Freshman showdown at Red Shores

Buckaboo and Ticked clash again

Last week’s grudge match was cut short by Ticked making an early break, but the two best two-year-old trotters on the East Coast will face off again at Red Shores at the Charlottetown Driving Park on Thursday. The 12-dash card gets underway at 6:30 p.m., with Buckaroo and Ticked in the Race 1 division of the Blair Andrew Memorial Stake for a purse of $11,150 as the pair tussles for divisional dominance. Buckaroo had yet to get the better of Ticked heading into stakes’ action last week in Charlottetown, but a break in stride early in the race sealed Ticked’s fate, and gave Buckaroo his first victory against the divisional leader.

This week, Ticked has rail control for co-owner and driver Myles Heffernan, trainer Gerald MacDougall and co-owner Jackie Heffernan of Summerville. Buckaroo gained a purse edge over Ticked after a 2:01.4 victory in his Lady Slipper division last week, and gets post 2 for the Andrew Memorial for trainer-driver Marc Campbell and owners Larry and Kathy Chappell of Marshfield.

The other $11,150 division in Race 3 has Buddy White as the morning-line choice, with rail control for driver Adam Merner fresh off a second-place finish to Buckaroo in his latest. Buddy White is trained by Ron Gass for owner Blayne White of Pinette.

The open trot hits the track in Race 10 as a field of six top trotters compete for the biggest share of the $1,850 purse. Freddie, with Campbell in the bike, leaves from Post 6 fresh off a 1:58.1 victory in Charlottetown. Holy Molie Maggie almost always has a say in the outcome and gets Post 2 this week, with Gilles Barrieau in the bike for trainer Jeff Holmes while Kennel Buddy and David Dowling leave from Post 4 as one of the classifier’s top choices.

Other entries include Majian Chester (Jim Ripley), Dusty Lane Jacob (Merner) and Tyne Valley (Walter Cheverie).