SUMMERSIDE, PE – Slide Guitar will try to play a winning tune in the Wednesday afternoon harness racing feature for a special Canada Day program at Red Shores at the Summerside Raceway.
The 10-dash Wednesday card gets underway at 1 P.M. and the $2,300 featured pace lines up in race 9. Slide Guitar has rail control in the field of seven with David Dowling in the race bike fresh off a three win performance on opening day in Summerside to put him in a tie with Marc Campbell for leading driver.
Dowling co-owns Slide Guitar with trainer Brittany Watts of Warren Grove. Best To Hurst has post 2 after knocking on the door at this level in recent weeks but has yet to see the winner's circle for trainer Jonah Moase this year. Jason Hughes will drive Best To Hurst on Wednesday.
Hemingway has the far outside in the field fresh off a seasonal debut where he finished second to 1:55.3 winner Tobins Rebel at Charlottetown, pacing his own mile in 1:56. Adam Merner will drive Hemingway for trainer Melissa Rennie.
Hemingway may be second choice in the morning line odds but gets the respect of the Backstretch Beat selections in the Red Shores Summerside race program.
"Hemingway only has the one start this season but it was a fantastic one tracking along one of the nicest three-year-old colts in the region to finish second," Reads the beat. "Post 7 could complicate things but we think it can be overcome."
Also in the featured field are Flash In The Pang (To be driven by Ken Murphy), Souverain (Corey MacPherson), Payback (Brodie MacPhee) and Zack The Men (Dale Spence).
The afternoon back-up class hits the track in race 5 with a compact field of five vying for the $2,000 purse. JK Cowboy gets the respect of the morning line favourite from race secretary Gerard Smith. Leaving from post 1 the son of Brandons Cowboy was second in his latest outing for driver Spence and owner-trainer Greg MacInnis of Tyne Valley.
Other top entries are Heart And Soul (Walter Cheverie) and Dangle Ona Dime (MacPherson). The program will see the first two-year-olds of the season in pari-mutuel action on P.E.I., with Very Well Done in race 3 for trainer Clair Sweet and Mystifying in race 1 for trainer-driver Darryl MacLean.
MacPherson is still searching for win number 1,000 of his career after getting number 999 last Friday in Summerside. The Cornwall driver has six drives on the card.
For race programs, live video and more go to Redshores.ca and wager online at HPIbet.com.
By Nicholas Oakes for Red Shores