Rennison takes Pinkney Memorial

Harness racing driver Ryder Rennison won the Phil Pinkney Memorial trophy on Tuesday (Jul. 19) at Truro Raceway in the second qualifier of the Gamester-Pinkney Memorial Driving Challenge.

Rennison’s confident victory behind Preceptor (Vintage Master) in the first dash put him in the driver’s seat for the two-race event. He then got Dontstandinmyway home fourth in the second contest and secured the leg victory with 24 points.

Brett Leblanc, the second race winner with Artsleek (Articulator), finished second overall with a score of 20. Luke Armstrong, who finished third in both tilts and the standings, secured the last spot in the final.

The top three earned a place in the final, competing for the Andrew Family Memorial Driving Award at Charlottetown Driving Park on Aug. 16. They will join Gamester Memorial round winner Kyle Mason along with Zach Conway and Taylor Doyle.

The Gamester-Pinkney Memorial Driving Challenge consists of 12 drivers from Atlantic Canada aged 30 or younger with 100 career wins or fewer. It is named after two great horsemen from the region, Byron Gamester and Phil Pinkney.

The Tuesday card was packed with Atlantic Sires Stakes (AtSS) action.

Rosetown Mary (Pang Shui) won the first A division for two-year-old pacing fillies, coming out of the pocket for Corey MacPherson to score in 2:00.3 over Itsuptoyou (Rollwithitharry, Gilles Barrieau) and Too Much For You (Malicious, David Dowling).

The winning filly was second on debut in the AtSS at Summerside. MacPherson trains the homebred for Kerry and Emily Taylor of Stratford and Lisa Richards of Cornwall.

Woodmere Jade (Rollwithitharry, Myles Heffernan Sr.) led all the way in a second-division 1:59.2 victory. Elm Grove Redwine (Stonebridge Terror, Dowling) was second by a length. Howmac Julia (Jason Hughes) took third.
Heffernan also trains Woodmere Jade, an $18,000 purchase at the Atlantic Classic sale. Jackie Heffernan of Glace Bay owns the filly.

Howmac Jazzy Girl (Pang Shui, Damian MacLellan) won the only B division dash in 2:03 for trainer Wade Sorrie of Montague, who co-owns with Walter Simmons of Summerside.

The AtSS two-year-old colt trot was a triactor for sire Muscle Through It. Irish Ray (Marc Campbell) jogged again following a debut win of six lengths in the AtSS. This time, he scored by nine and stopped the clock in 2:03 as he defeated Getting Salty (MacPherson) and Windemeregotmuscle (Hughes), who finished second and third, respectively.

The Campbell-trained Irish Ray is perfect through two career starts, both wins in the AtSS. Three Wiseman Stable of Kingston bought the gelding for $12,000 at the Atlantic Classic sale.

Headline Howie (Armbro Barrister, Michael McGuigan) rallied from the pocket on the final turn and out-sprinted Cadillac (Mary Macdonald) to take the AtSS dash for three-year-old trotting colts in 2:02.3. Moonshine Monday (Heffernan Sr.) finished third.

Headline Howie has now won two consecutive AtSS contests. He was a stakes contender at two, and the McGuigan trainee has won five of 18 starts with $28,341 in earnings. James Whelan of Vernon Bridge owns the gelding.

Up Helly Aa (Armbro Barrister, Kenneth Macdonald) extended his winning streak to 11 with a dominant performance in the other sophomore trotting colt division. He was five-and-a-half lengths clear of King In The North (Hughes), who beat out Majian Raptor (Bernard McCallum) for second.

Up Helly Aa has not lost since his career debut and is now 11-for-12 lifetime. He has earned $50,969 for Riley Farms of Summerside. Mary Macdonald trains the colt.

The two-year-old pacing colts will be next in the AtSS spotlight on Friday, Jul. 22 at Truro. To view complete AtSS standings, click here.

For complete race results, click here.

by Nicholas Barnsdale, for Harnesslink