Carnivore, a former Grand Circuit competitor, will make his debut on the East Coast in the $5,000 Walter Dale Memorial Invitational Pace, which will wrap up Fredericton Raceway’s action-packed double header on Canada Day
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Carnivore will start from Post 2 in the five-horse affair with driver Earl Smith. The four-year-old son of Real Desire-Party Animal was purchased by Rene Allard of Saint-Esprit, QC and Windemere Farms of North Wiltshire, PE in May, who have their sights set on the Gold Cup & Saucer at Charlottetown. The 7-2 third choice in the morning line will face a competitive field including Cecil Ladner Memorial Pace champion Outlawpositivcharg and trainer-driver Terry Gallant, the 5-2 early favourite. Ladner runner-up St Pete Star (PP1, Marc Campbell), P H Bestman (PP4, Todd Trites) and Hilo (PP5, Danny Romo) complete the line up.
Trainer Earl Watts told The Daily Gleaner that Carnivore trained “super” on Friday. "We had a 1:56 trip in Charlottetown. He was sick but we gave him two weeks in the grass. He'll have 10 days back training and jogging since we started back with him. The Fredericton track is a little smaller, but he's not a great big horse. He's a good half-mile horse.
"If it's a nice night, it should be a very fast mile," added Watts, suggesting that the 1:55 track record set by Shannon Commander in 1993 Walter Dale, which is the longest standing pacing record in the Maritimes, could be threatened.
"It's a short field," added Todd Trites, "but probably the most talented one in recent memory. They're all capable horses with good lifetime earnings...So these horses haven't just got lucky. At the three-quarter pole, I'm guessing you'll be able to throw a blanket over the field. Any of those five could spring up and do it.
"We've had some wet weather but the bet's been decent for what the weather has been. There are some new faces looking over the fences. That's always good to see.
"This is always a big card for us. We just want to carry that momentum on the rest of the year."
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(With files from The Daily Gleaner)