Harness racing
Governor’s Plate eliminations go in Summerside on Sunday
Baseball P.E.I. recently Harness racing columnist Vance Cameron takes a look at the two $5,000 Governor’s Plate eliminations at Red Shores at Summerside Raceway on Sunday afternoon. In his annual ‘Contenders and Pretenders’ column, Cameron selects the four horses he believes will advance to the $22,000 Governor’s Plate final on Saturday, July 15.
The most controversial column of the year is penned today as the Governor’s Plate eliminations are Sunday in Summerside.
I’ll make an attempt to tell readers who I think are the “contenders and pretenders” in Sunday’s two splits. Post time is 1 p.m.
The top four finishers in each $5,000 elimination advance to the $22,000 Governor’s Plate, presented by Summerside Chrysler Dodge, on Saturday, July 15.
First elimination
The 50 lifetime winner Forever Paradise has the rail. He was strictly a follower last week in Charlottetown to finish second. Driver Adam Merner is quickly becoming a sought-after catch-driver, and this would be a thrill of a lifetime. Only because he’s on the rail, he’s a contender.
Former Gold Cup and Saucer and Charlottetown Driving Park track record holder Crombie A scores from Post 2. He’s now 11 years old, but has made as much money as the other seven combined. On the half-mile track at Saratoga, N.Y., on Canada Day, he paced in 1:53.2 in sloppy conditions with a two-second variant. Throw Marc Campbell in the sulky, and he’s a contender.
Nova Scotia ship-in Goliath Reigns lines up from Post 3 for Todd Trites. Goliath shows winning in 1:56.2 by over nine lengths. But there’s a lot of Davids in here, he’s a pretender. Charlottetown’s Patrick Shepherd is bringing Hot Deuce to Summerside. The free-legged (no hopples) horse looks impressive on a half-mile track after winning over Buffalo in 1:52.1, closing in 27 and change. Add Walter Cheverie, and he’s a contender.
Multiple Summerside Raceway driving title winner Norris Rogers has Allstar Seelster from Post 5. He has been an all-star winning his last three races, including one in 1:55. He started in non-winners of $451, and has worked his way up. However, this is the Governor’s Plant eliminations. He’s a pretender. Give Em Heck wears No. 6, and used a pocket trip in Charlottetown to win in 1:55.3. I don’t even think the “Maritime Magic Man” Gilles Barrieau can get him in. He’s a pretender. The fastest horse on Prince Edward Island this year is Mr. Irresistible from the outside Post 7. He was a 1:54.3 winner in late May, and I’m sure the “Blue Knight” Jason Hughes can stickhandle his way to the final. He’s a contender. Owner/trainer Paul Biggar has been hanging out at the Summerside Raceway for several decades, and I’m not quite sure if this is his very first appearance in a Governor’s Plate elimination? Mando Fun has been solid in the Sunday afternoon conditioned feature in Summerside, winning twice. The grandstand side in the postposition draw is not a fun place to be. He’s a pretender.
Second elimination
The front-running Adkins Hanover will give Merner his second chance at a final berth. No one, and I mean no one, can beat him off “the switch” (the starting gate). He hit the wall big time in his last effort, and I had a hard time making him a pretender.
Foxy Hall Racing’s Invictus Hanover is Hughes’s major threat in the second elimination. He won his last start in wire-to-wire fashion in Charlottetown in 1:55.2. He’s been much faster over a half-mile track, and will have to be on Sunday. He’s a contender. The second 50-time winner in the eliminations is Junebugs Baby. The Cape Bretoner captured the Cecil Ladner Memorial and the Walter Dale on Canada Day in Saint John. He comes to play every start, and loves to win. He’s a contender. Veteran Summerside owner Walter Simmons went looking for a Governor’s Plate horse, and purchased Good Friday Three. This horse made his Summerside debut June 4, and to put it lightly it was “a stinker.” He’s rebounded by winning his next two. If anyone can find a way to the final it’s driver Kenny Arsenault. He’s a contender.
The one to beat in elimination No. 2 is the five-horse Do Over Hanover. He ships to P.E.I. on a three-race winning streak – all on Saratoga’s half-mile surface. His latest trip was 1:53 flat on a track rated two seconds off. Campbell may have a decision to make by day’s end. He’s a contender. Nogreatmischief leaves from Post 6. He’s a tidy little horse trained and driven by Walter Cheverie. He’s only had one start, and for that reason he’s a pretender.
There’s nothing lucky about No. 7 on the starting gate. His Boy Elroy will have that post position. This horse has won three of four Truro starts, and was a large second in the Ladner final. I had a hard time between three horses in this elimination, and when it was all said and done I made him a pretender.
Rounding out the Plate eliminations is Perfect Escape on the outside Post 8. It’s a long road from out there. Although he’ll probably win in 1:54 and change sometime this year, on Sunday he’s a pretender.
No disrespect
As I say at the end of this section every year, I mean no disrespect to any of these fine animals.
Every stable on the East Coast would love to have any one of these horses in their stable. Good luck to everyone!
Flashback
I remember as a kid waiting for that Monday and the opening of Lobster Carnival. We lived on West Street, and the track was across the street and through a small field.
I would park cars on our small piece of property (I think for 50 cents), and then head to the midway and racetrack. Then lose my money and head home, hoping some cars had left and I could refill the spots, hoping my sisters didn’t beat me to the punch.
Back in those days the racetrack, for a kid, was harder to get into than Fort Knox. The only way for us to get in, when not accompanied by an adult, was to squeeze in under the grandstand and through the bleachers. That won’t be the case this year, because that long tradition is broken.
I’m a traditionalist, and with no Monday racing, because of a low horse population, during Lobster Carnival Week this year it is disappointing. Live racing returns on Tuesday and carries on throughout the rest of the week.