Stallions will outnumber the geldings as the top pacers head to the gate in the Preferred pace Sunday afternoon at Red Shores Racetrack and Casino at the Charlottetown Driving Park.
The 14-dash presentation kicks off at 12:30 P.M. with the Preferred pace carded as race 13, featuring a $2,650 purse. Rollwithitharry gets top billing from post four in the compact field of five. Walter Cheverie gets the catch-driving call behind the 10-year-old son of Rocknroll Hanover for trainer Jackie Matheson and owner Woodmere Farms of Marshfield, P.E.I.
Absent from the racing scene for over three years, Rollwithitharry has been standing stud on P.E.I., and returns to racing after successfully selling his first crop at public auction this past month. The pacer was a convincing winner in 1:56.2 in his latest start but goes up a notch on the class ladder to find some warhorses that have been slugging it out every week.
Winter Blast defeated his foes in last week’s Preferred pace and gets the rail to work from this week for driver Jason Hughes and conditioner Jennifer Doyle. Three Truths saw his hot streak come to an end last week with a sixth-place finish ending his top-three streak. Kenny Arsenault will again drive the son of Shadow Play with an improved post this week as he has drawn post two. Czar Seelster has been a force on the Invitational circuit all season and will look for revenge after a fourth-place finish in his latest, with Mike McGuigan at the lines Sunday. IC True Grit rides a trio of top-three finishes into the event with post three for driver Ron Matheson.
Race analyst Les MacIsaac like the fresh demeanour of Rollwithitharry to put it all together.
“His back class really showed up last week when he left an excellent field in the dust,” MacIsaac said of Rollwithitharry. “These will be tougher but off that performance and with the aforementioned back class, it's hard to rule out a repeat.”
The back-up pace on the program hits the track in race 10 for a $2,350 pot. Pictonian Storm will leave from the rail, looking to help rookie driver Austin Sorrie make history. The 19-year-old Montague driver is in the midst of a red-hot first season in the race bike with 28 wins going into the weekend. Corey MacPherson holds the record for most wins by a first-year driver on P.E.I. with 31 wins in his 2009 rookie campaign. Sorrie, who already holds the distinction of recording the fastest win by a rookie driver on the East Coast, has 12 drives between the Saturday and Sunday programs at Red Shores Charlottetown to help his drive to the history books.
To view the entries for Sunday's card, click the following link: Sunday Entries - Charlottetown Driving Park.
(with files from Red Shores)