Jennifer Doyle was history bound on Sunday (Dec. 31) evening during a special New Year’s Eve presentation at Red Shores Racetrack and Casino at the Charlottetown Driving Park.
The Vernon Bridge, P.E.I. trainer scored a triple on the evening to clinch the training dash title at the city track and become the first female trainer to earn the honour in 135 seasons of racing at the historic half-mile oval.
Doyle’s Sunday exploits included wins with Atlantic Star (Mike McGuigan) in 1:59.3, Mantario (Damian MacLellan) in 1:57 and Elm Grove Mistress (Jason Hughes) in a 1:58 trip. The triple put Doyle at 74 wins at Red Shores Charlottetown in 2023 ahead of Hughes in second with 69 wins after a training double while Melissa Rennie rounded out the top three with 67 victories.
Mantario sat third through the Preferred 2 worth $3,450 with panels set in :28.3, :58.2 and 1:28.1 by the pacesetting favourite Middleton Terror (David Dowling). Mantario sprung into action up the backstretch and never looked back as he cruised home to win by 1-1/2 lengths in 1:57.
Hughes’ training wins on the card came with Woodmere Sheldon (1:59.1) in line to Hughes and in the $3,400 Fillies and Mares Preferred Pace with Acefortyfour Dome (1:57.4) with Mark Bradley above the wheels. Hughes also had a driving triple as Skip Across won race five in 1:59.1 for trainer Stanley Harper for her third straight.
Marc Campbell had three winning steers to cement his 14th straight season as leading driver at Red Shores Charlottetown. Campbell prevailed with Itsuptoyou (1:59.1) for trainer Kevin MacLean, Spack Jarrow (1:57.4) for Raymond White and Dorabella (2:00.1) for trainer Kyle Desroche.
Campbell ended the year with 157 wins to top the local leaderboard. Hughes, a finalist for the 2023 O'Brien Award of Horsemanship, also finished second in the driver standings with 144 wins, while David Dowling was third with 112 wins.
Tammy Collings grabbed her first career training victory during the program when MacLellan guided Howmac Maximus to a 1:58.3 win in race two.
The final race of 2023 was won by Three Trick Gainer (David Dowling) in a 1:57.4 stretch drive for trainer Saul Lanigan.
Live harness racing continues on Saturday, Jan. 6 at Red Shores Charlottetown. Racing resumes every Saturday.
To view Sunday's harness racing results, click the following link: Sunday Results - Red Shores at the Charlottetown Driving Park.
(With files from Red Shores)