Manitoba's 2024 harness racing season will get underway on Saturday, June 29 with half a dozen races at The Loop in Winnipeg. 

Post time for the launch of second season of harness racing at The Loop is scheduled for 1 p.m.

The six-race card will feature a $4,800 Open Pace as the afternoon's finale with 42-time winner Armycaptin Hanover as the 2-1 morning line favourite from post three. A newcomer to the Richard Rey stable, the eight-year-old Captaintreacherous gelding will make his return to racing after a successful stint facing Preferred/Open competition at the Fraser Downs winter/spring meet that ended nearly two months ago and where he took his mark of 1:51.3. Now owned by Laverne Turnbull of Kitchener, Ont., Armycaptin Hanover will have Rey's son Michel in the sulky for his provincial debut on Saturday.

Armycaptin Hanover will start between Chazmichaelmichael and Litizor, both two-time winners at The Loop during the inaugural meet last year, with the latter coming off a June 23 qualifying win at the Red River Exhibition Park oval for the father-son team of Don and Mathew Howlett. The former will be driven by Richard Remillard for trainer Tara Isman.

An Alberta acquisition by MHHI Owner of the Year Aurel Vodon, Flying Officer will start from the inside post for the driving and training team Tyler and Jacqueline Grundy. Mach Jacobs, trained by Lorraine Rey with Dean Rey listed to drive, and the Roland Rey-trained mare One Last Bet, with defending driving champion Blake Piwniuk doing the honours, come in from Ontario for their new local connections and will complete the lineup from the outside posts.

Richard and Janet Rey's award-winning homebred Braxtons Boy has returned to Manitoba for The Loop season opener after racing in Ontario during the winter. Named top Manitoba-bred at the 2023 Manitoba Standardbred Racing Industry Awards, the Golden Boy Stakes champion will start from post one in the afternoon's $3,600 fifth race. Michel Rey will drive the four-year-old Whosurboy-Nitrous Force gelding.

The Loop's harness racing meet will run through Oct. 5, with the bulk of race dates on Saturdays in August and September. Click here to view the complete race date schedule.

To view Saturday's harness racing entries, click one of the following links: Saturday Entries - The Loop // Program Pages (courtesy of TrackIT)

(Standardbred Canada)