Windemere Skye chasing 27th straight victory

CHARLOTTETOWN, PE – Undefeated pacing sensation Windemere Skye (Somewhere Fancy) will look to move another step closer to harness racing history Thursday evening at Red Shores Racetrack and Casino at the Charlottetown Driving Park.

The 14-dash program gets underway at 6 P.M. with Windemere Skye returning to action in race 13, a $6,350 Fillies and Mares Preferred 2 Pace, as she attempts to extend her remarkable winning streak to 27 consecutive victories.

The three-year-old daughter of Somewhere Fancy has been perfect through 26 career starts, banking $259,818 for trainer Earl Watts and owners Windemere Farms and Matt Burke. Marc Campbell will again handle the driving duties from post one.

With another victory Thursday, Windemere Skye would move within one win of the modern-era pacing record of 28 consecutive victories, shared by legendary pacer Cam Fella, who accomplished the feat between May and December 1983, and former Atlantic Canadian champion Firms Phantom, whose streak spanned 2000 and 2001.

While trotting great A Worthy Lad recorded 30 consecutive victories, the distinction for Windemere Skye is the pacing record.

The all-time pacing marks include Carty Nagle, who won 41 consecutive races in 1937 and 1938, and Bret Hanover, who captured 35 straight in 1964 and 1965. However, those streaks were accumulated largely during an era of multiple-heat racing, when horses could compete and win more than once on the same day. Cam Fella and Firms Phantom achieved their streaks predominantly in single-heat racing, making their shared mark particularly significant in the modern era.

Windemere Skye faces a talented group of older mares Thursday, including Badgirl Bridgette (To be driven by Jason Hughes), who leaves from post three for trainer Bill Lanigan. The daughter of Stonebridge Terror has 26 lifetime victories and captured the $20,000 P.E.I. Mares Consolation on Premier’s Cup night.

Brokeandoutofgas has post four with Gilles Barrieau driving for owner-trainer Tammy Collings. The five-year-old mare enters off a victory in last week’s Preferred 2 Pace, stopping the clock in 1:56.

Windemere Saddy (Ken Murphy) leaves from post five for trainer Saul Lanigan after finishing second by a neck to Brokeandoutofgas in her latest outing. Rosetown Mary (Corey MacPherson) completes the field from post two.

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by Nicholas Oakes, for Red Shores