The 2026 harness racing season in Nova Scotia gets underway this weekend at Northside Downs on Saturday, May 9 with post time set for 1 p.m. (ADT).

The Opening Day program is comprised of seven races featuring the $1,600 Winners Over Pace in the afternoon's sixth race. 

Trainer Peter MacKinnon's Ranked Contender has drawn the inside post for his season's debut after an eight-win campaign in 2025 for which he was named Northside's Most Improved Horse after climbing to the top class and defeating local Horse of the Year Hugh Heff in a leg of the Governors Cup Series. Ardon Mofford will drive the six-year-old Tobago Keys-Euphoria Seelster gelding.

Thunder Alley, Northside's Iron Horse of the Year, is among the top class contenders and will start his 10-year-old season from post two. A mainstay in the top Northside classes since joining the stable of trainer Heather Hawkins in 2023, the veteran pacer will look to add to his 40-win record and six-figure bankroll with Kevin Bailey in the bike.

Defending Northside driving champion Mark Pezzarello has his pick of a pair including trainer Leonard McLellan's five-year-old gelding Kountry Diamond and the Robert MacNeil-trained nine-year-old mare Kiss Me Im Irish. Windemere Ryan, a nine-year-old gelding who last raced in Nova Scotia during his sophomore season, completes the lineup for his new local connections, driver Harold LeBlanc and trainer Joel LeBlanc.

Northside Downs will host 27 race dates in 2026, with the meet running through Nov. 14. Live harness racing will take place on Saturdays for most of the meet, with three exceptions. There will be no racing on Saturday, Aug. 15 as a Thursday, Aug. 13 card will be held instead; there will be no racing on Saturday, Oct. 10 as a Monday, Oct. 12 program will held in its place; and there will be no racing on Saturday, Oct. 31 as a Sunday, Nov. 1 card is scheduled that week. 

Northside will play host to multiple stakes events throughout the meet, starting on June 20 with the Phil Pinkney Memorial for three-year-old pacing colts and a leg of the Atlantic Sires Stakes for three-year-old pacing fillies. The North Sydney half-mile oval will also host legs of the Atlantic Sires Stakes on July 11 for three-year-old pacing colts and on Sept. 19 for two-year-old pacing fillies and the trotting divisions.

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

(Standardbred Canada)