Sunshine Boy matched his lifetime mark of 1:51.2 with a wire-to-wire victory in the $10,000 Preferred Pace on Friday, April 19 at Fraser Downs.
In a victory reminiscent of his winning effort a week ago, 3-5 favourite Sunshine Boy shot to the lead from post four over insider Itll Be Fine and set fractions of :27.3, :56 and 1:23.1 with Itll Be Fine chasing through the passing lane and Armycaptin Hanover closing for third.
Trained by Jim Marino and driven by Scott Knight, the six-year-old Sunshine Beach-Betterfrombehind gelding has been a dominant force in the Preferred ranks and now boasts six wins and three seconds from nine starts this year.
Sunshine Boy is owned by Marino and partners J J J Stables and Paul Sanders.
The 29-time career winner with $284,628 in earnings equalled his lifetime mark that he had established when winning the 2022 Keith Linton Memorial as a four-year-old while trained by Brandon Campbell.
He paid $3.20 to win and $2.30 to place. There was no show wagering.
Knight, Marino and J J J Stables doubled up on the 10-race card, with early season Preferred winner Joe Rich ($10.50) besting Rum N Raisins and favoured Joe Dimagio in 1:53.3 in an $8,500 pace for $20,000 claimers.
Knight also drove the Marino-bred B.C. Breeders Stakes champion Buddy Knocks ($3.40) to the sophomore gelding's first win of the season in 1:55.3, holding off Iknowbetter by a neck in a $7,000 conditioned pace, for trainer Rod Therres and owner Veikko Pajunen.
To view Friday's harness racing results, click the following link: Friday Results - Fraser Downs.
(Standardbred Canada)