Mrs Dragonfire aims to bounce back
Total of 12 dashes part of tonight’s card in Charlottetown
With pylon control, Mrs Dragonfire will look to avenge her narrow loss in her latest start in the Thursday feature at Red Shores Racetrack and Casino at the Charlottetown Driving Park.
The 12-dash presentation gets underway at 6:30 p.m., with the featured pace lining up in the evening finale for a $2,000 purse.
The top event has Mrs Dragonfire leaving from Post
1 in the field of pacing mares with Dale Spence in the bike for owner-trainer Reg Ferguson of Charlottetown.
The four-year-old daughter of Dragon Again recovered from an early break in stride last week to rally late and finish second by a neck in 1:59.4. Gilles Barrieau was in the bike for that start, but the New Brunswick reinsman has elected to drive Post 5 starter Collective Wisdom from the Jackie Matheson stable on Thursday.
Post 7 belongs to Rocknrols Image with Jason Hughes at the lines fresh off a 1:58.1 front-end victory.
Race analyst Les MacIsaac sees redemption in Mrs Dragonfire's future.
"An early break, a long tough trip and broken equipment should be enough of an indication that last time out it simply wasn't her day, but to her credit, she still ended up second," MacIsaac said. "Off that performance, and with rail control, (Thursday) she's quite possibly the one to beat."
Also in the field is Elm Grove Misty (driven by Dave Kelly), Dorabella (Ken Murphy), Charlottes Western (Marc Campbell), Julep Hanover (Wade Myers) and Dancers Pass (David Dowling).
The Town Of Stratford Pace lines up behind the starting gate in Race 4 with Finnish Your Way looking to overcome Post 8 in her three-year-old debut after winning his last two starts as a rookie last fall.
Barrieau trains and drives the daughter of Bettors Delight for owners Wayne MacRae of Fall River, N.S., and Bloomingwood Farms Ltd., of Ontario. Other top entries include Naxos (Kenny Arsenault) and Vintage Winner (Murphy).
Race 2 on the card is a $2,500 event for Lady Slipper eligible two-year-old fillies with Thebossisagirl favoured from Post 5 for driver Barrieau and trainer Jackie Matheson.
Race 6 is a class for Joe O'Brien Memorial eligible threeyear-old pacing colts for a $2,500 pot and Silverhilllightnin is the top choice with Myles Heffernan Sr., driving for trainer Stacey Lund.
Summit City Nate makes his debut in the Race 7 trot with Barrieau driving the Earl Wattstrainee for owner Eric Johnston of Summerside. The Justice Hall seven-year-old last raced in July at Georgian Downs finishing fifth while individually timed in 1:56.4. The winner of 28 races and $203,033 in career earnings just qualified at Red Shores Summerside in 1:59.4.