Driver Gilles Barrieau took a patient approach to winning with Power Off in Friday evening’s $20,000 James “Roach” MacGregor Gold Cup & Saucer Consolation at the Charlottetown Driving Park
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The four-year-old son of Western Terror-H H Sapphire, who was sent off as the 3-5 favourite in the eight-horse affair, was allowed to settle into the seven-hole behind a fired up Secret Weapon (Kenny Arsenault). The pacesetter threw down big splits of :27.1 and :55.4 over the rain soaked oval before Power Off swept to the top and drew clear to win by 2-3/4 lengths in a time of 1:54. Kid Carson (Simon Allard) was second and Amazon Art (Paul MacKenzie), Power Off’s stablemate, finished third.
“I’ll feel sorry for the owners from last week. He just had too much hopple last week. He needed some adjustments. He should have been in the big dance tomorrow night. I just let them battle tonight and took advantage of my cover. It was a nice touch to win this race tonight.”
Randy Van Meer trains the gelding for owner Harry Locke of Oshawa, ON. The win was his sixth of the season, and the lion’s share of the purse bumped his overall bankroll to $263,706.
The Friday evening program also featured a set of Lady Slipper Gold tilts for three-year-old pacing fillies, and two of the brightest stars in the Atlantic Sires Stakes program prevailed in their respective assignments.
In the first $12,000 division it was all Hey Jean winning in a romp for trainer/driver Marc Campbell. The daughter of Toofunnyforwords-Palma Panic, who was sent off as the 2-5 favourite, chopped out panels of :30.1, 1:02.2 and 1:33.1 before going into sprint mode and stopping the clock in 2:02.2. Woodmere Rose was next best and Woodmere Sandollar took home the show dough.
Blair Hansen of Charlottetown, PEI bred and owns the pacing filly, who notched her fourth win of the season from just 12 trips postward. She has banked more than $30,000 to date.
Meridian Magic extended her winning streak to 21-in-a-row thanks to a front-stepping score in the second division for trainer/driver Kenny Arsenault. The daughter of Largo-Hot Asset, who was sent off as the 1-9 choice, laid down panels of :30.1, 1:01.2 and 1:31.2 before scooting home in :29.2 to win in 2:00.4. Second best was R Es Miss Jen and third went to Elm Grove Ella.
Bred and owned by Barry Martin, who shares ownership on the filly with James Gillis of Sydney, NS. She’s now 10-for-10 this season after going 11-for-14 in her freshman campaign. The victory pushed her lifetime earnings in excess of $122,000.
To view Friday’s results, click here.