TRURO, N.S. – A member of team P.E.I. outmatched his competition Friday evening at Truro Raceway and captured the Atlantic Regional Driving Championship.
Gilles Barrieau recorded a driving triple in the eight race event at the Nova Scotia oval to earn him a spot in the National Driving Championship set for September at Grand River Raceway in Ontario alongside second place finisher Redmond Doucet of Nova Scotia. All of the action was broadcast world wide on www.Redshores.ca, as part of a special presentation.
A native of Saint John, N.B., Barrieau has become a regular at both Red Shores tracks on Prince Edward Island in recent year giving him the necessary win totals to gain him a spot as a P.E.I. representative.
"I had a great night," Barrieau said after being crowned victor in the Atlantic Regional. "All of the drivers are competitive. It was a great evening and everything just worked out for me."
Barrieau finished the competition with 72 total points to punch his ticket to Ontario for the National Driving Championship. Redmond Doucet finished second with 61 points, Jason Hughes was third with 60 points while fellow Island representative Marc Campbell was fourth on the evening with 57 points. Fifth on the evening was Darren Crowe at 42 points, followed by Todd Trites at 40 points, John Gerard Kennedy at 23 points and Island representative Ken Murphy was eighth with 21 points.
Friday night in Truro, Barrieau scored wins in race 2 with Sock It To Em in 1:58.1 for owner-trainer Kenneth Parker Jr., of Gays River, N.S., race 5 with Miss Sangria in 1:58.2 for trainer George Rennison of Truro and the race 9 finale with Four Brass Starz in 1:59.4 for trainer Nick MacGillivray of Stratford, P.E.I., who shipped over for the regional contest. Barrieau won the inaugural National Driving Championship in 2007 to represent Canada in New Zealand and Australia.
In other Atlantic Regional Driving Championship action, Redmond Doucet opened up the night at the Nova Scotia half-miler with a victory aboard CJ Bluefin in 2:00 for trainer Neil Bambrick of Charlottetown, P.E.I. Doucet continued his early dominance in the third race of the night in 2:01 for trainer Parker.
P.E.I. representative Jason Hughes then had a strong surge in the middle of the competition as the Stratford horseman won two races from his own stable scoring with Silverinyourpocket in 1:58.1 in race 4 and Jeb in 1:57 in race 6.
Race 7 saw Truro's own representative, Darren Crowe, visit the winner's circle with Montreal Phil in 1:57.2 from his own stable.
The card also featured a $2,500 preferred pace with Hughes cutting all the fractions to romp by four lengths with Mr Irresistible in 1:54.2 for a training triple from his own stable. Danny Birt of Stratford, P.E.I, owns the pacer.
At the National Driving Championship in September, Barrieau and Doucet will join Western Regional finalists Jamie Gray and Kelly Hoerdt, along with Ontario finalists Trevor Henry and Louis-Philippe Roy.
The eight driver competition will be rounded out by the top two in the Eastern Ontario/Quebec Regional Driving Championship being held Saturday (June 30) at Kawartha Downs in Peterborough, Ont. The winner of the National Driving Championship will represent Canada at the World Driving Championship in Sweden in 2019 alongside defending World Driving Champion James MacDonald, a native of Kingston, P.E.I.
by Nicholas Oakes, for Red Shores