Red Shores weekend action

CHARLOTTETOWN, PE – With a two-race win streak on the line, Pillage And Burn will step up in class in the Saturday afternoon harness racing feature at Red Shores Racetrack and Casino at the Charlottetown Driving Park.

The 11-dash Saturday presentation gets underway at 12:30 P.M., and Pillage And Burn has rail control as he takes on a solid crew of pacers. Ken Murphy will drive the Cam's Card Shark nine-year-old for trainer Trevor Hicken and owner Perry Burke of Quebec.

The pacer tripped out perfectly his last two starts to find the wire first and has another favourable starting post on Saturday. Gold Cup and Saucer finalist Screen Test has the outside in the six-horse field with Corey MacPherson at the controls for trainer Ron Gass. Soccer Hanover was a in a dead-heat for second behind Pillage And Burn last time out and has Adam Merner in the seat Saturday from post 5.

Mantario has been beyond consistent with five second-place finishes from seven starts in the Jennifer Doyle stable. David Dowling drives the son of Sportswriter as the horse looks to shed his bridesmaid status.

Also in the field are Open pacing mare Arc Light (To be driven by Marc Campbell) and Burn Out Hanover (Gilles Barrieau).

Peter MacPhee with the Post Time Picks has Screen Test on top of his ticket. "Screen Test has put together a very nice season and gets to avoid the bearcats today. We think Corey will be firing off the wings and if they do clear and set up shop on the front end will be hard to track down."

Silverhill Buddy is favoured in the afternoon finale with $2,350 at stake. David Myers co-owns and trains the six-year-old son of Proven Lover for co-owners Gwyneth McGuirk and Joanne MacRae. Dowling is at the controls of the 24-time winner. Other top entries are Sports Royalty (Kenny Arsenault) and Best To Hurst (Campbell).

For race programs and more go to Redshores.ca and wager online at HPIBet.com.

Redemption For The Rev?

SUMMERSIDE, PE – The richest Atlantic bred pacer of all time will look to even the score with his stablemate in the Sunday afternoon top event on the final card of the season at Red Shores at the Summerside Raceway.

With 11 dashes on tap, the Prince County oval kicks off the action at 1 P.M. with the $2,900 preferred pace hitting the track in race 10 in the Bob Dewar memorial race.

The Rev leads all Atlantic breds in gross earnings with $616,000 in the bank and the 10-year-old Nova Scotia bred pacer will look for career win number 42 on Sunday afternoon. Trainer Gilles Barrieau has elected to drive the Jeff Skinner owned pacer from post 3 on Sunday while entrusted the driving duties of stablemate Rose Run Quest to leading reinsman Corey MacPherson from post 5.

Rose Run Quest hit the wire first last week after moving hard first over from last place and taking over the lead from The Rev. Heart And Soul has been a dominant force in this class all summer at the Summerside Raceway from the George Riley barn with Myles Heffernan Sr., picking up the catch drive from post 4 this week.

Pictonian Storm (To be driven by Ken Murphy) has rail control with Woodmere Ideal Art (Norris Rogers) leaving from post 2.

The Backstretch Beat in Sunday's program places The Rev in the win position. "The Rev lost some momentum when he released his stablemate to the lead last week. With it looking like he will be on the front again today we like his chances for redemption."

In other action, Souverain has been listed as the morning line favorite in the Red Shores Summerside pace in race 2 while the Young Guns Driving Series starring Brett Clow, Brady and Jaycob Sweet and Kyle DesRoches wraps up for the season. The series is presented by the PEI Harness Racing Industry Association.

The driver's standings remain tight but it looks like MacPherson will waltz away with his first driving title. MacPherson is tied for first place in wins with 31 with Adam Merner, while David Dowling is in pursuit with 29 victories. With Dowling and Merner both in Nova Scotia for stakes action, all MacPherson needs to do is win one race to have the title all to himself.

Catch the action on the worldwide broadcast at Redshores.ca and wager online at HPIBet.com.

by Nicholas Oakes, for Red Shores