Gilles Barrieau won the annual E.F. Acorn Memorial Driver’s Championship, presented on Horseperson’s Day by the P.E.I. Standardbred Horse Owners Association (PEISHOA) at Charlottetown Driving Park.
After four top three finishes through the first six challenge races, Barrieau took the E.F. Acorn Memorial Trophy with back-to-back wins in the final two dashes over a sloppy track. Barrieau and the Keith Ford-conditioned Solanos Dragon edged out favourite Mach Vegas and Brodie MacPhee by a neck for his first challenge victory and then drew off with Craig Avery trainee Outside The Wire to a five and a half length triumph.
Kenny Arsenault, defending champion Marc Campbell, Harold Shepherd, Ron Matheson, Jason Hughes, and Brodie MacPhee earned one win each throughout the competition, which also featured top drivers Terry Gallant and Willie Murphy.
Barrieau was the winner with 64 points while MacPhee finished second with 55 points and former champion Matheson was third with 53.
The drivers donated all money raised in the competition to U.S. based driver Anthony Coletta, who was severely injured in an accident last Sunday at Harrah’s Philadelphia. The drivers raised a total of $1,750, which was then matched by the PEISHOA, sending the total up to $3,500.
Barrieau has earned 45 of his 136 wins this year at the Charlottetown oval and ranks among the top five drivers on the local leaderboard.
In other action, the Andrew family, of Meridian Farms fame, had a big day at the track sending five horses to victory lane.
To view Saturday's harness racing results, click on the following link: Saturday Results - Charlottetown Driving Park.
(With files from Red Shores)