Adam Merner was in the winner’s circle after more than half of the night’s 11 races at Charlottetown Driving Park on Thursday, Oct. 16, scoring six victories in the sulky.

The driver got on the board immediately, guiding the two-year-old Franzcesca ($2.30) to a front-stepping victory in 1:58.1 in the opener. He then oversaw Dusty Lane Kahlua’s ($6.30) second career win a race later, putting the sophomore filly on top on the second trip down the backstretch and letting her roll to a 2:02.1 victory.

Merner won his next start in the fourth race with Five Star Dragon ($3.70), who flew to the front with a third-quarter charge and drew away to score in 1:56.4. The reinsman went back-to-back, engineering a dramatic late-closing victory with Woodmere Honeymoon ($10.20), a filly from his own stable, in 1:58.2 in the fifth race. Merner made it three straight as Real Smokeshow ($12.10) chased down Hosskat (Gilles Barrieau) in the stretch to take the sixth race in 1:58.4.

After one of two losses on the night, a show finish in the seventh, Merner returned in the ninth race and snagged his sixth victory of the evening with Magical Mistress ($6.90). He dropped his trainee into the four-hole after firing her out from post seven, then sent her first-over in the third quarter, and she worked to the lead and powered home for a 1:55.4 victory.

Overall, Merner went six-for-eight with one place finish and a third for a UDRS of .861. The Springvale, P.E.I. resident has racked up 113 wins this year in 653 starts for a strike rate of 17.3 per cent. He is now 10 wins away from his 1,000th lifetime victory.

The $4,150 conditioned feature for fillies and mares in Race 10 produced the night’s biggest upset as Shake N Blake ($25.90) unleashed a grandstand-side charge to out-kick Rosetown Mary (Corey MacPherson) by a length in 1:54.4 for driver Ken Murphy and owner-trainer Jennifer Doyle. Acefortyfour Dome (Jason Hughes) was third. The winner, a five-year-old daughter of Hes Watching-St Lads Peeper, is now 23-for-85 lifetime.

Rocket Blast ($2.20) won the sub-featured $3,850 conditioned trot for trainer-driver MacPherson in Race 3 with a 1:58.4 score for owner Carl Bagnall.

Live racing continues on Saturday afternoon at 12:30 p.m. at Red Shores Charlottetown.

To view Thursday's harness racing results, click the following link: Thursday Results - Charlottetown Driving Park.

(Standardbred Canada with files from Red Shores)