Top racing, PEI Colt Stakes at Red Shores

CHARLOTTETOWN, PE – The road won’t be easy but the harness racing winner’s circle is within reach for Bugsy Maguire in the Saturday evening featured event at Red Shores at the Charlottetown Driving Park. Adam Merner is scheduled to steer the favored Wade Sorrie trainee in the $3,400 preferred pace in race 12 of the night Saturday at the capital oval.

The action kicks off at 6 P.M. with 13-dashes on tap.

The Walter Simmons owned Bugsy Maguire has post 2 in the field fresh off a second-place finish in this class last week to Time To Dance, who is absent this week. Bugsy Maguire comes into the class sporting a record of six wins and six seconds on the season but will have to face off with a Governor’s Plate champion and the richest Atlantic Bred of all-time to find the wire first.

Rose Run Quest has post 5 with David Dowling driving for trainer Jeff Holmes, as the former Governor’s Plate winner looks for win number 54 of his career. The ultra-rich The Rev rides a trio of second place finishes into the event from post 3 for trainer-driver Gilles Barrieau.

The Post Time Picks sees Peter MacPhee place Bugsy Maguire in the win column.

“Bugsy Maguire is razor sharp right now and was a rock solid second to Time To Dance last time out. We’re betting Adam will have him on or near the lead and if that’s the case get ready for win number seven on the season.”

Also in the preferred field are Screen Test (To be driven by Corey MacPherson) and Cowboy Logic (Steven Shepherd).

Race 10 has the fastest female driver in the history of Island harness racing, Ambyr Campbell, putting Better Than Cash’s undefeated East Coast streak to the test from post 4 in the $3,050 Preferred 2 pace.

The Charlottetown horsewoman steered the Betterthancheddar five-year-old to a sporty 1:54.2 win his last start. The pacer will have a tougher field this week as he faces Mc Pat (Barrieau) and Moonwriter (David Dowling).

The card also has a pair of P.E.I. Matinee Finals showcasing the amateur talent that races the grassroots tracks all season long across the province. The first final goes after race 2 with Hurricane EJ (Dana Sweet), Charlie Drummons (Albon Doucette) and Intrepidus (Chris MacKay). The second final heads to the track after race 4 with Private Dancer (Paul Conway), Fire Jet (Clair Sweet) and Painted Pony (Brett Clow).

Sophomores Surf To Summerside

SUMMERSIDE, PE – Quite possibly the greatest group of three-year-old pacers to ever grace the Eastern Seaboard of Canada will converge on Red Shores at the Summerside Raceway for P.E.I. Colt Stakes action Monday evening.

The Prince County oval has 13-dashes scheduled for a 6:30 P.M. start time. The ‘glamour boys’ headline the card in races 5 and 11 with $13,000 P.E.I. Colt Stakes gold divisions for three-year-old pacing colts.

Woodmere Stealdeal rides into post 2 in race 11 with three straight wins including a 1:52.1 lifetime best his last start for driver Marc Campbell, trainer Danny Romo and owners Kevin Dorey, Glenn MacDonald, Robert Sumarah and Frank Brundle.

Bettim Again (To be driven by Campbell) and Dustylanegoliath (Gilles Barrieau) will tussle in the other Gold division in race 5 with $13,000 at stake from posts 4 and 3, respectively.

The $6,500 P.E.I. Colt Stakes sophomore pacing colt grassroots splits are set for races 1 and 4. Tobins Brownie left her foes in the dust last week and is favoured from post 3 in her race 12 $13,100 P.E.I. Colt Stakes three-year-old pacing filly Gold division with trainer-driver David Dowling for owners Alex Quinn, Carl Peterson, Amy Lakie and Brittany Watts.

Mystifying is the favourite in the race 9 Gold filly split with $13,100 on the line fresh off a 1:53.3 Atlantic record performance for driver Barrieau, trainer and co-owner Darryl MacLean and co-owners Gordon MacLean and Stephen Downey. The daughter of Source Of Pride has post 6 in the contest.

The $6,450 P.E.I. Colt Stakes three-year-old pacing filly grassroots divisions are in races 2 and 7. A $5,130 Atlantic Aged Pacing Mares leg, sponsored by Standardbred Canada, is slated in race 10 while a $4,800 Island Oceans Trot Class leg, presented by JD Marine and Diving Inc., heads to the track in race 6.

The Monday program also has a pair of P.E.I. Matinee Finals after races 2 and 4. The first final will see Maple Grove Steph (Cy Poirier), Hopedale Paris (Albon Doucette) and Sharon The Moment (Brett Clow). The second final of the night showcases Sanchez Blue Chip (Clow), Cinder Angelina (Kyle Desroche) and Starcastic (Roger MacRae).

Catch all the action live at the track or tune into the Race Day broadcast at Redshores.ca. Live streaming is also available on the Red Shores Youtube page.

by Nicholas Oakes, for Red Shores