Ready to dance
Time To Dance has the rail and is the horse to beat in Governor’s Plate final
The 53rd running of the Governor’s Plate, presented by Summerside Chrysler Dodge, lines up in Race 15 on July 10 at Red Shores at the Summerside Raceway, and Time To Dance is about as heavy a favourite as can be imagined.
The Marc Campbell trained and driven Time To Dance was a dominant 1:52.3 winner in his Governor’s Plate elimination and had all the luck in the world when he drew the rail for the final during the official post-position draw that was held during the races on July 6.
The five-year-old gelding rides a three-race win streak into the $25,000 event. The Governor’s Plate eluded Time To Dance during his incredible 2020 season as he was the runner-up to Bugsy Maguire after running into traffic trouble twice in the final quarter of the race.
The 15-dash July 10 card will be the culmination of Governor’s Plate week 2021 with a 6:30 p.m. opening post time that also feature a slew of other exciting matchups.
Time To Dance’s foes in the main event will be Rose Run Quest (Walter Cheverie), Blood Money (Dr. Mitchell Downey), Woodmere Ideal Art (Todd Trites), Day Delight (Gilles Barrieau), Bugsy Maguire (Brodie MacPhee), Mc Pat (Ken Murphy) and Avatar J (Jason Hughes).
Regardless of what transpires in the final, Time To Dance going behind the gate will be emotional for a large portion of Island harness racing after the passing of Richard Campbell, the horse’s biggest fan and father of co-owner Brent Campbell, earlier this week. A retired Charlottetown lawyer, Richard was always a bright spot in the race game and a funloving individual who will be sorely missed.
My condolences to Jacinta, Brent, Ambyr and granddaughters Brielle and Mila on the passing of a wonderful man.
ATLANTIC SCENE
The Atlantic Sires Stakes season kicked off July 2 at Truro Raceway in Bible Hill, N.S., with the three-year-old pacing fillies. All three A divisions were won by Island horses.
Mystifying (Barrieau) won her $7,080 division in 1:57.2 for co-owner and trainer Darryl MacLean of Winsloe and co-owners Gordon MacLean and New Brunswicker Stephen Downey.
Tobins Brownie delivered a three-length victory in 1:57.3 in another split with trainer David Dowling at the controls for the ownership team of Alex Quinn of York, Carl Peterson of Hunter River, Amy Lakie of Greenfield and Brittany Watts of Springvale.
The final split saw another 1:57.2 win by Southfield Skye (Campbell) for trainer Glenn MacKay Sr. and owner Southfield Farms Inc. of Summerside.
ONTARIO SCENE
Big ma ch with cheese gave the former Tyne Valley duo of driver Dale Spence and trainer MacKenzie MacInnis their biggest central Canadian win July 4 in the $15,900 Mark Austin series final at Dresden Raceway in Ontario. The five-year-old by Better than cheddar stopped the clock in 1:56.2 for the pair, who are currently working for the Dr. Ian Moore operation.