Exhibition Park Raceway is pleased to announce that it will offer fans and horsemen an additional card of racing one week from today. Post time is 1 p.m. for the Monday May 22nd add-on date at EPR.

With Truro not racing this weekend the track is hoping to pick up some horses and with over abundance of horses in P.E.I. it adds another chance for horsemen to get their horses raced.

E.P.R.'s draw schedule is as follows:

Wednesday, May 17th @ 10:00 a.m for Saturday, May 20th.

Thursday, May 18th @ 10:00 a.m for Monday, May 22nd.

Stevenson Scorching at EPR, Five More Winners

Mike Stevenson took over the lead in the driver’s race at EPR on Saturday thanks to a five win performance. He now leads Gilles Barrieau by four-wins on the season. Mike took the top class on Saturday as Rakland Fine Line equaled his life’s mark with a 1:58.1 for the Ultimate Stable. Membership, in line to Kenny Parker Jr. cut some early torrid fractions including a :57.2 half as Galantine Hanover, a recent acquisition by Penn Hill Farms, sat the pocket and chased the leader. Rakland Fine Line made it a three-wide battle in the lane and collared Membership by a nose.

Mike started the day early as he scored with Paul Trainor’s Hey Hey Hockeytown as he delivered as heavy favorite in 2:05.2. Although owner Abel Arsenault was not in attendance on Saturday, his pacer Shang Hi Clyde rewarded him with a 2:00.1 triumph. Abel was in Ontario as he was trucking Dr. Ian Moore’s Impeccable who will go this weekend.

Island Vanessa, recently acquired by Travis Fowler, made her way to the winners circle for a season’s best of 2:01.2 for Stevenson. Becoming Jarwa made his maiden effort a winning one in 2:03.4 for owner Harry Holm of P.E.I.

Todd Trites also had a strong day as he posted a driving triple. Considermelucky skimmed the cones to get up for the win for Todd in the first and the mare took a new life’s mark of 2:03 for owner Dennis Fairall. Birdton Bert enjoyed quite a trip as he followed the speedy Bubwiser for most of the mile and took the lead by the three-quarters to take a new record of 2:01 for Doug & Ron Hildebrand.

Katahdin Country, one of our best overnight horses on a consistent basis made every post a winning one for owners Joanne Davies and Mike Doyle as Todd him clicking in 2:01.3. That also gave John Davies his second winning entry from his stable.

Other winners included Butch White’s Tys Power who went a gate to wire effort in 2:01 winning by over seven lengths in the process. It was Butchie’s birthday on Saturday which made the win even sweeter. He is trained by John Davies giving him a triple on the afternoon.

Woodmere Quickpeek was out for his first start of the season and won at first asking in 2:00 as he held on for a photo finish victory, with Stevenson just missing with Finally Laughing that would have given Mike a total of six.

Saturday also saw a number of new faces and Chaleurs For Erika was a first-up winner for Anthony Banks in 2:02.4. She is owned by Shawna Atkinson & Truro’s top trainer Steve Morton. It was nice to see some new horses from the other provinces and we are hoping that we will see them back again this week.

Harness Driver Hal Belote Dies in Tragic Accident at Harrington Raceway

HARRINGTON, Del. - Harness racing's worst fear became a harsh reality Monday as 51-year-old driver Harold (Hal) Belote was killed in a tragic racing accident in the first race at Harrington Raceway.

Two more drivers, Brandon Givens and Steve Warrington were also injured, but the full extent of their injuries was unavailable at the time of this release.

Warrington was flown by helicopter to Christiana Care Hospital, where he was believed to have suffered leg and rib injuries. Givens also was taken to Christiana, with an apparent compound fracture of the leg.

Belote was driving Atenothnbutdscootr past the half-mile mark when his horse fell and apparently took out Givens and Warrington who were in close proximity and unable to avoid the fallen horse. Belote was pronounced dead shortly thereafter. The remainder of the racing program was canceled.

Belote, a popular figure among his racing colleagues, won 1,986 races in his career and purses of nearly $11 million. His first career driving win was at Harrington Raceway in 1977. He also was an established trainer with a particular knack for trotters. Perhaps his best horse was trotting mare Smashing Jane GT, who won nearly $300,000 lifetime and was a track record holder at Harrington. Belote had one of the higher win-percentages among trainers in Delaware the last 10 years.

