Five-time Friday night winner David Kelly teamed up with trainer Nathan Sobey to sweep the co-features with Icy Blue Scooter and Exotic Dragon as live harness racing resumed at Century Mile following a brief hiatus.
In the $9,300 Open/Conditioned Pace, 7-5 favourite Icy Blue Scooter ($3.60) toured the one-mile Edmonton oval in 1:54.3 with his stablemate Sometime Somewhere finishing 2-3/4 lengths behind in second in rein to Tyler Redwood.
Icy Blue Scooter took the lead early out of from post four and set fractions of :29, :57.3 and 1:26.4 before scooting away from his foes with a :27.4 final frame for Kelly. A first-up Crackle N Burn (Phil Giestbrecht) finished back in third.
The win, Icy Blue Scooter's eighth in 18 starts this year, followed up a third-place finish in the Jim Vinnell Memorial on November 18 at Fraser Downs, a stakes event he won in 2019. The eight-year-old Blue Burner-Jills Sooter gelding now has 37 career wins and $283,968 in purse earnings. Sobey shares ownership with local residents Diane Bertrand and Robert Gilhespy.
Exotic Dragon prepped for the upcoming stakes action with a 1:56.4 victory in the matching Open event for fillies and mares.
The even-money favourite forced her rivals to tuck in behind as she fired from the inside post and carved out fractions of :29.2, :58.2 and 1:28. Alberta Super Final champion Graceful Horizon (Kelly Hoerdt) tried it first-up, advancing into second at the third quarter pole, but faded to fourth in the stretch as Exotic Dragon powered to victory over pocket-pursuer Burning Hot (Phil Giesbrecht), who closed within three-quarters of a length. Big Bad Goldie (Jamie Gray), the longest shot on the board at 58-1, edged out Graceful Horizon for third, finishing 3-1/2 lengths behind.
Returning to Alberta after winning the Mary Murphy B.C. Breeders Stakes on November 18, Exotic Dragon paid $4 to win as the bettors' choice. The Custard The Dragon-Accentuate filly earned her fourth straight victory and 10th of the season from 18 starts for owner Robert Jones of Stony Plain, Alta. while the lion's share of the purse boosted her bankroll to nearly $160,000.
Exotic Dragon is eligible to the upcoming Century Casinos Filly Pace.
Kelly's five-win performance included victories with two of his own trainees, Coz Im Special ($5.50), also eligible to the Filly Pace, and Chasing Shadows ($6.50). He also drove West Coast Beach ($11.90), circling the field in the final half-mile to win, for trainer Chris Lancaster.
In other action, Alberta Super Final three-year-old pacing colt champion Samba Beat ($5.80) was back in the winner's circle after he opened the 11-race card with a 1:56.3 triumph, defeating consolation winner Nevada Vacation by 1-1/2 lengths. Phil Giesbrecht was in the sulky while Gerry Hudon trains and co-owns with Monica Hudon and Bill Andrew.
To view Friday's harness racing results, click on the following link: Friday Results - Century Mile.