Driver Gilles Barrieau is only five wins away from notching career win 4,000, and the talented reinsman could hit the milestone in P.E.I. this weekend.
Barrieau was down to drive three horses on Friday night’s program, with live race programs following on Saturday night at Red Shores Racetrack & Casino at the Charlottetown Driving Park and Red Shores Summerside on Sunday afternoon.
Newcomer Clic K -- who made quite an impact with his first start on PEI taking the Premier’s Pace on Gold Cup night -- is the going for his third victory in a row when he takes on the top class Saturday in race 11, scheduled for post at 8:53pm. Barrieau will do the driving for trainer Ron Matheson. The seven-year-old pacer will be leaving from post 7 while the runner up in the Premier's Pace, Machinthesand (Ken Murphy), has drawn the rail for the $2,400 showdown. All eyes will be on Silverhill Shadow, who rocked to a 1:54.2 score for Paul MacKenzie in his last start. Terry Gallant will be in the bike for Silverhill of Tignish, PEI. The other starters include Iron Phil, Tempo Seelster, Cabo Pan Lucas and Si Semalu.
The program also features the Dave & Ginny Younker Memorial in race 3. The Younker family had a close connection to trotters so it’s fitting the memorial will have current track record holder Thunderaway competing for driver Jason Hughes and Foxyhall Racing of Summerside. Veteran Caliban Hanover will lead the post parade followed by Neal, Majian Chester and Eat Pray Trot.
Red Shores welcomes the Billings Driving Challenge to Charlottetown with competitions in races 4 and 6 and includes 24-year-old Hannah Miller and local driver Thane Arsenault.
Moving onto Sunday's card at Summerside, the two-year-old colts will be featured in the Joe O’Brien stakes while the two-year-old fillies will campaign in the Lady Slipper stakes part of a 14-dash program. The starter calls the horses at the historic Prince County oval at 1:00 p.m.
Dees Boy, owned by David Kent of Hunter River, leads off the program for trainer-driver Kenny Arsenault in the first division of the O’Brien stake for a purse of $4,300. Trainer Jamie Smith sends out Angie B in the first Lady Slipper event for $5,500. Jason Hughes will drive the 5-2 favourite for owner Angela MacDonald of Charlottetown.
There are two Lady Slipper Gold splits, each carrying a purse of $11,000. Scarlet Safari is the classifier’s choice in her assignment for owner Gordon MacLean, trainer Darryl MacLean and driver Marc Campbell while Howmacscanasta gets top billing in her class for driver Gilles Barrieau and owners Wayne MacRae, Robert Tilley and Lester Mott. Barrieau also has a live drive aboard Jackson K Down off the rail in the O’Brien Gold level for a purse of $10,200. The colt, owned by the Downey Stables, is five-for-five and a victory will push him over the $20,000 mark in earnings. The legendary stable could sweep the O’Brien Gold events when K D Overdrive competes in race 8.
In other action, Woodmere No Fool, fresh off the Mayor’s Challenge on Wednesday, is the morning line favourite in the Peter Coughlin Memorial in race 5 for trainer Garth Cole of Kensington and driver Brian MacPhee.
To view the complete lists of entries for the weekend cards, click one of the following links:
Saturday Entries - Red Shores Charlottetown -- Sunday Entries - Red Shores Summerside.
(with files from Red Shores)