Merner reaches 1,000 driving win milestone

CHARLOTTETOWN, PE – Bee Two Bee (Sunshine Beach) refused to budge when it mattered most on Saturday afternoon at Red Shores Racetrack and Casino at the Charlottetown Driving Park, turning back a field of harness racing heavyweights to capture the Preferred 1 pace.

The $5,500 Preferred 1 headlined the 11-dash card, with Bee Two Bee ($5.00) and driver Jason Hughes seizing early control from post 2 and never looking back. The eight-year-old son of Sunshine Beach rolled through splits of 28.3, 57 and 1:25.4 before kicking home in 28.4 to stop the clock in 1:54.3.

BEE TWO BEE REPLAY

Malignity (Driven by Paul Langille) sat close throughout and loomed as the primary threat in the stretch but had to settle for second, beaten half-a-length at the finish. House Edge Hanover (Ken Murphy) rallied late to be third. Twin B Tuffenuff (Gilles Barrieau) sat last throughout the mile and finished fourth to have his win streak halted at three.

Bee Two Bee is trained by Ashley Gamester for owners Donald MacRae of Vernon Bridge and Blair MacLauchlan of Charlottetown.

Earlier on the card, Maintenance Man ($4.20) propelled Springvale reinsman Adam Merner to a spot in the sport’s exclusive 1,000-win club.

The Port Morien, N.S., native pushed his career driving totals over the milestone in race 3 of the day as part of a driving double, and his updated Standardbred Canada summary now shows 6,549 lifetime drives with 1,001 victories, 1,086 seconds and 1,093 thirds for purses in excess of $3.5 million.

Merner has put together another powerhouse campaign in 2025 with 727 starts to date, recording 124 wins, 108 seconds and 121 thirds for $575,524 in seasonal purse earnings. His 2025 UDRS sits at a sharp .308, marking the third straight year above the .300 mark.

Merner has been a mainstay at Red Shores Racetrack and Casino at the Charlottetown Driving Park throughout his career, with the bulk of his seasonal work coming under the lights in Charlottetown as well as regular appearances at Red Shores Summerside and tracks across the Maritimes.

Racing continues next Thursday (Nov. 20) at Red Shores Charlottetown. For more go to Redshores.ca.

For complete race results, click here.

by Nicholas Oakes, for Red Shores