On the horizon
The calendar is about to turn to April with live racing on the horizon on Prince Edward Island.
The Charlottetown Driving Park starts live events on April 28 with the first qualifiers of the season scheduled for April 21 at the capital oval.
The first batch of qualifiers on that day is sure to see two new faces as 18-year-olds Drew Neill and Austin Sorrie will be earning points in qualifying events towards their pari-mutuel license. Sorrie already has a few qualifiers under his belt but did not have enough opportunity to get the needed 50 points required to driver in betting events. Neill has just passed his driver’s test and get his first taste of the starting gate in the coming weeks.
The Summerside Raceway is set for live racing to begin on Victoria Day, Monday May 21.
The Maritime Stakes dates have been released as owners of two- and three-year-old maritime eligible pacers and trotters set their eyes on the bigger purse events of the season. On the pacing side, all the action gets underway in New Brunswick with the newly named Downey and Bremner Memorial stakes. The three-year-old pacing colts and fillies have their first event in the Bremner Memorial, formerly known as the Bill Quigg stake, at Exhibition Park Raceway in Saint John, N.B., on May 21. The twoyear-old pacing colts and fillies are scheduled for an earlier start this year with the Downey Memorial, formerly known as the Williamson Memorial, set for July 2 in Saint John. Twoand three-year-old trotters kick their season off on July 10 in the Atlantic Sires Stakes at the Summerside Raceway.
Canadian Scene
This past week was another successful one for a group of Island owners racing in Ontario. Bettim Jackie had her third win in-a-row at Woodbine Raceway on Friday in a $19,000 event for owners Jeff Lilley of Milton, Blair MacLauchlan of Stratford and Danny Purcell of Nova Scotia. The three-year-old Maritime staked daughter of Andreoli Hanover stopped the clock in 1:54.4 for driver Louis Philippe Roy and trainer Richard Moreau.
Sunday at Rideau Carleton Raceway outside Ottawa, Bettim Vicky was a winner in 1:59.4 in a $5,750 event for driver Roy and trainer Matt McDonald. Bettim Vicky is also owned by Lilley, MacLauchlan and Purcell along with Dawn Moore of Milton.
Who’s Hot
Local owner Donald MacRae of Vernon Bridge has some firepower racing south of the border with two winners at the continent’s toughest track on Monday night.
Do Over Hanover, who captured the 2017 edition of the Governor’s Plate at the Summerside Raceway, was a winner at Yonkers Raceway in New York on Monday in a $40,000 claimer for a $19,000 purse in 1:54.1 for owners MacRae and Allard Racing of Quebec. Rene Allard trains Do Over Hanover as well as Art Scene, who was another winner on the Yonkers program in 1:54.2 in a $17,000 event. A four-year-old son of American Ideal, Art Scene is heavily staked for his four-yearold campaign including Canadian events the Confederation Cup at Flamboro Downs in Ontario and the Prix D’Ete in Quebec. Owners Allard Racing, MacRae, and B and I Stables of New Jersey purchased Art Scene from the New Jersey sale in January for a $150,000 price tag.