Shark Week chomps on another Preferred

Shark Week (Vertical Horizon) won his fourth Preferred-level dash of the season on Saturday (Apr. 15) at Century Downs with a coast-to-coast harness racing performance.

The gelding pushed forward to take point after a brief three-horse skirmish and paced the opening quarter in :27. He completed the half in :57 and quickened the tempo to 1:25 to three-quarters as Sunshine Boy (Brandon Campbell) kicked first-over.

Michael Hennessy brought Shark Week to top speed around the last turn to neutralize that opponent and gave no chance to pocket-sitter Samba Beat (Phil Giesbrecht), finishing strongly to score in 1:53.

Samba Beat trailed the winner by a length-and-three-quarters. Armycaptin Hanover (Nathan Sobey) finished third.

SHARK WEEK REPLAY

Shark Week is now five-for-eight this year. The Rodney Hennessy-trained gelding has won Preferreds in back-to-back starts, skipping a week between the two. His career totals are 58 starts, 25 wins, and $236,475 in earnings. Hennessy co-owns the five-year-old with Lorne Duffield of Edmonton.

Jamie Gray won four times on the day and gave Bobby Clark his first training win since 2009. Gray gave Buck And Run (Sportswriter) a pocket trip, and the 21-1 longshot capitalized in a 1:57.3 win. It was the seven-year-old’s second win in 57 lifetime starts and his first since 2019. Clark returned to training this year after a 13-year absence; he last trained and won in 2009. His most recent trip to the winner’s circle on record came with Willing Angel on Apr. 25, 2009 at Alberta Downs.

BUCK AND RUN REPLAY

Gray’s other winners were Outlawskysthelimit (Smart Shark, 1:58.3), Order One To Go (Mystician, 1:55.3), and Outlaw Blue Isle (Blue Burner, 1:56.1). He trains the former two.

Nathan Sobey had four training wins: Over The Horizon (Vertical Horizon, Logan Gillis, 1:56.1), Iris Seelster (Bettors Delight, Campbell, 1:59.2), Shesmyinspiration (Outrageous Art, Sobey, 1:54.2), and Miso Classy (In The Irons, Sobey, 1:53).

Century Downs resumes racing on Friday, Apr. 22.

For complete race results, .

by Nicholas Barnsdale, for Harnesslink