The 2014 season at Red Shores Summerside came to a close in dramatic fashion when Jason Hughes posted a hat-trick to defeat Marc Campbell to become the driving champion at the Prince County oval.
Hughes ended the campaign with 47 victories while Campbell notched 44.
But wait there’s more. The Stratford, P.E.I. native recorded the driving triple with his own trainees Virginonthebeach, Beckenbauer and Walbert making him the leading trainer at Summerside with 22 training victories. Thane Mann finished a close second with 19.
All Turain and driver Mike Stevenson changed their game plan. The duo decided not to leave the gate and go after the lead in the $2,300 Preferred, opting to go to back of pack and stalk the field, led by Carnivore (Kenny Arsenault), through fractions of :28.3, :58.3 and 1:27.4. Stevenson sent the pacer three-high down the backstretch and drove on to win the Red Shores feature in 1:56.1 for owners Lee Hicken of Charlottetown, P.E.I. and Perry Burke of Grosse-Ile, Que. Trevor Hicken is the winning trainer. Machinthesand (Ken Murphy) was second with fraction-setter Carnivore third. The 7-2-1 triactor paid $674.40.
American Terror was able to hold off a fast-charging Blu Meadow Willie to close out the 2014 race season at Summerside. Kenny Arsenault mapped the winning trip for trainer Edward Harvey and his co-owner Kathy MacLean of Truro, N.S. Arsenault enjoyed a big day at the historic oval with four wins on the afternoon. The other horses making up the grand-slam included Come Back for trainer Timmy McKinnon, Rivervues Legacy from the Lester Stewart stable and trotter Sandhill Angel for conditioner Glenn Claybourne.
To view Sunday's harness racing results, click on the following link: Sunday Results - Summerside Raceway.
(With files from Red Shores)