The top performers in the Atlantic Sires Stakes program converged at Charlottetown Driving Park on Sunday afternoon in pursuit of six divisional Atlantic Breeders Crown titles and over $100,000 in purse money.
Phantom Beau was on his best behaviour early Sunday afternoon and went wire-to-wire to win the first $7,000 Atlantic Breeders Crown Invitational for two-year-old trotters with Kenny Arsenault aboard for trainer John Pineau.
Leaving from post four, Phantom Beau took command of the field while divisional point leader Dusty Lane Galaxy (Gary Chappell), who was riding a six-race win streak, broke stride into the first turn. B J Comanche (Clare MacDonald), Windemere Image (Walter Cheverie), Seanchai (Marc Campbell) and Glencove Yoshi (Mike Stevenson) also made early miscues.
Phantom Beau trotted on with a solid lead through fractions of :30.3, 1:02.4 and 1:34.3 en route to the 2:06 five-length triumph. Recovering from his break, Seanchai advanced three-wide down the backstretch to come on for second while Glencove Yoshi finished 11 lengths behind in third.
The Bo W-Safe House colt, who ranked second in the divisional standings with four top three finishes in ATSS action, is owned and bred by Peter Breau of Moncton, N.B. He shaved three-fifths of a second off his lifetime mark and improved his career record to 2-5-1 in nine starts while pushing his bankroll to $14,998.
Phanton Beau paid $10.10 to win.
Three-year-old trotting filly Oceanview Kate and driver Mike Stevenson emerged amidst a field of breakers in deep stretch to earn back-to-back Atlantic Breeders Crown titles.
When the wings of the gate closed, insiders Rash Statement (Walter Cheverie), Ashotinthedark (Corey MacPherson) fired off the gate with the divisional leader Taliesin (Marc Campbell) leaving from post five and stacked three-high into a :29.1 opening quarter. Taliesin pressed on to take the lead over Rash Statement while Ashotinthedark took back to third, settling in front of a steppy Oceanview Kate, who lost ground and quickly found herself 30-lengths in arrears. Meanwhile, Topway (Gary Chappell) and Northern Trapper (Brian MacPhee) broke stride.
As Taliesin led the field to the half in 1:00.1, Rash Statement also made a miscue with Ashotinthedark and West River Xcel (Clare MacDonald) moving up to fill the top three spots.
Looking to continue his undefeated sophomore season, Taliesin led the trotters by the 1:31.1 third quarter mark before making a costly break of his own at the top of the stretch. That paved the way for the fleet-footed Oceanview Kate to slip between horses after making up her huge deficit. She captured the $7,000 Atlantic Breeders Crown Invitational in 2:03.4 for trainer/owner Bill Roloson of Belfast, P.E.I. Ashotinthedark finished two and a half lengths behind in second and West River Xcel was third. Taliesin was fourth.
"She's just been a real hard-luck filly here the second half of the season," said Stevenson, whose family was honoured for their longtime contribution to Atlantic harness racing during last night's banquet. "She was just getting a little erratic at times and then we had some gait problems with her today.
"She got away close, she was up tight and I was really happy with the situation halfway down the backside. Corey had plenty of room to get in, but I don't know if she just wasn't paying attention or what. As soon as Corey dropped into the hole in front of me, she just went up in the air and she came back down trotting. She's done it in Inverness too. She came from a long ways in Inverness to be third. I knew she could trot some so down the backside I was actually looking ahead and thought she had a good shot to be third and then she just kept trotting through the last turn. I saw Marc's colt run and I was like, you know what, she could win!"
Bred by Meridian Farms of Calgary, Alta., the Northern Bailey-King Kong Kate filly was second in the divisional standings with a pair of ATSS wins under belt. She's won five of her eight seasonal starts to earn over $20,000.
Oceanview Kate paid $6.40 to win as the 2-1 second choice in the wagering.
Driven by Marc Campbell the streaking Saulsbrook Alana lowered the track record for two-year-old pacing fillies that she co-held with divisional leader Lovineveryminute in the following $22,000 championship.
Elm Grove Inarush (Mark Bradley) established the lead off the gate with Saulsbrook Alana and Briannas Angel (Kenny Arsenault) filling the top three spots and leaving Lovineveryminute (Gilles Barrieau) unable to find a hole along the pylons and in line for a long parked out journey.
Elm Grove Inarush led the first past fractions of :28.2, :57.1, and 1:26.4 with Sail Through (John Holmes) rallying three-wide past the fading Lovineveryminute. But around the final turn, Campbell pulled Saulsbrook Alana from the pocket, and despite drifting out into the stretch, she prevailed by one and three-quarter lengths over the pacesetter in 1:56 flat, shaving one-fifth of a second off the track record. Sail Through finished third.
Kevin MacLean trains Saulsbrook Alana for owner Reginald MacPherson of Stratford, P.E.I. She now has seven wins (six in a row) and has finished no worse than third in 10 career starts while earning $43,223 in purses. The Western Paradise-Atlanta Girl filly was bred by William Allan McNeil of Windsor, N.S. and Louis Willinger of Louisville, Kentucky.
Saulsbrook Alana paid $2.70 to win as the race favourite.
Dumas Walker romped to an open length victory in the next $22,000 Atlantic Breeders Crown for two-year-old pacing colts and geldings.
Glace Bay, N.S. horseman Myles Heffernan trains, drives and co-owns the Western Success-Im A Reelist gelding with Joseph Poirier of Reserve Mines, N.S.
Dumas Walker worked his way to the lead from post six and carved out fractions of :28.3, :59.2 and 1:28.2 en route to the 1:57.4 victory. Rancousy (Darren Crowe) attempted a third quarter move from the pocket, but Dumas Walker sped away by four and a half lengths. Rancousy settled for second and favourite Super S Yzerman (Clare MacDonald) finished third.