All of the horses in the accident, Atenothnbutdscootr, Build A Fire and High Calibre N seemed to escape serious injury.

( Courtesy of Harrington Raceway )

New World Record at Woodbine This Past Weekend

Courtesy of Standardbred Canada

Primetime Bobcat established a new World Record on Saturday evening at Woodbine thanks to his draw-dropping 1:47.2 mile in the weekly edition of the $50,000 Open pace.

The electrifying mile shaved a fifth of a second off of Jennas Beach Boy's previous record of 1:47.3, which he set as a 4-year-old back in 1996 at the Meadowlands.

The 9-year-old gelded son of Abercrombie - Emerald Girl, who was in rein to Jody Jamieson, tracked pacesetter Rair Earth through fractions of :25.1, :53.2 and 1:20.4 before drilling out of the pocket and going on the offensive.

The Tony Montini-trainee stormed home in: 26.1 in the record setting performance and in doing so registered his 40th career win. His margin of victory was four and a half-lengths over Buckeye One, who finished second, and Rair Earth, who settled for third.

Montini shares ownership on Primetime Bobcat, who is a career winner of $463,517, with partners William Rogers, Basil Michele and Joseph Rogers.

Pictonian One Tastes Defeat on Saturday Night

Pictonian One, after five straight wins tasted defeat for the first time at the hands of Sandy Baird’s Jack Gee Quick. Both colts are sons of Dr. Hugh Baird’s sire Quick Comeback who continues to turn out quality horses, year after year. Should be a great year in the three-year old ranking with PH Super Dave, Elm Grove Action, Super Sidney C and Hardcore all ready to rumble.

Stevenson Top Canada in Driving Average

After another great day at EPR this past Saturday, Mike “in the bike” has moved atop the leader board in Canada in driver’s percentage. Mike is on fire as of late with virtually every card being a multiple win day at EPR all year. He is now four wins ahead of Gilles Barrieau and this should make for a great battle for top drivers at EPR this year. Brings back memories of the Wally Hennessey/ Marcel Barrieau days. We are fortunate to have both along with Todd Trites who bagged three winners this past week as well.

Maine Winners From Last Weekend

Here are some winners from Maine on the weekend with N.B connections:

Friday

In Gals- John Davidson 2:05.2

Woodmere Supreme- Mike Downey 2:08.1

Caitlin Hall- Steve Mahar 2:06.4

Sunday

Arizona Maverick- John Davidson 2:03

Race Dates Added to PEI Schedule

THE PRINCE EDWARD ISLAND HARNESS RACING INDUSTRY ASSOCIATION, ALONG WITH HARNESS RACING PEI AND SUMMERSIDE RACEWAY ARE PROUD TO ANNOUNCE THAT ADDITIONAL RACING PROGRAMS WILL BE OFFERED AT PRINCE EDWARD ISLAND RACETRACKS STARTING ON FRIDAY, MAY 19TH.

THE REMAINING RACE CARDS, IN THE MONTH OF MAY, WILL BE CONTESTED ON THE FOLLOWING DATES: • FRIDAY, MAY 19TH @ 7:00 PM (CDPEC) • SATURDAY, MAY 20TH @ 7:00 PM (CDPEC) • MONDAY, MAY 22ND @ 1:00 PM (SRW) • FRIDAY, MAY 26TH @ 7:00 PM (CDPEC) • SATURDAY, MAY 27TH @ 7:00 PM (CDPEC) • SUNDAY, MAY 28TH @ 1:00 PM (SRW)

ADDITIONAL RACE DATES HAVE ALSO BEEN REQUESTED BY HARNESS RACING PEI AND SUMMERSIDE RACEWAY IN JUNE TO COINCIDE WITH THE DATES PREVIOUSLY SCHEDULED. THEY ARE LISTED AS FOLLOWS: • SUNDAY, JUNE 4TH @ 1:00 PM (SRW) • TUESDAY, JUNE 13TH @ 7:00 PM (CDPEC) • TUESDAY, JUNE 20TH @ 7:00 PM (CDPEC) • TUESDAY, JUNE 27TH @ 7:00 PM (CDPEC) WE HOPE THAT THESE DATES CAN ADD TO THE EXCITING RACING ACTION THAT HAS TAKEN PLACE OVER PAST THREE WEEKS ON PRINCE EDWARD ISLAND.

Courtesy of Lee Drake, Marketing & Promotions, CDPEC