The first half of Saturday's double-header card of harness racing at Red Shores Racetrack & Casino at the Charlottetown Driving Park featured eight divisions of freshman pacers in PEI Colt Stakes action.
There were four $7,300 splits for two-year-old fillies and another four $7,000 divisions for rookie pacing colts and geldings on the afternoon docket. The training and driving tandem of Melissa Rennie and Adam Merner picked up two wins in stakes action and another in conditioned action to each complete the card with a hat-trick.
Merner and Rennie picked up their first win of the card with pacing colt Windemere Ryan, who rebuffed a stout challenge from Harry G (Paul Langille) to win the first PEI Colt Stakes division in a lifetime best 1:58.1.
Windemere Ryan (Malicious - Rhondas Belle) picked up his fourth win of the season in six starts for High Five Racing Stable of Stanhope, P.E.I. and pushed his earnings to $15,089 in the process.
After winning the sixth race with Chief Exec Officer, Merner & Rennie completed the hat-trick in the stakes finale with The Big Chase. Merner and The Big Chase inherited the lead in that PEI Colt Stakes division when favoured Woodmere Rollnpop rolled offstride at the three-eighths mark while cutting the mile. From there, The Big Chase was never fronted and cruised to a four-plus length decision in 1:57.2 -- lowering his lifetime best by more than three seconds.
The Big Chase picked up the third win of his rookie campaign for JTL Risk Stable of Glace Bay, N.S. and nearly doubled his lifetime earnings to $6,515 with the victory.
Tobins Rebel bounced back from his first career defeat in the 2019 Milton Downey Memorial with a sharp wire-to-wire score in his PEI Colt Stakes division. Trainer-driver Gilles Barrieau placed the pacer on the front and played catch-me-if-you-can with his six rivals through fractions of :28.3, :57.3 and 1:28.2 before sprinting home in :28.4 to score in 1:57.1, the fastest division of the day.
Tobins Rebel pushed his record to 6-1-0 in seven starts for owner Daniel Ross of Belfast, P.E.I. with earnings of $28,480 .
Imalookertoo employed off-the-pace tactics to win his PEI Colt Stakes division. Sitting second over at the half for driver Marc Campbell, Imalookertoo made an impressive three-wide brush down the backside and powered away to win by more than six lengths in 1:58.4 to match his lifetime best.
Trained by Danny Romo for owner Robert Sumarah of Halifax, N.S., Imalookertoo sports six wins from 10 seasonal starts with $9,111 in earnings.
Watch Me Dance was the fastest filly pacer of the day, taking her PEI Colt Stakes division in 1:58. Driver Mark Bradley settled into third early, cleared to the lead just before the half and then held all rivals at bay to win by a length and a half.
Stephen Quinn trains and co-owns Watch Me Dance (Ameripan Gigolo - Mcdaisy Cutter) along with John Quinn of Charlottetown, P.E.I. and Ozzie MacKay of Moncton, N.B. With seven starts under her belt, Watch Me Dance has reeled off three wins and three seconds to accrue $23,218 in earnings.
Elm Grove Ocean had just enough kick in the lane to pick off pace-setting Ashestodiamonds in the Saturday afternoon opener, winning by a neck in 2:00.1
Walter Cheverie engineered the winning trip behind Elm Grove Ocean (Stonebridge Terror - Emberlee) for trainer Angus Gillis and Done For The Day Stable of New Waterford, N.S. The win was the fourth of the year and a new lifetime best, pushing her purse total to $11,464.
Bettorthanbobbi was better than her PEI Colt Stakes counterparts, going gate-to-wire for driver Mark Bradley to pick up her fifth win of the year with a 1:58.4 score.
Tom Weatherbie trains Bettorthanbobbi (Betterthancheddar - Pangoon) for Ian Smith of Charlottetown, P.E.I. The win lifted her bankroll to $9,550.
As expected, Saulsbrook Ocean captured the final PEI Colt Stakes division for pacing fillies but she likely caused a bit of panic among her backers by spotting the leader more than 12 lengths at the opening quarter. Driver Dale Spence had Saulsbrook Ocean third over and within five lengths of the leader at the half, then pushed the button for a three-wide attack at the three-quarter mark. Spence guided the rookie pacer around the final turn, and the duo forged to the lead when the field turned for home en route to a 1:59.1 win.
Trained by Joseph Baxter, Saulsbrook Ocean (Westwardho Hanover - Sharf Reef) sports a solid 4-3-0 summary from seven seasonal starts for Saulsbrook Stables Inc. of Windsor, N.S., Jennifer Baxter of Falmouth, N.S. and Michael McKenzie of Newport, N.S.
Stakes action continues on the Saturday night card at Charlottetown with PEI Colt Stakes divisions for the sophomores as well as the Atlantic Ages Pacing Mares Series.
To view the results from the Saturday afternoon card of harness racing at CDP, click the following link: Saturday Results - Charlottetown Driving Park (afternoon).