"It wasn't the game plan," said Heffernan of the front-end trip, "But I looked over and I didn't see the rest of them keeping up.
"He's a tough little horse and he's on his game. Last week he came up a little sick, but we worked on him all week and got him healthy and he's doing alright."
Dumas Walker, who is now seven-for-10 in his career with a bankroll totalling $30,491, was bred by David Walker of Charlottetown and Paul Walker of Summerville, P.E.I.
He paid $7.90 to win as the 5-2 second choice.
Top three-year-old pacing filly Ramblinglily maintained her position on the podium with a wire-to-wire victory in the following $22,000 championship.
The daughter of Articulator, who has won nine of 13 starts this year and $53,974 in purses, was bred by her former trainer Allan Jones and owner Normand Leger of Shediac, N.B. Jean Belliveau currently handles the training duties.
Driver Brodie MacPhee sent the 2-5 favourite to the lead from post three and cruised through fractions of :27.1, :56.3 and 1:26 with Scootin For Joy (Mike Stevenson) hot on his helmet. But Ramblinglily drew off down the stretch to win by two and a half lengths in 1:56.3. Western Judy (Marc Campbell) advanced first over to place and Whistys Paradise (Ernest Laffin) came on for third.
"I thought I was rolling along pretty good, but Mike's filly was pretty aggressive in the two-hole," said MacPhee. "The trip worked out, I wanted the front today and it worked out. She's amazing. She's very push-button and is a great filly to drive."
Ramblinglily provided MacPhee with his first Atlantic Breeders Crown victory.
"It's a great feeling," said the 27-year-old Cornwall, P.E.I. reinsman, who was greeted by his father Brian in the winner's circle.
"I love to see my children do well. They're not children anymore, they're grown up children now, but I'm pretty proud of them," said MacPhee's father, who drove Ramblinglily's dam Crafty Jewel during her own racing career. "Allan Jones is a tremendous trainer. He does a super job with young horses; he does a great job with older horse too. If you drive for Allan you know they come to play every night; they're hung up perfectly.
"This mare's mother, Crafty Jewel, I was fortunate enough to get the call on her to win the Maritime Breeders Championship back a number of years ago and I think we did it in track record speed at that time. And Brodie was fortunate enough to get the drive on her daughter and win the same big race, and now he's also won a bunch more with her. He's done a great job."
Ramblinglily returned $2.90 to win.
Kenny Arsenault kicked off Atlantic Breeders Crowns with a victory and returned to capture the final $22,000 event for three-year-old pacing colts and geldings with his own trainee and defending champion Untouchable One.
Untouchable One broke stride from the inside, but recovered and advanced to the top over Beach Paradise (Mike Stevenson) past the :28.2 opening quarter. Meanwhile, Libertys Art (Jason Hughes) veered into outsider Scarlet Chaser (Clare MacDonald) and hooked wheels, causing interference to Jacobs Jackpot (Gilles Barrieau), divisional leader The Rev (Danny Romo), and J B Bolt (Redmond Doucet) into the first turn.
As the backfield straighten out, Untouchable One proceeded to show the way to the half in :57 and three-quarters in 1:26.3 with a solid lead and cruised home for his sixth win in a row in 1:56.1. Jacobs Jackpot came on for second, five lengths behind, and Beach Paradise finished third.
"He's probably one of the nicest Maritime-breds that I've ever drove in my life," said Arsenault after the victory. "I was very fortunate there after he made the break to come back out and not bother anybody else in the race."
The Carlspur-Bolero Tam Tam gelding was bred by Cheryl Geldart Greer of Norton, N.B. and is owned by the Dooley Boys Racing Stable of Halifax, N.S. He is nine-for-11 this year with $45,438 banked in purses.
"He's a fantastic horse," added Arsenault. "Sean [Dooley] did a great job with this horse."
The 1-9 favourite paid $2.70 to win.
Sunday's card wrapped up with a powerful performance by All Turain in the $10,700 Island Pacing Championship, sponsored by Meridian Farms. The four-year-old Tell All gelding earned his sixth in a row with a career-best 1:52.2 wide-open score.
Big League (Corey MacPherson) overtook Wild Dragon (Gilles Barrieau) at the :27-second first quarter mark and took the field to the half in :55.4 with 3-5 favourite All Turain and Brodie MacPhee on the move from fourth. All Turain swept to the lead and began to open up daylight on the field through three-quarters in 1:23.3. He continued to pour it on down the lane, widening his winning margin to 16 lengths. Narragansett (Norris Rogers) and Touch Of Lightning (Earl Smith) rounded out the top three finishers.
"I can't believe it," said MacPhee. "I looked at the toteboard coming down the stretch an it said 1:23 there and he was strong right to the wire.
"They were going pretty hot fractions up front and Corey's horse really had to work hard to make the lead so I just had to wait and I cleared at the five-eighths. He really muscled right up."
Trainer Trevor Hicken shares ownership of the speedy pacer with Charlottetown's Lee Hicken.
The favourite paid $3.30 to win.
In regular racing action, 13-year-old Abundaspin won the weekly $1,800 Open Trot in 2:00.2, notching his 70th career win (13th this year) for trainer/driver Harold Shepherd and owner Mikaela Lustic of Warren Grove, P.E.I. Stephen McQuinn trainee Bunny Mach took the $2,200 Fillies & Mares Open Pace in 1:56.1 with Gary Chappell driving for owners Donald MacRae and Steven Macrae of Vernon Bridge, P.E.I.
Important Links
- Program Pages - past performance program page for each race, courtesy of TrackIT
- Entries - Sunday's racing entries
- Results - Sunday's racing results
- Live Video - Live video streaming online