Countdown to showtime
Harness racing season starts Saturday in Charlottetown
As Vance Cameron would say: “Get a ticket, grab a seat and buckle up, it’s showtime in Charlottetown.”
The 2021 summer harness racing season gets underway Saturday at Red Shores at the Charlottetown Driving Park with a 6 p.m. post time for the 12-dash program.
James (Roach) MacGregor Gold Cup and Saucer consolation winner Avatar J is back in P.E.I. for the Saturday card with Gilles Barrieau in the bike in the $3,200 preferred pace.
Danny MacDonald will again handle the training duties for owners Jody Sanderson of Cornwall and Dean Larkin of Ontario.
On the heels of a record year of wagering on Island harness racing, the P.E.I. Harness Racing Industry Association has announced some increases to stakes program purses, breeder’s rewards and a $200 per dash purse bump for overnight races.
It has also been announced that Home Hardware is coming on as a title sponsor of the Maritime Breeder’s series beginning in 2021.
ACROSS THE CONTINENT
The first crop of now Atlantic stallion Arthur Blue Chip in Ohio is coming to life. Dr. Ian Moore trainee Lady Arthur has been undefeated in both her starts in Ohio stakes action taking a new lifetime best of 1:52.3 over Miami Valley Raceway. Arthur Blue Chip’s first crop of Atlantic-bred pacers will sell this fall in Crapaud.
Kingston native James MacDonald has made the move to the U.S. in the face of the Ontario shutdown. MacDonald has already recorded two wins at Pocono Downs in Pennsylvania and one win at The Meadowlands in New Jersey in his first week driving stateside.
ATLANTIC CLASSIC SALE
The deadline for entries has been set for the Atlantic Classic Yearling Sale to be held Oct. 8 at the Crapaud Exhibition Grounds. The 2020 edition of the sale was a record breaker with just shy of $1 million in gross sales from only 64 horses sold. Anyone wishing to enter their yearlings
for the 2021 edition is asked to do so by May 31 by contacting P.E.I. Harness Racing Industry Association executive director Julie Jamieson at 1-902-569-1682, mailing in their entry form or entering online at PEIHarnessRacing.ca.