By Nicholas Oakes For Red Shores
CHARLOTTETOWN, PE – The Paul MacDonald Memorial Driving Challenge will highlight Horse Person’s Day on a special Saturday evening card at Red Shores Racetrack and Casino at the Charlottetown Driving Park.
The 13-dash Saturday card was schedule for an afternoon start but has been delayed until 6 P.M., in anticipation of impending weather.
The MacDonald Memorial Challenge, presented by the P.E.I. Standardbred Horse Owner’s Association, will take place over eight dashes in races 1, 3, 5, 6, 7, 8, 10 and 11.
Eight drivers will compete in the challenge with each driver sitting out one leg of the competition.
Criteria used to select the drivers had statistics combined from Red Shores Charlottetown and Summerside from 2024 with P.E.I.’s leading dash winning driver David Dowling getting the first nod in the competition. He is joined by fellow top dash winners Marc Campbell, Corey MacPherson and Adam Merner. The second category is top percentage drivers with over 75 drives that is populated by Jason Hughes, Brady Sweet and Gilles Barrieau while Steven Shepherd will represent the 25-75 drive category with the top percentage. All drivers must be a member of the P.E.I. Standardbred Horse Owner’s Association to be eligible to compete. The driver with the most points in the competition will win the Paul MacDonald Memorial Trophy. Campbell was the winner of the MacDonald Memorial Trophy in 2023.
The final dash of the card has the top trot of the day with Fight Song favoured for trainer Ashley Gamester, driver Hughes and owner Donald MacRae from post 7. The $3,300 event also includes Curadh (To be driven by Ryan Desroche), Whole Nother (Merner), Glider Man (MacPherson), New Legacy (Dowling), Labero (Barrieau) and Chasin Dreams (Campbell).
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