Horse Racing New Brunswick will host its first live card of the 2025 harness racing season on Saturday, June 14 at Connell Park Raceway at Woodstock, N.B.

The action starts at 1 p.m. (ADT) and Saturday's seven-race program features two divisions of the New Brunswick Breeders Stakes for three-year-old pacers.

The first stakes event is race five with seven fillies going for $15,000 in purse money. Isle Bea Wickedwon is the one to beat in this division with David Dowling driving the 5-2 morning line favourite for trainer Charles Miles and owner Everette Hanson of Maugerville, N.B. Winless in four starts as a freshman, the McWicked-Wild Dream filly is off to a perfect start as a sophomore, winning back-to-back races at Summerside Raceway including a P.E.I. Colt Stakes Grassroots division and a 1:57.2 score last time out on June 3.

Dowling will also drive the 5-2 early favourite in the following $15,000 colt division from post two, the Jennifer Doyle-trained Like A King. A homebred for Jennifer Ritchie of Kingston, N.B., the Arthur Blue Chip-Twin B Cuzisaidso colt was a two-time N.B. Breeders Stakes winner during his four-for-10 rookie campaign and is three-for-four already this year, including a career-best 1:55.4 score in the P.E.I. Colt Stakes Gold ranks on May 25 at Summerside.

Saturday afternoon's top overnight class will carry a $2,000 purse in the finale with One Eight Hundred as the 5-2 morning line choice from post four in the field of seven. The regally bred seven-year-old son of Somebeachsomewhere and Economy Terror has made three starts this year with a 1:53.4 victory in his 2025 debut back on May 3 at Charlottetown Driving Park. He was a three-time winner over the Woodstock oval last season for trainer Ellen Stevenson and owner Dr. Mitchell Downey of Saint John, N.B. Michael Downey will drive the career winner of more than $200,000 who sports a flashy lifetime mark of 1:48.

Press Time, locally owned and trained by Zach Cougle, will have catch-driver Adam Merner in the bike from post position three for his season's debut. The eight-year-old son of Sportswriter-Flirtwithedealer gelding reeled off four straight wins at Connell Park last season, including a scorching trip of 1:54.1, which just missed tying the track record at the time by one-fifth of a second.

There are a total of 11 race dates scheduled for Connell Park in 2025, including opening day.

Horse Racing New Brunswick would like to thank all horsemen and women for their support of racing in the province. 

To view Saturday's harness racing entries, click the following links: Saturday Entries - Woodstock Raceway NB // Program Pages (courtesy TrackIT).

(With files from Horse Racing New Brunswick)