After being shouldered with the far outside in his Governor’s Plate elimination and the final, Euchred will breath a slight sigh of relief looking at the program for Saturday evening at Red Shores Racetrack and Casino at the Charlottetown Driving Park.
The Michael Dowling-trained pacer will leave from post five in a field of six entrants in the Preferred pace, slated as the tenth race on the 11-dash card. Walter Cheverie picks up the catch drive on Euchred for owner Kayla Habicht Walker of Inverness, N.S., as he squares off with five foes in the $3,000 event, including two other Governor’s Plate finalists. Czar Seelster leaves from post three in the Preferred pace, with Mike McGuigan subbing in for regular driver Kenny Arsenault after finishing sixth in Prince County’s biggest race. This year's Cecil Ladner Memorial champion Bugsy Maguire has post six with trainer Wade Sorrie electing to drive himself on Saturday evening after the horse was fifth in the $25,000 Governor’s Plate final last Saturday.
Sock It Away has rail control with Corey MacPherson in the bike for trainer Kevin MacLean, and the son of Pang Shui sports a win and a second in just two East Coast starts this season.
Race analyst Les MacIsaac will look to the post draw of Euchred as he places him in the top spot.
“Euchred has battled outside posts for the better part of the year against the best in the Maritimes but you'd never know it looking at his summary; 10 top- three finishes from 11 tries,” MacIsaac said. “With this being the closest he's been to the rail in a month we'll treat him as the one to beat.”
The field is completed by Adkins Hanover (Ambyr Campbell) and Rollwithitharry (Ron Matheson).
The Clan MacPhail Reunion 2019 pace is carded as the sixth race of the evening, with Hes Marvalous the morning line favourite in the $2,500 class from post three with Myles Heffernan Sr., in the bike for trainer Myles Heffernan Jr., and owner Jackie Heffernan of Summerville. The six-year-old son of Delmarvalous failed to get a cheque in Governor’s Plate elimination and consolation action but had a solid summary of on-the-board finishes beforehand. Other top entries are Give Em Heck (Matheson) and JJ Powerball (Sorrie).
Red Shores, Standardbred Canada and the Prince Edward Island Horse Owners Association are proud to support National Caretaker Appreciation Day on the program with special videos, prize giveaways and presentations.
First race post time is 6:00 p.m. Standardbred groom Alexis Gass will be special guest on the Inside Track with host Peter MacPhee Saturday at 5:35 p.m. The interview segment will be broadcast on the Red Shores TV network.
Catch all the action live at the track or tune into the worldwide broadcast at redshores.ca. To view the entries for Saturday's card at Charlottetown, click the following link: Saturday Entries - Charlottetown Driving Park.
(with files from Red Shores)