LETHBRIDGE - With an ideal weekend of racing weather - save for the famous Lethbridge winds on Friday - the Rocky Mountain Turf Club's 14-day spring season drew to a close this past Sunday. Rory Noel, astride Metigoshe, won the final race of the meet, much to the delight of trainer Kevin Oberholtzer.

Saturday's race crowd almost matched the massive turnout opening day of the meet as race goers watched Elije Bourne return to Whoop-Up Downs as a trainer to win the $13,200 Three Year Old Fillies Stake. Riding Bourne's entry, Fun Runner, was the new king of bush tracks, jockey Nate Smith. A nice touch Saturday was to see back-to-back wins for trainer Kathy McNally and rider Teagan Oulton in the sixth and seventh races. Teagan, last year's ACTRA apprentice jockey of the year, brought home Timeless Jade in the sixth to pay $29.10 and followed, much to McNally's delight, with Danny The Devil, paying a nice $13.10 to win. Friday Smith rode three of the six winners and added a win on both Saturday and Sunday to move his runaway spring meet jockey total to 41, well ahead of Scott Sterr with 25 and Brooke Mellish at 24. The top three riders all passed $100,000 in purses with Nate breaking the $150,000 mark.

The unofficial crown for top trainer goes to quarter horse man Stan Webb, who with help of wife Christie saw 10 of his starters cross the finish line first. Veteran John Harris, another quarter horse man, was next in line with nine wins and then there was a traffic jam for third, including veterans Phil Wiest and Stan Marks, Linda Kropius and Amanda Smith, all with eight wins.

With the close of the six-race card Sunday the RMTC's attention moves to Millarville for the annual races in the busiest little town in the west - at least for the July 1 holiday. The $12,000 Millarville Derby highlights the card. Racing returns to Whoop-Up Downs Sept. 4 and the Fall Meet runs through Oct. 25.
OUT OF THE GATE: It wasn't long after the races were over Sunday that horse trailers and campers were seen on Highway 2 leaving Whoop-Up Downs and heading either to Millarville for Wednesday or for the start of the summer season at Grande Prairie... Former rodeo great Bud Vancleave watched the final day of racing at Lethbridge Sunday . . . Another regular at the track, Carmel Gray, reported her son Richard, a Lethbridge chiropractor, completed a recent Iron-Man Marathon - a form of racing a little more strenuous than on the track . . . The fall meet at Lethbridge includes the big $100,000 plus Canada Cup Quarter Horse Futurity as well as the Canada Cup Derby and a slew of high-paying thoroughbred stake races, so check your calendar and come down to the windy city for some great horse racing.

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