Finale time in Summerside
Blu Meadow Willie, Zambucca Gass retiring Sunday
The curtain falls on the 2018 season of harness racing in Summerside on Sunday.
The finale card’s post time is its regular 1 p.m.
Island Breeders
The last of the P.E.I. Colt Stakes for 2018 will be contested in Charlottetown on Saturday. There’s a total of six Island Breeders finals boosting over $55,000 in prize money.
Two-year-old sensational filly Magical Mistress will put her freshman undefeated streak on the line. The daughter of Camystic had her narrowest margin of victory last week, winning by a quarter of a length in the Maritime Breeders championship. Bettim Jackie headlines the three-year-old filly pacing division. A win Saturday will push her season earnings over the $100,000 plateau.
Mile Hill Willie will be looking to end his two-year-old trot campaign on a winning note. A closing-out victory would put the handsome chestnut colt on a seven-race winning streak.
Over in the three-year-old trot final, I can’t see any overwhelming horse. There’s literally five horses who could claim the season-ending title.
The two-year-old pacing colts are in that wide-open scenario. Again, in here, I see five colts that could have a shot at being in the winner’s circle.
Sock It Away will be the chalk choice when the bell sounds to close the pari-mutuel wagering on this race. This colt has put a perfect season together in the threeyear-old pacing colt class. The 1:54 winner may even stay the winter on the Island and try the “bearcats”
Retirees
Blu Meadow Willie and Zambucca Gass are retiring on Sunday in Summerside. Zambucca has 43 lifetime victories, and over $340,000 in earnings for his career.
Willie has 62 career winner’s circle appearances, with 61 of them on Prince Edward Island. With just shy of $100,000 in Maritime money, Willie took a 1:55.3 record right here in Summerside at age 10.
Top performers
David Dowling will claim his first-ever driving title in Summerside after building up an insurmountable lead going into Sunday’s final day of live racing.
However, on the training side, veteran Earl Watts has a one-win lead over rookie Austin Sorrie. Austin will send out seven starters on Sunday to Earl’s three entries. Interesting!
Once again, it has been my privilege to bring you some harness racing stories for over 20 years. I’d like to thank the Journal Pioneer for printing them, and you for reading them.