NCAA college basketball broadcasting legend Dick Vitale loves to yell and scream “OH BABY.”

Well, Vitale would have been right at home at Calgary’s Century Downs this past Saturday where Alberta harness racing’s Summer Classics - the $103,000 Gord and Illa Rumpel Memorial and the $118,000 Ralph Klein Memorial - were held.

Oh Baby indeed. And say it twice about both Grade 3 races.

The first stake, the Rumpel, was another coronation romp for the brilliant three-year-old filly Custard Dolce.

The second, the Klein for three-year-old boys was a nail biter - a wicked stretch duel between the winner, Momas Work Of Art, and the gritty favourite Hands Off Harry.

Custard Dolce

The only thing that was similar in the two big races was Jackson Wittup who amazingly owns a piece of both of them.

“Unbelievable,” said Wittup, who repeated that word what seemed like 22-million times.

“I’ve run out of things to say.”

Wittup owns 10 per cent of Custard Dolce with Derek Wilson, Max Gibb and trainer/breeder Jamie Gray, who was purchased at the Alberta Yearling Sale for $26,500.

He also owns 10 per cent of Momas Work Of Art with another legend, breeder Don Monkman Jr. and trainer Shelley Arsenault.

“It doesn’t matter if I own 10 per cent or 90 per cent,” said Wittup.

“And to be a part of these two horses is, well, unbelievable,” said Wittup, a former long time racing secretary at Stampede Park and racing manager at both Century Downs and Fraser Downs.

“Just lucky. Right place. Right time.

“Sometimes 10 per cent is too much. Sometimes 10 per cent isn’t enough.

“I know I can’t afford $26,500 by myself. So I partner up.

“It’s been so much fun and to have two horses this good is unbelievable.”

And it very easily could be three as two-year-old Mayhem N Madness that Wittup also owns 10 per cent of won a division of the Norm Kennedy stakes last Wednesday most impressively in his second career start.

After a troubled beginning when Mayhem N Madness, bought at the Yearling Sale for $27,000, was parked two and three wide past the first quarter mile Gray simply drove on, assuming the lead and carrying it smartly to the wire in 1:58 3/5 opening up easily down the stretch.

“We’re high on him too,” said Wittup, who is clearly overdosing on magic four-leaf clovers.

But back to the two stakes.

Hit the replay button on Custard Dolce. Her skills are remarkable. She is incomparable in Alberta. She wins as she pleases which is what she did again on Saturday. She got away in third and driver Phil Giesbrecht just sat there patiently - fully understanding what a big motor he had in front of him. When Imashipwreck tried to give Custard Dolce some opposition down the backstretch, Giesbrecht pulled and said goodbye winning in 1:54 1/5 - just a fifth of a second off her career best.

Sixteen starts. Fourteen wins. The only times she has lost were in her first start and then on June 21 in the Shirley McClellan when she raced on the front end - something she doesn’t like so far - and held up a giant wind screen in the very blustery conditions for Mademechangemymind - the winner by a nose - to hide behind.

Otherwise perfect. All in stakes races.

“You can do whatever you want with her,” said Giesbrecht.

“She was fantastic. Again.”

“She’s one tough filly - the toughest I’ve ever had,” added Gray. “She comes first over and does all the work and still has something in reserve.”

Custard Dolce is like the line golfer Bobby Jones once said of Jack Nicklaus after Nicklaus won the 1965 Masters by nine shots.

“The others here play golf well,” said Jones. “Jack plays a game with which I’m not familiar.”

That’s Custard Dolce in a nutshell: she’s from another planet.

“She’s absolutely amazing,” said Gray, who used to have Custard Dolce’s mother, Blue Star West, a son of legendary As Promised.

“She loves her job. She’s happy as a lark.

“When she was two she acted like she was a four-year-old. She’s like an old soul.”

But don’t think you are going to be blown away watching her train in the mornings.

“It takes all day to jog her. She jogs like 2.5 miles an hour. And she’s been that way all the time.”

Custard Dolce has won a few dollars shy of $300,000 already and there are several top stakes races in Alberta that she will once again be heavily favoured to win.

Then, if everything goes right, she’ll head east to Ontario to race at Mohawk.

The other three-year-old fillies in Alberta can’t wait; the fillies in Ontario will be nervous.

“There’s a long way to go yet,” said Gray eying races like the October Century Casino Filly Pace and the November Super Finals.

Then there’s Momas Work Of Art, who obliterated her personal best in the Ralph Klein steadily wearing down 1-9 favourite Hands Off Harry in the stretch.

Monkman used to train for Klein.

Sent away to sit third by driver Dave Kelly behind the early duel for the lead between Hands Off Harry and Discontinued who sped through swift fractions of :27 seconds for the first quarter and then another shake me up half in :55 3/5, Kelly didn’t feel he could wait.

Pulling midway around the final turn Momas Work Of Art edged out alongside Hands Off Harry and engaged in a battle that went all the way to the wire with Momas Work Of Art getting the decision by a good length. The race ended Hands Off Harry’s four-race winning streak that included his easy triumph in the eliminations.

After three-quarters flashing by in 1:23, the mile went in 1:52 4/5 which was almost three full seconds faster than she had ever gone before. Momas Work Of Art’s previous best was 1:55 2/5 set in an elimination division of the Moores Mile in the middle of June.

The 1:52 4/5 mile was also just three-fifths of a second off the male sophomore track record.

“I didn’t think he was going to go by Hands Off Harry,” said Wittup. “I was surprised.”

So, apparently, were a lot of people as Momas Work Of Art went off at 7-1 despite the fact that he had won his elimination division wending his way through traffic and winning going away.

It was Momas Work of Art’s sixth win in 16 starts.

“I like to have both a filly and a colt but we didn’t buy a colt at the sale,” said Wittup. “Fortunately for me (Monkman Jr.) let me in for 10 per cent.

“It was more Monk’s recommendation.

“Again, just lucky.

'Right place. Right time,” said Wittup.

You can literally say right places and right times - plural.

STOCK REPORT - At Edmonton’s Century Mile gorgeous Big Curl won the $50,000 Kindergarten on Saturday with a nice stretch finish that was well timed by jockey Enrique Gonzalez running down stablemate Relaxgodoitramone.

“Pretty exciting,” said multiple leading trainer Tim Rycroft, whose horses are really starting to fire after a slow start to the season.

“I thought he ran really professional. He broke good, Enrique took him back a little and then when he saw that target he really took off.

‘He made me proud. Two-year-olds are a lot of work.

“When it all comes together you know you are doing something right.”

Big Curl was last year’s co-yearling sale’s topper fetching $30,000.

Shiny, tucked and muscled up with a beautiful head and a big rear end, Big Curl is owned by Stetson Inc., Ryan Stetson, Stetson Enterprises and Everblack Cattle company.

“They’re all great owners,” said Rycroft. “They are sportsmen and love the game.”

Big Curl was bred by Mat Monaco.

His sire is Big Brown who won the 2008 Kentucky Derby, Preakness, Haskell and Florida Derby.

His dam is Curlish Figure, who won Alberta’s Shirley Vargo.

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Author: The Turcottes: The Remarkable Story of a Horse Racing Dynasty.