A great race expected in Gold Cup and Saucer
National ball championships in O’Leary and Summerside
It has been a great week of harness racing in Charlottetown that concludes with our region’s most prestigious horse race – Gold Cup and Saucer – on Saturday night.
Many are saying that it is the best field of horses this race has ever seen, and, if the weather cooperates, we could see the first-ever sub-1:50 race in Atlantic Canada.
It will be a great race, with track record holder and defending-champion Ys Lotus leaving right beside the fastest horse in the field, Always At My Place. These two leaving from the five and six post positions should make for some early speed at the front, and maybe set up a history-making mile. Of course that scenario happening depends on the weather, which is calling for showers. There is almost $115,000 in purse money up for grabs on the 14-race Gold Cup program, including a $60,000 purse for the big race.
The bet this past week has been great, with $636,159 wagered over the first eight race cards from Thursday, Aug. 10, to and including Thursday, Aug. 17. That is an average of $70,684 per card and with four big cards remaining they should easily surpass the $1-million plateau. Red Shores at Charlottetown is often referred to as the Kentucky of Canada. When one considers all the excitement and anticipation that surrounds Old Home Week Racing, it is an appropriate reference.
Fastpitch softball
O’Leary is hosting the Canadian under-18 male fastpitch championship this week, and that makes four Canadian championships the community has hosted in the last five years. Credit goes to recreation director Jeff Ellsworth and the Community of O’Leary for having the foresight to host these events, and obviously everyone involved is doing a great job. The benefits are many to hosting, but one benefit that stands out is the fact that it gives Island youth a chance to participate in these championships – a chance that may not come their way without O’Leary hosting.
The popularity of fastpitch softball in Canada has been on a decline for a number of years, but thanks to the efforts of communities like O’Leary, the game seems to be on an upward trend. Hopefully, that trend continues.
Fans are encouraged to come out a support this championship, and enjoy the best under-18 fastpitch teams in our nation.
Baseball championship
The Canadian bantam baseball championship, known as the national 15-and-under Ray Carter Cup, starts up at Queen Elizabeth Park in Summerside on Thursday.
This is Year 2 of a two-year commitment for Summerside to host this national tournament, and it will feature 10 teams.
Team P.E.I. will play in a very tough pool consisting Ontario, Quebec, British Columbia and New Brunswick.
There is no Summerside host team, nor do they even have a team playing in the P.E.I. Bantam AAA Baseball League. Summerside has two teams that seem to be running roughshod over the opposition in the P.E.I. Bantam AA Baseball League as both are first and second. They have a combined 21-3 (won-lost) record while scoring a whopping 246 runs in those 24 games.
It looks to me that a good AAA team could, and should, have been made in Summerside, especially with only four teams in the AAA league. Maybe it has to do with the rezoning, which seems to be the way to go at the best levels of minor hockey and baseball. Summerside has always developed good ballplayers, but someone missed the boat this year at the bantam level. Have a great week!