Husbands, Crawford in winners’ circle

FORT ERIE, Canada – Championship leader Juan Crawford and fellow Barbadian Chris Husbands split the two feature races at Fort Erie yesterday as they both logged braces on the nine-race card.

Crawford, fresh off a treble on Monday’s card, won race six with favourite Ever So d’Wild before capturing the CAN$30 000 Molson Cup Stakes in race seven with another favourite Auntie Katherine.

Husbands, meanwhile, scored in the curtain-raiser with 6-4 choice CJ’s Flair and returned to win race three, the $35 000 Thomas F Moran Stakes with hot favourite Saint Alfred.

Jamaicans Mark Lee Buchanan and Howard Newell were also in winners’ row, Buchanan partnering favourite Be The Change in race two over 6-½ furlongs and Newell combining with favourite Time to Dance in a 5-½ furlong sprint in race four.

Unsuccessful in four previous rides on the day’s card, Crawford finally opened his account when he carried five-year-old brown mare Ever So d’Wild to a 4-¼ length domination of the three-year-old and upward fillies and mares, in a five furlong sprint.

Ever Do d’Wild duelled early on with Party Dress, ridden by Jamaican Kirk Johnson, before carving out a small lead and then extending it in the stretch.

In the Molson over a mile and sixteenth, the 41-year-old Crawford made all the running with the five-year-old chestnut mare Auntie Katherine to brush aside the three-year-old and upward fillies and mares by 3-¼ lengths.

Engaged by 21-1 outsider Gypsy Jazz at the start, Auntie Katherine shook off that challenge to post fractions 23.52 for the quarter and 47.71 for the half, and control the race to the wire.

Husbands’ first success came in a 5-½ furlong dash when he guided seven-year-old bay mare CJ’s Flair to a 2-¼ length win over the three-year-old and upward fillies and mares winless this year.

His follow up win came in a 6-½ furlong sprint for the four-year-old and upwards in the day’s first feature, partnering with six-year-old chestnut gelding Saint Alfred to win by 7-¼ lengths.