The first half of Rideau Carleton Raceway’s Daily Double on Thursday, May 22 is worth staying up for.
Nine trotters will take to the gate for Rideau’s eighth race, which is for non-winners of two lifetime races or $30,000 in lifetime earnings.
The enigmatic Trinity Kassandra will start from the rail. The late-blooming daughter of Potato Race has finished second in five of her 10 starts. A slow leaver, ‘Kassandra’ might just get the job done on Thursday, as the likely temposetter in the race isn’t known for sustainability. Trinity Kassandra is owned by Denis Simard and has progressed well under the tutelage of trainer/driver Ted McDonald.
Parkhill Jugernaut is a certain contender. With seven wins from 13 starts this year, the four-year-old gelded son of Ken Warkentin has yet to miss the board in any of his races this year, and is coming into the race off of a win in 1:59.4. Parkhill Jugernaut is owned by Michelle Frenette. Trainer Gabriele Boily has enlisted the driving services of Melanie Plourde, and the duo will start the race from Post 3.
Ballade is the previously-alluded-to temposetter. The front-end performer is a four-year-old daughter of Ken Warkentin that is known for early speed. She grabbed shares of the purse in her last two starts. Ballade is owned by Dr Frederick Albert , trained by Andrew Moore and will be driven by Guy Gagnon from Post 5
Bridget Mary was hampered by broken equipment in her last outing, yet managed a decent fifth-place finish against a tough group of $10K claimers. She finished a close second to Parkhill Jugernaut in their last encounter. Gord Brown will climb back on the bike for owner Bob Curran and trainer Blake Curran. The five-year-old daughter of Mr Lavec will have to overcome a somewhat tricky Post 7.
An even tougher eight-hole draw has fallen to another strong contender in Twiggys Twick. Denis Filion does it all on the Kadabra four-year-old. The mare continued her momentum from last year with a well-earned second to an unbeatable Next To Go in her last start.
To view the harness racing entries for Thursday at Rideau, click the following link: Thursday Entries – Rideau Carleton Raceway.
(With files from Rideau)