Inverness Raceway will celebrate 100 years of harness racing during its 2026 season, which begins this Sunday, May 31.
The Nova Scotia track's meet includes 23 race days on various Sunday afternoons (1 p.m. ADT post) and Wednesday evenings (7 p.m. ADT post) through Oct. 18. To view the complete racing schedule, click here.
Inverness Raceway will host its first stakes day of the season on June 28 with legs of the Atlantic Sires Stakes for three-year-old pacing colts and Phil Pinkney Memorial Stakes for three-year-old pacing fillies. Inverness will also host a leg of the Pinkney for two-year-old pacing fillies on July 22 and another Sire Stakes leg on July 26 for the two-year-old pacing colt division.
The meet will feature racing, family fun and tradition with centennial celebrations, including an outdoor dance in front of the tote board on July 10 with the band Get Out Of My Yard playing at 9:30 p.m. (ADT). Tickets for the 19+ event will be available for $25 at the entrance and there will be an on-site BBQ and cold beverages available for purchase.
This weekend's Opening Day program has seven races, with the top pacers facing off in the featured $2,000 Winners Over finale. Windemere Best Man, who was named Inverness Raceway's Horse of the Year for the second time in 2025 after an eight-win campaign, will return to action, starting from post four, for his trainer and top driver Danny Gillis. A familiar rival will lineup just to his inside, American Risk, who was a nose short of victory a week ago Monday in his first start of the season at Summerside Raceway for the George Rennison stable. The 52-time career winner gets the nod as the 5-2 morning line favourite while local Iron Horse of the Year Whats Up Doc, conditioned by Wayne MacLellan, is the second choice with the inside post for his season's debut. Redmond Doucet, who had the most drives at Inverness in 2025, is listed on both top picks.
Sunday's $1,700 fourth race conditioned class with $9,000 claimers and mares also eligible includes the award-winning claiming pacer I Got Socks, who won the most races at Inverness in 2025 for trainer D.F. Beaton, and Bettie White, defending Inverness Mare of the Year, for Zach Mullins, who was co-leading driver and top trainer last year.
To view Sunday's complete harness racing entries, click the following links: Inverness Raceway - Sunday Entries // Program Pages (courtesy of TrackIT)
(Standardbred Canada; photo of Windemere Best Man winning at Inverness Raceway in 2025)