Avatar J jetted late for the victory in the $3,400 Preferred Pace at Red Shores Racetrack and Casino at the Charlottetown Driving Park on Saturday evening (May 22).
Danny MacDonald trains the winning pacer for owners Jody Sanderson of Cornwall and Dean Larkin of Ontario. GA Speed Sammy set the tempo in the evening's feature with splits of :27.3, :58.1 and 1:27.3 over the track rated two seconds off. The pacesetter gave way in the stretch drive to finish third as driver Gilles Barrieau barreled Avatar J through the open stretch for the victory. First-over Bugsy Maguire finished second to have his win streak snapped at two.
Barrieau won four races on the card. He captured the first dash of the evening as Bet The Tide scored a maiden-breaking victory in 2:02 from the Kevin MacLean stable of Kinross. The O’Brien award-winning Barrieau won his other two races from his own stable, as Dustylanegoliath started off his three-year-old campaign with a 2:00.1 score and Mc Pat had his first P.E.I. win in the finale stopping the clock in 1:59.
Panimal Kingdom won the $2,800 back-up class charging to the wire in 1:59.3 with David Dowling in tow for trainer Colin Johnson and owners Debbie Element of Village Green and Bobbi Jo Matheson of Charlottetown. The son of No Pan Intended has been unheeded in two starts since coming to P.E.I.
(with files from Red Shores)
To view Saturday's harness racing results, click on the following link: Saturday Results - Charlottetown Driving Park.