Harness The Hope heads to Charlottetown

CHARLOTTETOWN, PE – The ladies are in town for an action-packed Harness The Hope harness racing program Saturday evening (Jul. 29) at Red Shores Racetrack and Casino at the Charlottetown Driving Park.

The capital oval has 13-dashes scheduled for a 6 P.M. opening post time featuring Harness The Hope events all evening long. Proceeds from the fundraisers will directly assist Islanders by contributing to the local support programs and services of the Canadian Cancer Society on P.E.I. as well as the oncology departments of the Prince County Hospital in Summerside and Queen Elizabeth Hospital in Charlottetown.

The first dash of the night has a full slate of the best female drivers in Canada in an eight-horse female driving showcase. Leading dash winning Canadian female driver Clare MacDonald will be aboard the Kenny Arsenault trained Crimson N Clover from post 3 for owner Maurice Coady of Charlottetown. She is joined by Inverness rookie driver Monica Sutherland driving Big Boy Hill, Truro Raceway’s Tammy MacKay on Zack The Men and P.E.I.’s own Ambyr Campbell with Whims Drop Off.

A quartet of fabulous female drivers from Central Canada will also compete in the dash as Brittany Kennedy has the steer on Oh To Be Me, Julie Walker drives Elm Grove Nanci, Anne Marie Turenne partners with Silverhilllightnin and Natasha Day drives Poplar Artie.

The eight female drivers also line up behind the gate in race 6 of the program.

The $3,800 Preferred pace lines up in race 8 with Gold Cup and Saucer hopeful Bee Two Bee making his Island debut from post 4 for trainer-driver Jason Hughes and owner Donald MacRae of Vernon Bridge.  The Sunshine Beach six-year-old had been racing in Ohio. His Saturday foes include First Glance (To be driven by Adam Merner), Century Invictus (Gilles Barrieau), No Plan Intended (David Dowling) and Time To Dance (Marc Campbell).

Bee Two Bee gets top billing in the Post Time Picks.

“Bee Two Bee is a newcomer to P.E.I. and has flashed some serious speed this season. The connections are prepping him for bigger races, so we think he seals the deal in his Island debut.”

Go to Redshores.ca for HPIBet, live video, free race programs, promotional plays, driver profiles and more.

For complete race entries, click here.

SUMMERSIDE, PE – Melody Maker will put his five-race win streak to the test in the Sunday afternoon (Jul. 30) featured pace at Red Shores at the Summerside Raceway.

The track features 11-dashes on Sunday afternoon starting at 1 P.M.

The race 10 feature is named The Medastar Memorial and carries a $3,500 purse with Melody Maker looking for his sixth straight victory for the team of owner-trainer Greg MacInnis and son-in-law Dale Spence in the race bike. The Hes Watching five-year-old was never better than his last start in Summerside winning by nine-lengths in 1:54.

Sauble Attack won the top-class last week and gets the services of Ken Murphy in the bike for trainer Paul Biggar. Top New Brunswick pacer Frontier Cruise will leave from post 4 with Brady Sweet getting the call for trainer Jean Belliveau. JJ Patrick (To be driven by Norris Rogers) has post 2 after some huge efforts in recent weeks while former Gold Cup and Saucer finalist Woodmere Ideal Art (David Dowling) has post 3.

The Backstretch Beat likes Melody Maker to continue winning.

“Melody Maker is the hottest horse in Prince County and after that open-length romp his last start in 1:54 we have to place him in the win position. The rail just adds to his appeal.”

The program also features a number of cooler presentations.

Race 1 is the Ella Coughlin Memorial while race 2 is sponsored by Illsley’s Feed & Farm Supply Ltd. Island Groundworks sponsors race 3 with race 4 the Eric Johnston Memorial.

The Glennie MacKay Memorial lines up in race 5 and the Brian Andrew Memorial is carded as race 6.

Race 7 is the Allstar Cresting pace, race 9 is presented by Five Eleven West Restaurant & Catering and the race 11 finale is sponsored by Sherry’s Heating Services.

Catch all the action live at the track or tune into the worldwide broadcast at Redshores.ca.

For complete race entries, click here.

by Nicholas Oakes, for Red Shores