CHARLOTTETOWN, PE – The Saturday evening harness racing feature was a duel to the finish but Avatar J prevailed at Red Shores Racetrack and Casino at the Charlottetown Driving Park.
Driver Jason Hughes pointed the Danny MacDonald trainee to the lead in the $3,200 preferred pace and was released to the first quarter in 27.4 by Beyondthesilence N (Driven by Chris Davies). Avatar J cruised through the next split in 57 then came under pressure fighting off Rose Run Quest (Marc Campbell) and Screen Test (Corey MacPherson) to the three-quarters of 1:26.1. Rose Run Quest had to settle back to third but Screen Test kept up the pressure down the stretch to narrowly finish second. Rose Run Quest was third. Avatar J is owned by Dean Larkin of Edwards, Ont., and Jody Sanderson of Cornwall.
Bugsy Maguire walked away with the evening back-up class giving driver Brodie MacPhee his first win since returning to driving. MacPhee's last victory was on August 3, 2014. The 2019 Cecil Ladner Memorial champion, Bugsy Maguire toured the capital oval in 1:56.1 for trainer Wade Sorrie and owner Walter Simmons of Summerside.
Driver Adam Merner scored a driving triple on the night including a pair of victories for trainer Melissa Rennie. Likely To Win won race 2 of the card in 1:57.2 then Maritime Champion Windemere Ryan captured the finale in a new lifetime best of 1:56.2 to kick off his three-year-old season. Merner's other victory came with Legendary Ron in a front-end score of 1:57.1 for owner Douglas Matheson of Cornwall.
Marc Campbell had a pair of training wins on the card as Time To Dance won his East Coast debut in 1:55.2 and veteran pacer Eagle Jolt won in 1:57.2.
The track crew had the historic oval in top-notch shape as the slowest dash of the 10-race card was recorded in 1:57.4 in possibly the fastest program since the track opened in 1888.
Wager was $55,334
For race replays and more go to redshores.ca
By Nicholas Oakes For Red Shores