Charlottetown, PE – The official countdown to the 2015 Gold Cup & Saucer will be launched Saturday when live racing returns to Red Shores Racetrack & Casino. The legendary Charlottetown Driving Park oval kicks off the season with first race post time at 6pm. The official broadcast will be carried at www.redshores.ca
It's going to be a busy day at the track with a host of new promotions, special trackside presentations and the famous Kentucky Derby live from Churchill Downs in Louisville, Kentucky.
The evening featured event will go to the gate in race 9 with an 8:17pm AST post time. Tempo Seelster, owned, trained and driven by Vince Poulton, Charlottetown, is the favorite at 5-2 odds on the morning line. Race analyst Les MacIsaac, who returns for his 18th year on Les's Picks in the race program, says he will tough to beat. "Tempo Seelster closed out the meet with back to back wins and if the recent qualifier is any indication, he looks poised to pick up right where he left off."
The field has some other heavy hitters including JRs Hurricane (Gary Chappell) who had a sparkling resume in 2014 with 26 top three finishes from 38 starts which included 12 victories while pole sitter Outside The Wire makes his season debut for trainer Craig Avery and driver Jason Hughes. Hughes, who shared with top driver of 2014 with Marc Campbell with 126 winners, is booked on five horses while Campbell is down on six. Both pilots open the season tied with 12 scores each on the leader board. The top class also includes Veronicavermillion (Neil Bambrick), Carnivore (Walter Cheverie) and Miracle Matts (Corey MacPherson).
Campbell could grab the early lead in the season's rankings when he handles newcomer Fly With Max from post 6 in the PEI Poker Challenge pace in race 1. The four-year-old pacer comes in from Flamboro Downs for owners Wade Peconi, Stanchel and Nicholas Peconi Jr, Lakefield, Ontario.
Customers will be greeted to a list of new promotions including the Super High 5, Pik 3 and Pik 4. On-track players will be offered the Pick 5, Wild Horses tags on races 2-10 with jackpots and Set for Summer promo where customers have a chance to qualify to win weekly prizes with the grand prize of $1,000 a week for 10 weeks being drawn on the first day of summer June 21, 2015.
For race programs, Les's Picks or live broadcast go to www.redshores.ca or twitter at leedrake01 or red_shores
Lee Drake