Doucet dominant in yearly debut

Harness racing driver Redmond Doucet dominated in the sulky on Friday (May 13) at Truro Raceway with four winners in seven races as the reinsman made his first drives of 2022.

Doucet was perfect through three starts to begin the afternoon and completed his grand slam in the sixth race.

The 40-year-old inherited the pocket in the opener after getting away third with Mitch (by Stonebridge Terror) as Deolicious (Paul Treves) broke in front of him. After a middle half in which the top two separated by 25 lengths from the remainder, Doucet send Mitch around leader Divide (Donald Gillis Jr.) and cruised home a winner in 1:58.2. Divide was more than 40 lengths clear of third-place finisher Bettor Dance (Bernard McCallum).

Doucet gave Special Fx a similar trip in the second, steering the Sportswriter gelding into the pocket and sending him on the march to victory on the backside. Special Fx dueled with leader Chik Maguire (Kenneth Parker Jr.) through the final quarter and prevailed by a quarter length over the late-closing Dustylanesebastian (Ernest Laffin). Chik Maguire finished a half length behind in third.

Prince Adam gave Doucet his natural hat trick in an abnormally extended brush and crush effort. The 14-year-old Real Artist gelding settled into fifth and pulled out in the second quarter to chase runaway leader Silverhill King (Laffin), who had gone 10 lengths ahead of the rest. Prince Adam bridged the gap by the time the field hit three-quarters and sailed away from his foes for a 44th career win clocked in 2:02.2.

After missing by a neck in the fifth, Doucet nailed down his fourth winner in the next race with an authoritative steer aboard American Risk. The six-year-old son of American Ideal left explosively and was up five lengths by the quarter. Doucet reined in the gelding in the second split, gave him two manageable middle splits, and urged him home for a 1:56.2 score. The gelding is now two-for-two on the year.

Doucet was the leading driver last season at Inverness Raceway.

For full race results, click here.

by Nicholas Barnsdale, for Harnesslink