Eliminations for the Governor’s Plate have been drawn and are the feature this Sunday (July 10) at Red Shores’ Summerside Raceway.

Countdown To Governor’s Plate 48 Starts Sunday

The official countdown to the 48th running of the Governor’s Plate, presented by Summerside Chrysler Dodge, will get underway this Sunday (July 10) at Red Shores’ Summerside Raceway.

The $5,000 Governor’s Plate eliminations have been carded as Races 9 and Race 10. The top four finishers from each elim will advance to the final, which will be contested on Saturday, July 16.

Two- time champion DGs Camme will start from Post 2 in the first elimination for driver Gilles Barrieau and trainer Jackie Matheson. The eight year-old pacing star was charted in 1:55.2 in his last start – he also holds the track record of 1:53 – and it is expected that he will get a lot of respect. Barrieau, who has won the Plate five times, will drive for ownership team of Quentin and Hal Bevan, Tom Clark and Ron Matheson, Charlottetown, PE.

Ys Lotus, trained by Rene Allard, will get the services of Marc Campbell from Post 7. The pacer can close like a freight train – he has paced final panels of :27.2 and :27.4 – and has been race-timed in 1:52.4. The Jason Hughes stable will send out two contenders. Jeb – a new purchase for Robi Hughes, Blair and Eric MacLauchlan – will start from Post 1. Hughes is committed to Narragansett for Foxyhall Racing, Summerside, PE, so Kenny Arsenault has gotten the call on Jeb, a winner in his last three starts. The field also has First Art Down (to be driven by Ken Murphy), Junebugs Baby (Myles Heffernan) and Doing Some Damage (Corey MacPherson).

The second elimination has His Boy Elroy listed as the morning favorite for driver-trainer Bernard McCallum and owner Dan MacRae, Baddeck, NS. The winner of $201,765 lifetime has a terrible starting point (Post 8), but ships in from Mohawk Racetrack where he paced miles in the 1:50 range. The son of Jeremes Jet could get his first win of 2016 at the historic Summerside Raceway, which celebrates 130 years of racing. Co-track record holder Big Surf will be in action, as will OK Galahad. The five-year old is sharp right now, as he has won his last three in a row – included the Ladner memorial final in a sparkling 1:54.4. The power-packed roster also includes Warrawee Phoenix (Mark Bradley), Clic K (Gilles Barrieau), Machinthesand (Ken Murphy), Midnight Play (Corey MacPherson) and Forever Paradise (Michael McGuigan).

First-race post time for the 10-dash card is 1 p.m.

To view the harness racing entries for Sunday at Summerside, click the following link: Sunday Entries – Summerside Raceway.

Final CDP Card Before Action Shifts To Summerside For Governor’s Plate Week

Red Shores’ Charlottetown Driving Park will have one more card of racing before all the action shifts to Summerside for Governor’s Plate week on Sunday.

The capital track will present an 11-dash program Saturday. First-race post time is 6 p.m.

Perfect Escape has gotten the top call for the evening’s feature contest (Race 11, which is scheduled for an 8:51 p.m. start). The Jackie Matheson trainee hasn’t missed a top-three finish since his qualifying start back on June 2. Gilles Barrieau will handle the driving duties for owners Jack Keenan, Stratford, PE and Joseph Dahl, Burlington, Ont. The horse comes into the event aiming for his 20th lifetime score. Idealic Life (Corey MacPherson) and Rash B Havior (Marc Campbell) will try to spoil the party for the morning line favourite.

The back-up class features All Turain as the leading candidate for owner Lee Hicken, trainer Trevor Hicken and their pilot, Corey MacPherson. MacPherson sits atop the driving leaderboard with 42 wins. Marc Campbell is second with 41 and Jason Hughes has climbed back into contention with 31.

The CDP will be dark in support of Governor’s Plate week at Red Shores Summerside starting Sunday with two eliminations. The signature race began in 1969 when Kim Ash and Art Porter won the Plate. Since then, there have been many memorable moments, such as the dead-heat win between Luna Fantasia (Danny O’Brien) and Quick Challenge (Dr. Ian Moore) in 1996, or the track-record performance of 1:53 by D Gs Camme in 2014. Driver Gilles Barrieau has won Summerside’s race five times (his first trip to victory lane came with Comedy Hour in 1998). Dr. Ian Moore has four Plates in his trophy case.

To view the harness racing entries for Saturday at the CDP, click the following link: Saturday Entries – Charlottetown Driving Park.

(With files from Red Shores)