Atlantic Regional Driving Champion at Charlottetown

CHARLOTTETOWN, PE – A field of eight of the top harness racing drivers in Atlantic Canada have their sights set on wearing the Maple Leaf on their back as they compete in the Atlantic Regional Driving Championship Saturday evening at Red Shores Racetrack and Casino at the Charlottetown Driving Park.

The 11-dash program gets underway at 6 P.M., with the eight-race Atlantic Regional Driving Championship in races 2, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9 and 10. The eight-race competition will have seven-horse fields with each driver sitting out one race of the night with that driver receiving no points for the race they miss.

P.E.I. is being represented by top dash winning drivers Marc Campbell, Corey MacPherson, David Dowling and Ken Murphy while Todd Trites represents New Brunswick. Nova Scotia will be represented by Inverness Raceway’s top reinsman Redmond Doucet, along with Northside Downs leading driver Ardon Mofford and Truro Raceway’s top driver Paul Langille.

Drivers will receive points based on their finishing position and the top two drivers from the eight-race competition will join Ontario representatives Tyler Borth and James MacDonald, Western Canada representatives Phil Giesbrecht and Mike Hennessy and defending champion Doug McNair at the 2024 National Driving Championship on Friday, July 5, at Hippodrome 3R in Trois-Rivières, Que.

The final two spots for the National Driving Championship will be decided June 2 at Hippodrome 3R in the Quebec/Eastern Ontario Regional Driving Championship. The winner of the 2024 National Driving Championship will represent Canada in the 2025 World Driving Championship in New Zealand.

The Red Shores Saturday program also features the $4,000 Preferred Pace in race 11 as Twin B Tuffenuff (Driven by Gilles Barrieau), competes from post 1 against Rollwithhottytoddy (Myles Heffernan Sr.), All Bets On Tex (Adam Merner), Roll Em (Campbell), Spectrum Seelster (Dowling), Fern Hill General (Brodie MacPhee) and Blood Money (MacPherson).

Canada’s Oldest Standardbred Stake Continues Sunday

SUMMERSIDE, PE – A phenomenal weekend of P.E.I. Harness Racing will be capped off Sunday afternoon with the P.E.I. Colt Stakes for three-year-old pacers at Red Shores at the Summerside Raceway.

The 14-dash card is entirely comprised of P.E.I. Colt Stakes Gold and Grassroots divisions with separate splits for three-year-old pacing colts and fillies.

Merigo Magic headlines his $18,200 Gold division for sophomore colts in race 12. Owned by Mike May, Herman McQuaid, Derrick Cameron and Ian Walker, the son of Tobago Cays is unbeaten so far this season. His wins include a 1:55.3 victory last week in line to Adam Merner where he sat last and came home in 26.4 while weaving through the field for victory from the Melissa Rennie barn. His man foes Sunday include Check Your Chip (To be driven by Myles Heffernan Sr.) and Pauls Crown (Marc Campbell).

The other $18,200 Gold colt split is in race 8 as Howmac General gets top billing from the Earl Watts barn for driver David Dowling and owners Windemere Farms, Hollis Newson, Jerry Mackinnon and Debbie Denney. The son of Malicious has a pair of seconds so far in 2024 and faces five rivals including Good Omen (Paul Langille) and Little Leroy (Corey MacPherson).

In three-year-old pacing filly P.E.I. Colt Stakes Gold action, Goodmorning Nova has rail control in her $18,400 split in race 10. Mark Bradley is aboard for trainer Ashley Gamester and owners Jason Williams and Melissa Banks. The Arthur Blue Chip lass was second in the Atlantic Sires Stakes last week at Truro Raceway in Nova Scotia. Other favourites include Dusty Lane Dixie (Gilles Barrieau) and High Roller (Merner).

The final Gold division is in race 14 as Fern Hill Indigo will try to remain undefeated in 2024 from post 2. Brodie MacPhee is in the seat behind the daughter of Malicious for trainer Tom Weatherbie and owner Next Generation Stable of Stratford. 2023 champion Chip Of Evil (MacPherson) leaves from post 3 fresh off a qualifier while Rollwithitdarling (Campbell) is a top play from post 1.

For race programs, driver profiles, HPIBet and live video check out the Player Portal at Redshores.ca.

by Nicholas Oakes, for Red Shores