Barona Mercedes is owned by Kelly Hoerdt, Amy Henry and Blair Corbeil. The Brandons Cowboy filly now has two wins on the year and boasts $9061 in lifetime earnings.
In the second division of the Wild Rose we saw a spread out field with Rollin Deep (Chappell) winning easily by seven lengths in a sharp 1:55.4 for trainer Shelly Arsenault and owner Lucy Ramond. Mystic Return (Clark) was second. Another seven lengths back was Jet Pointe (Cullen) who took third prize for trainer Blair Thomas.
The third and final division had a dead-heat with Charismatic Art (Gagne) and Nighttraintovegas (Campbell) who battled down the homestretch to share the win in a speedy clocking of 1:55.3. Make Three Wishes (Clark) was third eight lengths back. Charismatic Art is owned by Shir Win Racing Stable. The 3yr-old Artistic Fella filly is now two for two and $6949 in earnings. Dick Schneider and David Halmosi share ownership on Nighttraintovegas. Nighttraintovegas now boasts a resume of six wins and a bank account of $66,239.
The Adios Pick was contested on Sunday, June 1st. There were two $20,000 divisions for the three-yr-old pacing glamour boys. In the first division Sonic Spark (Cullen) swept the field by four lengths for the win in 1:55.3 for trainer Harold Haining and owner Donald Richardson. The son of As Promised came off the pace for the victory pacing his last quarter in 28.1. The Big Heist (Goulet) was second and Cigar Party (Clark) was third.
In the second division the 1-5 heavy favorite Ghost Pine (Hoerdt) turned in a very impressive performance clocking in 1:54.1. The Hoerdt trainee left from post one and settled in to third off the gate behind Get Thereovernight (Marino) and Big Otts Party (Hudon). Once past the first quarter Ghost Pine made his move to the front and never looked back. He continued to lead the pack through the half and three quarters and then pulled away from the field crossing the finish line more than six lengths ahead of his competitors. Big Otts Party held on for second while Gotta Dream Big (Clark) rallied up for third.
Ghost Pine is trained and owned by Kelly Hoerdt and shares ownership with Blair Corbeil. The Badlands Hanover son now has six lifetime victories and boasts $35,741 in earnings.
The betting handle at Alberta Downs was very encouraging this past weekend with $43,517 bet on Saturday and $44,897 on Sunday. Racing returns to Alberta Downs this Saturday, June 7th post time 1:15pm.
May’s Hot Horses – May 1 – 31 (2014)
| TOP MONEY EARNERS | FASTEST TIME |
| Blue Star Beauty - $12,100 | Who Doesnt - 1:53 |
| Who Doesnt - $8,820 | Sing Like An Angel - 1:53.4 |
| Barona Mercedes - $8,811 | Hector Protector - 1:54.1 |
| Sing Like An Angel - $7,675 | Outlawdangruswatrs - 1:54.1 |
| Senga Nanjeing - $7,315 |
May’s Hot Drivers – May 1 – 31 (2014)
| TOP MONEY EARNERS | WINS |
| Travis Cullen - $64,719 | Travis Cullen - 21 |
| Kelly Hoerdt - $43,955 | Kelly Hoerdt - 13 |
| Phil Giesbrecht - $40,741 | Keith Clark - 8 |
| Phil Giesbrecht - 8 |
On behalf of the Alberta Standardbred Horse Association employees, Board of Directors and its members, along with the entire Alberta Horse Racing community our thoughts and prayers go out to the Bill Davis Family and Rick Mowles of the JJJ Stables who lost 20 horses in a devastating fire on Sunday, June 1st in Langley, BC. Early reports have indicated that majority of the horses stabled in the barn were trained by Bill Davis and owned by Rick Mowles. The horse racing community is already mobilizing efforts to help get the horseman back on their feet. Please contact Wally Slopianka by phone at 780-996-9711 or email at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.. Those in BC can contact Donna Cunningham at 604-626-6934.