Back to defend title
Second Gold Cup and Saucer Trial includes 2016 champ Ys Lotus
The last four finalists for next Saturday’s $60,000 Sobey’s Gold Cup and Saucer final will be decided tonight at the Charlottetown Driving Park and last year’s winner Ys Lotus is back on red soil to defend his title.
The $12,500 Sobey’s Gold Cup and Saucer trial is carded as Race 12 on the program with a 7 p.m. first race post time for the Monday evening card.
Ys Lotus has Post 3 and is reunited with driver Louis Phillipe Roy for trainer Rene Allard and owner Yves Sarazin of La Presentation, Que.
The six-year-old son of If I Can Dream is fresh off a 1:51.1 victory over the half-mile oval at Saratoga Raceway in New York but gets some tough company as he attempts to defend his unbeaten record on P.E.I.
Arque Hanover has Post 1 with Gilles Barrieau picking up the catch-drive for trainer Dylan Davis of Delaware.
The morning line favourite has 16 lifetime wins, including a 1:49.4 record taken over Harrah’s Philadelphia in Pennsylvania.
One of the two local horses, Good Friday Three, has Post 2 for trainer Austin Sorrie and owner Walter Simmons of Summerside with Clare MacDonald listed to drive.
McKinney leaves from Post 4 for driver Jason Ryan, formerly of Charlottetown, and trainer Kyle Fellows fresh off a 1:50.2 second-place finish at Mohawk Raceway in Ontario.
The pride of Summerville, Junebugs Baby, who finished third in this year’s Governor’s Plate final in Summerside, has Post 5 for trainer-driver Myles Heffernan and owner Jackie Heffernan.
Sports Lightning has Post 6 for the ownership group of Jody Sanderson of Doha, Qatar, but formerly of York Point and Dean Larkin of Kanata, Ont., but formerly of New Glasgow along with trainer Jamie Copley of Ontario.
Canada’s leading dashwinning driver, Bob McClure, is in town for Old Home Week 2017 and will do the driving.
The richest horse in the field is Post 7 starter Sapphire City, a half-mile specialist with $1.3 million in career earnings with 56 wins and a mark of 1:49.3 over Harrah’s Philadelphia.
The Trial 1 winning duo of driver Marc Campbell and trainer Ron Burke teams up again for Pennsylvania owners Burke Racing Stable Llc, Weaver Bruscemi Llc., and M1 Stable Llc.
The top four finishers in Monday’s trial will join Always At My Place, Shadow Place, Do Over Hanover and Crombie A in Saturday night’s Sobey’s Gold Cup and Saucer final to cap off Old Home Week 2017.