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Dream day for rookie Catrina

Thriving: Rookie female harness driver

Rookie harness driver Catrina Stephens continued to turn heads at Vesey Street during the last round of racing.The Bermuda College student won two heats on the day to underline her potential.Stephens’ day got off to a dream start when she guided David Burrows’ mare, GV Special Dream, to victory in the 1.06/2-1.07/2 ‘C’ time bar. She then chalked up a second win with Burrows’ stud, Sky Way Rocket, in the 1.12-1.14 ‘A’ time bar to cap yet another memorable display on the track.Stephens’ harness racing career began at the beginning of the 2011 season and she has made steady strides in the sport since then.“My rookie season so far has been amazing,” she told The Royal Gazette in a recent interview. “I have already learned so much from some of the other drivers and I’m having a great time doing it.“My goals for my rookie season are just to have fun and learn as much as possible.”So far she appears to have achieved just that.Stephens was just one of several drivers who were double heat winners on the day.Others managing two wins were EJ Carreiro (Abbey’s Dream), Kirista Rabain (Crown’s Jewel and Brona’s Mike), Arthur Hurst (Just Call Me Willie and Pretty Boy’s Magic), Chad Sutherland (Don’t Skipa Beat and Royal Winner), Samantha Hayward (Red Grand) and Mark Lindo (The Reel Machine).Cameron Harris went one better with three wins with GV Speed Demon and Track Patrol while Darico Clarke was the day’s most successful driver with four wins.The Bermuda College freshman had two wins apiece in the sulky of Time After Time and Colonel’s Finest competing in the 1.06/2-1.07/2 and 1.16/2-1.18/2 time bars.Big Red Machine, with Joe Viera in the sulky, posted the day’s fastest time of 1.02 flat which equalled the seven-year-old stud’s own track record set last month.Viera was given the rare chance to drive Colin Mello’s horse as a wedding present and took full advantage of the opportunity to etch his name into the record books.