Field vies for Atlantic title
Marc Campbell, Jason Hughes, Gilles Barrieau and Ken Murphy will carry P.E.I. flag
The Atlantic Regional Driving Championship is set for June in Nova Scotia and Prince Edward Island has announced its team.
Marc Campbell of Winsloe will be one of four drivers to carry the Island flag at the June 29 event at Truro Raceway, fresh off his record-breaking season in 2017.
Campbell was the leading driver by wins at both Island tracks, while the number two man at both ovals, Jason Hughes of Stratford, also receives an invitation to represent the Island. With P.E.I. receiving four slots for the event, Gilles Barrieau and Ken Murphy also qualify from the Island. Barrieau, a resident of New Brunswick that races in P.E.I. the majority of the season, was third for wins in Charlottetown in 2017 earning his berth, while Harrington resident Murphy was third for driving wins at the Summerside Raceway.
New Brunswick has one representative at the event, with Exhibition Park Raceway leading driver Todd Trites taking that spot. Trites was also the leading driver at Truro Raceway, so an invitation was extended to Darren Crowe for that spot in team Nova Scotia. The field is rounded out by top Cape Breton drivers John Gerard Kennedy and Redmond Doucet.
The top two drivers from the regional event will advance to the National Driving Championship at Grand River Raceway in Ontario later this year. The top driver from the National Driving Championship will join defending world driving champion James MacDonald, originally from Kingston, at the World Driving Championship in Sweden in 2019.
P.E.I. Scene
Island harness racing was saddened by the recent loss of Bert Honkoop. The 76-year-old was a long-time trainer, driver and breeder from his home base of Alliston. A complete gentleman by every definition, Honkoop was known for primarily racing Atlantic staked trotters throughout his career and was also a former board member of Harness Racing P.E.I. My condolences go out to his family on his passing.
Gillis Barrieau is back on red soil yet again in 2018. The New Brunswick trainer-driver has been a regular on P.E.I. for the majority of the season since 2015 but winters at his home base at Exhibition Park Raceway.
A former Gold Cup and Saucer
finalist is on Prince Edward Island recovering from an injury and prepping for a return to racing sometime this year. Go Daddy Go, co-owned by Vernon Bridge resident Donald MacRae, was the runner-up in the 2016 Sobey’s Gold Cup and Saucer final for trainer Rene Allard but is now under the care of trainer Jordan MacKay in French River. The six-yearold son of Ponder was a former grand circuit two-year-old in 2014 in the Bob McIntosh stable but was then purchased by Allard’s ownership group. Go Daddy Go last raced on Feb. 10 at Miami Valley Raceway in Ohio, amassing over $11,000 in purse money from just five starts so far this season.