Fresh faces found the winner's circle in Saturday's featured events at Red Shores Racetrack and Casino at the Charlottetown Driving Park.
A field of five in the $1,950 Open Trot was reduced to four with the late scratch of Majian Tango. Steve Shepherd sent Suicide Shift to the front of the compact quartet and made every call a winning one as the longest shot on the board. After powering through fractions of :31.1, 1:02.2 and 1:34.1, a final quarter of :30.1 was enough to hold off favoured Dusty Lane Jacob (Adam Merner) by a length and a quarter in 2:04.2.
Harold Shepherd trains and owns six-year-old Suicide Shift (Pjs Nabby - Southwind Bethany) along with Margo Fisher of Fredericton, N.B. The win was the 16th in the trotter's career, lifting his bankroll to $48,515.
The complexion of the $2,350 Fillies & Mares Open Pace changed dramatically when favoured Prettyndangerous made a break early to take her out of contention. That opened the door for Dustlanemissmolly to go coast-to-coast for her first win at the open level. Myles Heffernan Sr. used rail control to set the tempo through panels of :30.1, 1:00.4 and 1:31.2 before sprinting home in :29 over the off track to trip the timer in 2:00.2, more than two lengths better than Collective Wisdom (Drew Neill).
Dustlanemissmolly (Brandons Cowboy - The Boss Daughter) now sports 21 lifetime victories and more than $133,000 in purse earnings for trainer Myles Heffernan Jr. and owner Jackie Heffernan of Glace Bay, N.S.
For the full results from Saturday's card of harness racing, click the following link: Saturday Results - Charlottetown Driving Park.