Astor Wins Feature; Panacotta Passes

The close battle atop the Charlottetown Driving Park leaderboard resumed on Saturday afternoon with drivers Jason Hughes and Marc Campbell finishing one-two in the feature race.

Astor provided Hughes with his third win of the day in the $2,200 top class, named in honour of the late Charles MacDonald.

Machinthesand and Campbell advanced first over from fifth through fractions of :28.4, 1:00.1 and 1:30.1 over a sloppy track with favourite Astor and trainer/driver Hughes looming in the pocket. Machinthesand eventually pushed past the pacesetting Cheyenne Ford and Kenny Arsenault down the stretch, but Astor had shot through up the passing lane to prevail in 1:59.4 by one and a half lengths.

Astor earned his fifth win from 29 races in his five-year-old campaign for owner Foxyhall Racing of Wallace, N.S.

Campbell won two races on the 15-dash card and maintains a slight, four-win edge over Hughes (124-120) in the track's 2014 driver standings. Meanwhile, Hughes leads all trainers for wins with 70 on the season.

Following the featured seventh race, a tragic incident claimed the life of the Baglole family's beloved nine-year-old pacer Panacotta. The No Pan Intended gelding went off-stride in the stretch and fell, suffering a broken pastern bone.

"He was our only horse and we loved him a lot. He was a member of our family," Shane Baglole, who had claimed the gelding in August 2012, told Trot Insider.

Panacotta had won 25 races -- including four this year -- and had earned $53,692 in purses throughout his career.

Please join Standardbred Canada in offering condolences to the connections of Panacotta.

To view Saturday's harness racing results, click on the following link: Saturday Results - Charlottetown Driving Park.