The 2017 racing season has been nothing short of remarkable for Prince Edward Islands's leading driver, and with rail control in the Saturday night (September 9) feature, Marc Campbell will look to add to those totals at Red Shores Racetrack and Casino at the Charlottetown Driving Park.
First race post time is 6:00 p.m. (Atlantic) for the 14-dash card, with Rose Run Quest leaving from post one in the thirteenth-race featured event for trainer-driver Campbell and owner Blair Hansen. Campbell is the leading driver and trainer at both Red Shores locations in Charlottetown and Summerside, and this is only where his accomplishments start as 2017 passes two-thirds completion.
With 85 wins as a trainer, Campbell ranks third in Canada for victories and first in the nation for percentage with his .552 average. That average also puts him third in North America for trainers with under 300 starts. As a driver, Campbell has made 163 trips to victory lane in 2017, placing him seventh in Canada for wins among drivers and first for driving average at .466. Those numbers will look to be bolstered in race 13 on Saturday, as Rose Run Quest has just four starts on red soil but an impressive summary of two wins and two seconds. His competition in Saturday's $2,400 preferred pace will be fierce, as he faces off with Nogreatmischief (Walter Cheverie), Forever Paradise (Gilles Barrieau), Carracci Hanover (Jason Hughes), and Junebugs Baby (Myles Heffernan).
Race analyst Les MacIsaac sees Nogreatmischief as a major threat to repeat his Preferred pace victory from last week.
"Nogreatmischief's tardy starts always force him to come from the back, but in a five-horse field, the back isn’t all that far away," MacIsaac said. "He just beat these last week and we don’t see any reason he can’t double up."
In other action, JK Rocket rides a two-race win streak into race eight with Earl Smith back in the bike for owner and trainer Joe Smallwood. The three-year-old son of Ameripan Gigolo has post five this week as he faces off with Woodmere Soul (Barrieau), who is fresh off a career-best clocking of 1:58 in an Atlantic Sires Stakes “B” division at Northside Downs in Nova Scotia in his latest outing.
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(Red Shores)