Freddie and the ‘King’ make history

Trainer Mark Campbell drives trotter to new track record in Charlottetown

It is time to face reality: the Marc Campbell stable is the next thing to unbeatable and he proved it again in track record fashion Thursday night at Red Shores Racetrack and Casino at the Charlottetown Driving Park.

Freddie obliterated the overall track trotting record in this week’s $1,850 edition of the Open trot with a 1:56.3 victory for trainer-driver Campbell and owner Three Wisemen Stable of Charlottetown. Morosita Bi (Jason Hughes) laid down the opening fractions of 28.3 and 58.1 before Freddie and the ‘King’ of Island racing used a first over attack to clear to the lead up the backside and put down a 1:27.3 third quarter. A :29 flat closer added up to a 1:56.3 victory giving Freddie a time faster than all the pacing races on the 12-dash card while wiping Osprey Impact’s name and 1:57.2 clocking in 2016 off the track record sign. It is the third time Campbell set the overall track trotting record as he had previously held it with Est Non Ila Dulcis and Real Housewife.

Osprey Impact (Walter Cheverie) was second best in Thursday’s track record mile while Holy Molie Maggie (Gilles Barrieau) finished third.

It was one of three wins on the card for Campbell as the only other horse he raced from his own stable, Pappy Go Go, was a winner in the back-up trotting class in 2:00.2 to establish himself as top dog in three-year-old Atlantic trotting stakes coming up in July, while Howmac Missy was a catch driving win in 1:58.1 for the Island’s leading reinsman.

The feature pace went to Jeb in 1:57.1 over Likely To Win (Adam Merner) and Mozartsplace (Barrieau). Hughes trains and drives Jeb for owners Robi Hughes and Blair and Eric MacLauclan, all of Stratford.

Live racing continues Saturday at 6 p.m. at Red Shores Charlottetown with the Cecil Ladner Memorial Invitational while Red Shores at the Summerside Raceway has a live card Sunday with a 1 p.m. start time.

The Future Stars of the 2017 season line up Friday night with two-year-old qualifying races at Red Shores Summerside starting at 6 p.m. and Red Shores Charlottetown will hold a card of two-year-old qualifying races Saturday morning at 11 a.m.