Scott Hubbard made his driving debut this afternoon a winning one when he guided Wil Cr Dolly Dance to victory in the second race during Exhibition Park Raceway’s first card under the helm of Horse Racing New Brunswick (HRNB)

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Hubbard, a resident of Saint John, New Brunswick, sent Wil Cr Dolly Dance to the front of the field from Post 2 ahead of Dia Harlaka (Chris Davies). She reached the first quarter in :29.4 then bypassed the half-mile marker in 1:00.3 as Longworth Legacy (Michel Barrieau) applied pressure on the outside. Shaking off her challenger, Wil Cr Dolly Dance reached three-quarters in 1:32 then danced her way to victory in 2:03.2.

Dia Harlarka finished second but was placed back to seventh after causing interference in the stretch. Favourite Free Stone Lexy (Lonny Stokes) inherited the runner-up position and Rapid Cane (Mark Haig) was placed third.

Winning her season debut, Wil Cr Dolly Dance notched her ninth lifetime score lifting her bankroll to over $38,000. Hubband, 38, also trains and owns the seven-year-old daughter of Rambaran.

EPR's season opener feature nine races with Todd Trites scoring a driving hat trick and trainers Douglas Beckwith and Robert MacNeil scoring training doubles.

“It was a wonderful day,” Jamie Hachey, president of HRNB, told Trot Insider. “People showed up in droves. The comments from the public and the regular patrons were great. It was just rejuvenating to see the energy around the whole property. And we had Chris Connor do some announcing on our inaugural day and he kind of comes with his own voice and did a wonderful thing for New Brunswick.

“I think our bet was up about 20 per cent,” said Hachey. “Without advertising or anything I think that kind of speaks for itself. The horsemen are happy although the purses are small. We’ve started out responsibly and we are going to grow our model responsibly and hopefully that’s going to benefit everyone involved - employees, horsemen and shareholders.”

To view Saturday’s results, click here.