Time To Dance stole the show on a busy 12-race Sunday (Nov. 5) card, which featured a pair of Preferreds along with three divisions of the Joe MacRae Memorial Fall Series.
In the 11th race featured $3,800 Preferred 1, Time To Dance hogged the spotlight with a gate-to-wire victory. Starting from post five in the field of six, driver Marc Campbell put Time To Dance on the engine immediately through a wicked :26.4 first quarter. Time To Dance was respected on the lead through a middle half of :571 and 1:26.2. In the stretch, Time To Dance would have to dig in gamely to fend off the upset minded pocket-sitters, Fern Hill General and Kenneth Arsenault, as they came calling in the lane. Time To Dance dug in with a :28.1 final quarter to hold Fern Hill General at bay by a head to score in 1:54.3. Stash It Away and Ken Murphy finished third.
The victory was the second consecutive and ninth of the season in 29 starts for the Brent Campbell trainee. The seven-year-old gelded son of A Rocknroll Dance-Mystical Gypsy owns 49 career victories and has banked $256,939 for owners Brent Campbell, Brady Doyle, Kent MacDonald and Ryan MacLeod.
JK Last Chance pulled off a mild upset at 9-1 to score in the $3,450 Preferred 2. Driven by Kenneth Arsenault, JK Last Chance capitalized off the pocket trip to to score the 1:55.3 victory by three-quarters of a length over Blood Money and Adam Merner.
Also trained by Arsenault, the six-year-old gelded son of So Surrealy-Lchaim is a five-time winner in 24 tries in 2023. Owned by Daniel MacIsaac, JK Last Chance sports a career bankroll of $90,067.
Arsenault also kicked off the Joe MacRae Memorial Fall Series action, winning the first of three divisions for non-winners of $4,500 in 2023 with Lock Her Up.
Saddled with the outside post four in the field of four, Lock Her Up was on the outside looking in for the majority of the mile from fourth before striking from second-over with a :30.4 final quarter to score the quarter-length victory in 2:00.3 over Well Lets See and Todd Hardy.
Arsenault also does the training of Lock Her Up for owner James Kennedy. The victory was the second of the season in 27 starts for the six-year-old mare by Bolt The Duer-Somewhere Secret who has made $29,292 lifetime.
Painted Pony delivered as the even-money favourite in the second division as a dominant winner with Marc Campbell in the bike.
Leaving from post five, Painted Pony led every step of the mile, cruising to a 1:59.2 victory by a length on the line over Egamer and Ken Murphy.
The breakthrough victory was the first of 2023 and 47th of the career for the 14-year-old war horse son of SS Sand Dollar-Painted Biscuit. Owned and trained by Raymond White, Painted Pony has earned $75,334 for his career.
West Coast Kid wrapped up the MacRae Memorial action with an open-length victory with David Dowling doing the driving.
West Coast Kid took control of the field just beyond the quarter and wouldn't look back, strolling to a 2-1/2-length victory in 1:58.4 over Elm Grove Nanci.
West Coast Kid secured back-to-back victories on the year and notched his third overall for the season in 13 outings. Trained by Phillip Kelly, the five-year-old gelded son of Betterthancheddar-Maid West owns eight career victories and earnings of $32,706 for owners Lynn Maclaren, John Mackenzie, Philip Kelly and Colton Profitt.
To view Sunday's harness racing results, click the following link: Sunday Results - Charlottetown Driving Park.