After putting away his only real challenge in the first quarter of the race last week, Doctor Royal is back on red soil Saturday night (May 11) for the top event at Red Shores Racetrack and Casino at the Charlottetown Driving Park.
The 13-dash program gets underway at 6:00 p.m. with the $2,900 preferred pace slotted in as the twelfth race. Doctor Royal will leave from the far outside in the seven-horse field with Gilles Barrieau back in the bike for owner-trainer Dawn Ellis Abbott of Truro, N.S. Hes Marvalous (Myles Heffernan) stalked for the duration of the race last week to finish third and will leave from post four on Saturday. Mick Dundee has been installed as second choice in the morning line from post three for trainer-driver Don MacNeill of New Haven.
Race analyst Les MacIsaac sees the Saturday night contest as Doctor Royal’s race to lose.
“After a jogburger at Truro, Doctor Royal made his Island debut last week and nothing changed,” MacIsaac said. “He's looking for his third straight [on Saturday] and other than the likely short price there's not much to dislike.”
Also in the field is Red Magician (Adam Merner), Winter Blast (Corey MacPherson), Confident Fella (Marc Campbell) and Adkins Hanover (David Dowling).
One of the top pacers on the East coast in 2018, Euchred returns to racing action in the Race 13 finale. Kayla Habicht Walker of Inverness, N.S., owns the seven-year-old son of Shadow Play, who compiled an impressive season in 2018 including runner-up finishes in the $25,000 Governor’s Plate Final and the $5,000 Cecil Ladner Memorial. Euchred is now under the care of trainer-driver David Dowling.
Noplay made his East Coast debut a winning one last week and has drawn Post 2 in tenth race of the program, competing for a purse of $1,700. Ken Murphy is back in the seat behind the five-year-old son of Shadow Play for owner-trainer Allan Gregory of Charlottetown.
Screen Test makes his debut in Race 4 after shipping in from Western Canada for owners Kickin Horse Stable of York, and William Andrew of Calgary, Alta. Corey MacPherson will drive the Stephen Gass trainee at 8-1 odds in the $2,500 event.
The Leonard MacPhail Memorial lines up in Race 6 with Starcastic (Barrieau) the top choice from Post 5 for trainer Jackie Matheson and owners Bobbi Jo Matheson and Billy MacKenzie.
Driver Adam Merner will be special guest on Inside Track with Lee Drake Saturday at 5:35 p.m. Catch the action live at the track or tune into the worldwide broadcast at Redshores.ca.
To view the entries for Saturday's card, click the following link: Saturday Entries - Red Shores Racetrack and Casino at the Charlottetown Driving Park.
(with files from Red Shores)