Saulsbrook Olympia, the favourite among the wagerers in the mile, defeated not just her four opponents but also herself to win the $11,600 Fillies and Mares Handicap Preferred on Wednesday, May 22, by a slim margin despite malfunctioning gear.
Ed Hensley, of Major League N, declared herself the mile's pacesetter. During the:28 quarter and:58.3 half that Major League N set as the pace, Colin Kelly and Saulsbrook Olympia managed to get away fourth. Kelly pulled the Vernon Cochrane student outside on a first-over journey towards the top after the half-mile marker. At the three-quarters in 1:27.1, she was third on the outside and continued into the last turn. Saulsbrook Olympia defeated Major League N in the stretch drive contest by a half-length in 1:56.1, despite recording damaged equipment. Completing the top three was Brett MacDonald's Flip The Script.
Edward Gorc is the owner of Saulsbrook Olympia (Big Jim - Racino Star), a six-year-old mare. This year, she won her third race out of 13 starts, bringing her career total of 87 track appearances to 26-7-11. The mare has earned $264,333 in her career. She was strongly favoured as the bettor's choice and won by returning $2.60.
On the Wednesday night card, the second leg of the City of London series featured two divisions for the pacing males and two for the pacing girls. An $8,000 purse was carried by each split.
Colin Kelly and La Sun Control ($2.40) defeated Jimmy Billie B (Borth) and Rustys Bett with a 4-1/2 length score in 1:54.1 to win the first division for the men. The four-year-old gelding, who is trained and co-owned by Rick Edwards and Michael Tam, is the winning son of Control The Moment - Sunbather. This year, the horse has won five out of seven starts, marking his eighth career victory from 16 starts.
In the subsequent division, Gigitygigitygigity ($2.10) defeated Farmers Beach (Borth) and Vogue Blue Chip (Daryl Thiessen) by a 3-3/4 length in 1:56.1. Brett MacDonald rode the sophomore Sportswriter-Ive Got Stamina gelding for owners R A W Equine Inc. and S&r Racing Stable Inc., trainer Rene Dion. His fourth victory of the year and fourth overall in 17 starts came from this victory.
With an 11-1 upset in the first split for the ladies and a victory in 1:56.1 by three-quarters of a length over the favourite Saulsbrook Diva (Kelly) and second-choice She Comes And Goes (Borth), Rollthebet ($23.00) very literally "rolled the bet" for her backers. The sophomore from the All Bets Off-Honor Roll was backed by owner/trainer Rachel Andrew and Austin Sorrie to win her first career race.
In the card finale, Sauble Lila ($2.50) wrapped up the action, winning her distaff division with trainer Otis Hall by 1-3/4 lengths in 1:56.3. She was accompanied by Jason Ryan. The sophomore daughter of State Treasurer and the Shadow Play mare Performing Art, owned by breeders Sauble Hill Farms and Nasussito Racing Inc., improved her career record to 7-2-0 in 11 starts.