Time To Dance fastest horse in N.S. harness racing history
Atlantic Grand Circuit Week was in full swing last week at Truro Raceway in Bible Hill, N.S. There were records smashed and lots of Prince Edward Island horses hitting the wire first in the big events.
Saturday night, Time To Dance became the fastest horse in the history of Nova Scotia harness racing as trainer Marc Campbell guided the five-year-old to an overall track record 1:51.3 win in the $7,500 Lindsay Construction Cup Invitational.
Brent Campbell of Charlottetown co-owns the pacer with Matt McDonald of Ontario.
The three-year-old pacing colt record had some revisions on the program starting in Race 2 with Jadens magic steel. He won his $8,320 Atlantic Sires Stakes A division for sophomore colts in a track-record-tying 1:54.1 performance for driver Adam Merner, trainer Melissa Rennie and the Charlotte town owned group Boys Will Be Boys Racing.
His name never made it onto any record books as three races later a new standard came from an unlikely place—a $3,000 B division. The newly free-legged Woodmere Alvin blew away his foes in that event in 1:53.2
for a new track record for driver Corey MacPherson, trainer Mike McGuigan and owner Mike Pollard of Stratford.
But even that track record would be short-lived as six races later, Woodmere Stealdeal became the fastest three-year-old ever on the Eastern Seaboard of Canada with a 1:52.2 record performance in the other A division with Campbell driving for trainer Danny Romo.
That win erased the former 1:52.4 three-year-old standard set by PH Jackpot and Anthony MacDonald at the Charlottetown Driving Park in August of 2007.
Also on that program, Ladylike (driven by Redmond Doucet) won the $5,230 Atlantic Aged Pacing Mares Series leg in 1:55.1 for trainer Colin Johnson and owner Debbie Element of Village
Green, N.S.
The previous night featured two divisions of the Frank and Beth Stanfield Memorial for three-year-old pacing fillies. A spoon ful of sugar (Walter Cheverie) won the fastest $25,250 split in 1:55.1 for an ownership group that includes Cam MacPhee of Charlottetown.
The other division was claimed by Outrageous Song (Gilles Barrieau) in 1:57.4 for trainer Ron Matheson and owner Paul Holmes of Warren Grove.
Fern Hill General (Brodie MacPhee) delivered notice on the card he is a serious force, winning in 1:55.1 in only his second lifetime start in a $9,660 Atlantic Sires Stakes two-year-old pacing colt division. Earl Smith trains the son of Malicious for Peter Smith of Stratford and Gerald Morrissey of Vernon River.
All da way to cardigan controlled the other A split in 1:59.1 for driver Myles Heffernan Sr., trainer Myles Heffernan Jr., and owner Jackie Heffernan of Summerville.
Stakes action continues this week with the three-year-old pacing colts racing July 24 at Northside Downs in Nova Scotia in the Atlantic Sires Stakes.
The P.E.I. Colt Stakes for two-year-old pacers and twoand three-year-old trotters at the Summerside Raceway take place July 25.
ACROSS THE CONTINENT
Lawless Shadow found the winner’s circle in an eventful fashion in the $700,000 US Meadowlands Pace final in New Jersey on July 17. Summerside native Dr. Ian Moore trains Lawless Shadow and Kingston native Mark MacDonald was in the driver’s seat.
The son of Shadow Play was locked in until halfway down the stretch, and shook loose to finish second with winning horse Charlie May being placed to ninth for causing interference. That gave the 1:48.3 victory to Lawless Shadow and owners Moore, RG McGroup Ltd., of Bathurst, N.B., Serge Savard of St-Bruno, Que., and Frank Cannon of Florida. The victory was the first Meadowlands Pace title for both Moore and MacDonald.