Machinthesand commands rail

Putting together a top-three finish against the top pacers in Eastern Canada is no small feat and now Machinthesand draws the rail while dropping in class in the tonight’s feature at Red Shores at the Charlottetown Driving Park.

The 12-dash program gets underway at 6:30 p.m., with the featured pace lining up as Race 11. Machinthesand has drawn Post 1 in the $2,350 feature with Ken Murphy at the lines for trainer Barry Folland and owner Noonan Holdings Ltd., of Summerside. The nine-year-old son of Mach Three has put together a solid season with nine top-three finishes from 16 outings, including finishing third to Czar Seelster and Rose Run Quest in his latest start.

Those top pacers are absent this week, but his six rivals are no slouches. Stars Above rides a tworace win streak into the feature with Steven Shepherd at the lines from Post 4 while Three Truths had his win streak snapped at three last week and gets Post 5 with Kenny Arsenault in the seat.

Cartoon Daddy has faced the top pacers on the East Coast all season and is shouldered with Post 7 for driver David Dowling but shows a trip in 1:54.2 in his latest start.

Race analyst Les MacIsaac puts his faith in rail control and calls Machinthesand the likely winner.

“Machinthesand has cracked the top three in five of his last six, which says a lot about his current form,” he said. “With this one being so wide-open, rail control could be the deciding factor.”

Other entries include Winter Blast (Jason Hughes), Red Magician (Adam Merner), and Rockin Indy (Corey MacPherson).