Atlantic legend ready to take on the best

CHARLOTTETOWN, PE – One of the greatest Invitational pacers in the history of Atlantic Canadian harness racing begins his 2022 campaign on Saturday evening (May 21) at Red Shores Racetrack and Casino at the Charlottetown Driving Park.

The capital oval has a 10-dash presentation starting at 6:30 P.M. on Saturday with Time To Dance headlining the race 9 preferred pace from the outside of a compact field of five.

Marc Campbell is back in the bike of his trainee in the $3,300 contest for owners Brent Campbell of Charlottetown and Matt McDonald of Edwards, Ont. The six-year-old son of A Rocknroll Dance was a 13-time winner from 18 starts last season while bankrolling $48,547. The Governor’s Plate Champion will have four seasoned foes to fend off on his way to a potential season opening win on Saturday.

Rose Run Quest was top dog in the preferred pace last week as he has been unbeaten since joining the Melissa Rennie stable. Adam Merner will do the driving of the 56-time winner from post 3 on Saturday. The front-running Burn Out Hanover draws the rail for a third straight start in the class with Brady Sweet at the controls for trainer Jeff Holmes.

Peter MacPhee sees the path to the winner’s circle going through Time To Dance in his seasonal debut.

“It’s hard to argue with what Time To Dance did last season reeling off 13 wins and a record of 1:51.3,” MacPhee said. “He won most of the big dances last year and Campbell knows him best so get ready for another successful campaign.”

Also in the field are Premier Joy A (To be driven by Jason Hughes) and GA Speed Sammy (David Dowling).

My Land is the top choice in the race 5 back-up class for a $2,800 purse. Hughes drives the Jennifer Doyle trainee as he drops out of preferred company to draw the rail. His top rivals include JK Express (Merner) and Screen Test (Corey MacPherson).

Moonwriter Set To Open Up Summerside 

SUMMERSIDE, PE – The 2022 live racing season at Red Shores at the Summerside Raceway will open with a special Victoria Day card on Monday afternoon.

The Prince County half-miler has 11-dashes slated for a 1 P.M. start time on Monday with the $3,300 top class in race 10 of the day.

Moonwriter is heavily favoured in the main event with David Dowling in the bike of the Colin Johnson trainee from post 3 for owner Debbie Element of Village Green. The Sportswriter stallion was superb in Summerside in 2021 with multiple top-class wins including a 1:54.2 victory over the oval. He comes into the race riding a two-race win streak including a 1:56.4 front-end score in his first outing of the season.

Heart And Soul has rail control in the dash with Walter Cheverie in the bike for trainer George Riley while Hunger Pangs, who also won in 1:54.2 last season, has post 4 for driver Dale Spence. Post 2 belongs to Mantario (To be driven by Brodie MacPhee) from the Jennifer Doyle stable.

The Backstretch Beat in Monday’s program is direct in calling Moonwriter the top entry in the afternoon top class and the most probable winner of the day.

“No question about it: this is Moonwriter’s race to lose.”

Elroy Shiner makes his East Coast debut with rail control in race 8 of the afternoon with Jaycob Sweet in the race bike behind the Jansen Sweet trainee for owner Frank Sweet of Knutsford. The five-year-old Warrawee Needy gelding is a six-time winner in his career including a 1:54 lifetime best over Woodbine Mohawk Park in Ontario. Coasttocoastshark (Devon Wallace) is the favourite in that $2,300 dash from post 5.

The back-up class is slated for race 11 of the day as Soccer Hanover (Corey MacPherson) will look to build off of a 1:56.2 victory in his East Coast seasonal opener from post 1 in the $2,600 class. His top rivals are set to include Flowersonthebeach (Wallace) and Winter Blast (Jason Hughes).

Catch all the action live at the track or tune into the Race Day broadcast at Redshores.ca with wagering available online at HPIBet.com.

For full Charlottetown entries, click here.

For full Summerside entries, click here.

by Nicholas Oakes, for Red Shores