Jessaprimadonna features on today’s Ajax Downs racing card; Fan Appreciation Day this Sunday

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Published May 18, 2022 at 9:08 am

Photo by New Image Media

Horse racing fans in Durham will get a double dose of Quarter-Horse excitement this week.

Fresh off a spectacular opening day of its 25-day Ontario Quarter Horse racing season, Ajax Downs will race two days this coming week, starting with today’s card which will get underway at 1:30 p.m., followed by the first of several special Sunday event days, the May 22 Fan Appreciation Day card which has a first race post time of 12:55 p.m.

On today’s card the track will introduce a Pick 5 wager, a 20-cent base bet in which fans try to select the winners of races two through six.

And race six marks the return of last year’s Princess Derby winner Jessaprimadonna, who makes her 4-year-old debut in the 300-yard dash. Owned by Isaak Fehr and Craig Spada and trained by Spada, Jessaprimadonna won three races in 2021 and was one f the top 3-year-olds of the season. Helen Vanek will ride for team Spada which had a strong opening day record with its six starters of 1-1-2.

Jessaprimadonna will have to get past the talented Ontario-bred gelding Had to be Relentless, a three-time winner who was third in the Picov Derby last fall. The strong, sixth-race field has also lured a formidable pair of geldings, Momsextravantheart and Shaken from the stable of owner and trainer Chantelle Bourgeois of Enniskillen, plus eight-time winner Hanover Hill Chalsee and stakes-placed Hanover Hill Theresa, both owned by the Picov Cattle Co.

You can also watch and wager on all the races at www.HPIbet.com.

With files from Jennifer Morrison

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