $70,000 Colt and the Lonestar. Starkewski said Y V Michters is “food motivated. He loves to eat.”
“He should be a fresh horse coming into the Super Finals,” said Kelly.
“He’s a super nice colt; laid back and it seems there is always more to give.
“You can put him wherever you want; he’s only had to cut a mile once.”
Kelly and Starkewski both said Somewhat Tipsy is the one to beat in the Super Finals Colts.
“We are going to have our pants on to get by Phil (Giesbrecht),” said Starkewski.
That’s hardly surprising since Somewhat Tipsy’s 1:54 3/5 mile was just over a length off the two-year-old colts Century Mile track record of 1:53 2/5 set three years ago by Matteuse.
Somewhat Tipsy will be looking for his third win in a row having won the Lonestar in his previous start.
Much the best in the Shooting Star - he won by five-and-a-half lengths - Somewhat Tipsy is trained and driven by Giesbrecht for owners JJJ Stables and 4wracing.
(We’ll have more on Somewhat Tipsy next week.)
In the Super Finals Fillies, Captain Tahiti is certainly expected to be a presence after her dominant four-and-three-quarter length victory in 1:56 3/5 in the Stardust’s second division.
Also driven by Giesbrecht, Captain Tahiti is trained by Christopher Lancaster, who also co-owns the filly with Douglas Bowers.
Taking the early lead and then briefly letting a rough-gaited Outlaw Risk N Hope take over, Giesbrecht was back on the move around the final turn. Brushing past Outlaw Risk N Hope in a blink, Captain Tahiti opened up and never looked back winning by a most convincing four-and-three-quarter lengths.
Somehow, despite her rough stride, Outlaw Risk N Hope held on for second.
The story of Captain Tahiti is that Lancaster was able to buy the filly consigned by Michelle Danroth for just $2,000 at the Alberta Yearling Sale.
“She was on the radar but I never expected to get her for $2,000,” said Lancaster.
“She checked all of my boxes.”
So did Captain Tahiti’s dam, Tahiti Seelster.
“She was an iron tough mare,” said Lancaster of the broodmare who raced 99 times and won 25 of them.
Second by a quarter of a length in her start before the Stardust - the Starburst where she drew the eight hole - Captain Tahiti has only been worse than second one time. And that race was when she also had the eight-hole and was coming off of a six-week layoff.
“Captain Tahiti is two going on 10 years old,” said Lancaster. “She’s just so mature.
“She’s also classy and has a great mouth. You don’t see a two-year-old that can stop and start like her.”
Also expected to be a force in the Super Finals for two-year-old fillies is Dixieland Delight, trained by Harold Haining and owned and bred by Don Richardson.
“She seems to be OK,” said Haining after Dixieland Delight went wire to wire to win the Stardust winning by a length over Myartsdesire.
“I’ve been training for Don for 25 years,” said Haining with his white beard and matching, flowing hair.
Dixieland Delight now has three wins and four seconds in seven starts. She is Captain Deo out of Richardson’s mare Miss Conduct, who was sired by As Promised.
“Dixieland Delight looked good right from the start,” said Haining, who has 508 training wins. “But you never know until you get them going.”
Dixieland Delight will be looking for her fourth stakes win in the Super Finals having already won the Emerald, Starlet and, of course, the Stardust.
She was also second in the Starburst on October 3 when she was boxed in.
Haining said you have to wear kid gloves when training Dixieland Delight. “She’ll tell you who the boss is.”
STOCK REPORT - On this past weekend’s races featuring two-year-olds, venerable Shark Week set Century Mile’s track record pacing in 1:50 flat. Winning by 10-and-a-half lengths, Shark Week not surprisingly broke his own track record of 1:50 2/5 in 2023.
Owned by Rod Hennessy and Lorne Duffield of Edmonton, and driven by Mike Hennessy, the fractions were :26 1/5, :53 3/5 and 1:21 1/5.
The fastest standardbred in Western Canada history, Shark Week is the only pacer to win in under 1:50 when he paced in 1:49 2/5 at Calgary’s Century Downs in 2023.
It was Shark Week’s 74th career win in 130 appearances.
*There were two short-field thoroughbred stakes on Saturday at Century Downs. Lutedidit won the photo but Lil Miss Addy won the race in the Alberta Sire Stakes Debutante. Lutedidit beat Lil Miss Addy by a head but was disqualified for bumping and carrying Lil Miss Addy wide at the top of the stretch.
Then, in the Alberta Sire Stakes Derby, odds-on-favourite Kamal won by half a length over Little Did We Kno.
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Inducted into the Canadian Horse Racing Hall of Fame in 2017.
Author: The Turcottes: The Remarkable Story of a Horse Racing Dynasty.