A talented group of distaffers will square off in the $4,450 Fillies & Mares Winners Over Pace on Thursday, Nov. 6 at Red Shores Racetrack and Casino at the Charlottetown Driving Park, with the filly sensation Badgirl Bridgette taking on seasoned rivals for her record-setting trainer. The feature is the 10th race on the 11-dash card, which kicks off at 6 p.m. (AST).
The multiple stakes-winning daughter of Stonebridge Terror and Whatabadgirl has dominated her sophomore campaign, and now owner/trainer Bill Lanigan of Montague, P.E.I. will test Badgirl Bridgette against older mares in Thursday's top distaff class where she will leave from post four with Jason Hughes in the driver’s seat. She has already notched 11 wins from 14 starts this year and boasts more than $97,000 in seasonal earnings.
The 94-year-old Lanigan has earned a distinction of his own after Badgirl Bridgette’s Maritime Breeders Stakes score last time out on Oct. 25. Lanigan is now the oldest trainer to win a stakes race in the last 35 years of Canadian harness racing. Lanigan could very well be the oldest trainer to ever win a stakes race in Canadian history but records kept prior to 1990 make that distinction difficult to verify. John Atkins of Alberta and Bill Megens of Ontario were both 92 when they trained stakes winners, a record beat last season by Lanigan during Badgirl Brigette’s rookie season.
Badgirl Bridgette square off against a strong Thursday group that includes fellow sophomore filly My Happy Place (Gilles Barrieau), and older mares Shake N Blake (Ken Murphy), Sweet Molly (David Dowling) and Get Answers (Marc Campbell).
The "Post Time Picks" selects the sophomore stakes star as the one to beat: “Badgirl Bridgette has put together an incredible three-year-old season and has the most wins and money on the page. Now she faces older mares but has been here before and with the 'Blue Knight' at the wheel, we’re calling for win number 12 on the season.”
Earlier on the card in race six, the $4,000 Open Trot features another marquee matchup between class veterans Buckhead Ridge (Marc Campbell) and Fight Song (Hughes). The pair have traded blows all season and although the Landon Campbell-trained Buckhead Ridge has hit the winner’s circle more, it is the Ashley Gamester-trained Fight Song that is immortalized on the "CDP Track Record" sign with his overall Atlantic Canadian trotting record of 1:54.3. Also in the field are Hallofaride (Ryan Desroche), Ripped And Ready (Brett Clow) and Whole Nother (Colin Sheppard).
To view Thursday's harness racing entries, click the following link: Thursday Entries - Charlottetown Driving Park.
(With files from Red Shores; photo of Badgirl Brigette winning on Oct. 5)